JP2016070588A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To acquire an air cleaner capable of cleaning a region around a person preferentially.SOLUTION: An air cleaner includes: a casing having an intake port for sucking indoor air and a blowout port for blowing out air; a panel part arranged opposing to the intake port; an intake opening part formed between the panel part and the casing, and for communicating with the intake port; a blower for sucking air into the casing from the intake port and blowing out the air from the blowout port; cleaning means for cleaning the air passing through the casing; indoor detection means for detecting indoor condition; intake air adjustment means for adjusting at least one of an intake direction and an intake amount of the intake opening part; and control means for controlling the intake air adjustment means based on the information acquired by the indoor detection means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an air purifier that cleans an indoor space by sucking in air containing contaminants such as dust floating in the indoor space, cigarette smoke and odor, and blowing the air from which the contaminants have been removed to the indoor space. It is about.

  In the conventional air purifier, an invention has been disclosed in which air direction adjusting plates are provided at the intake and exhaust ports, the air flow to be sucked is directed toward the person, and the air flow to be exhausted is efficiently cleaned by avoiding obstacles. ing. (For example, see Patent Document 1)

JP 2007-196183 A (paragraphs [0038]-[0041], FIG. 1)

  In the air cleaner described in Patent Document 1, the intake and exhaust ports are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the main body, and the airflow direction of the intake and exhaust air is adjusted by the wind direction plate. There is a problem that it is limited, and it is impossible to preferentially clean the area around the person including the vertical direction of the indoor space.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air cleaner that can preferentially clean an area around a person.

  An air purifier according to the present invention includes a casing having an air inlet that sucks indoor air and a blower outlet that blows out the air, a panel portion that is disposed to face the air inlet, and between the panel portion and the casing. An air intake opening formed in communication with the air intake opening, a blower that sucks air into the casing from the air intake opening and blows out the air from the air outlet, cleaning means for purifying the air passing through the inside of the casing, Indoor detection means for detecting the situation, intake air adjustment means for adjusting at least one of the intake direction and the intake air amount of the intake opening, and control for controlling the air intake adjustment means based on the indoor information acquired by the indoor detection means Means.

  The present invention provides air intake openings at the top, bottom, left and right of the air purifier, and controls the air intake adjustment means based on the indoor information acquired by the room detection means, thereby preferentially cleaning the area around the person. It becomes possible to obtain an air purifier that can be used.

It is a perspective view of the air cleaner of Embodiment 1 concerning the present invention. It is side surface perspective drawing of the air cleaner of Embodiment 1 which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing in AA of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the intake air adjustment mechanism of FIG. 2. It is a perspective view of the infrared sensor vicinity in the air cleaner of Embodiment 1 which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows operation | movement of the air intake opening part and blower outlet according to the position of the person in Embodiment 1 which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing of the air intake adjustment mechanism in Embodiment 2 which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing of the other intake adjustment mechanism in Embodiment 2 which concerns on this invention. It is a characteristic diagram which shows the relationship of the elevation angle of the wind direction of the blowing air in Embodiment 3 which concerns on this invention, the wind speed of a human area, and a relative dust removal speed.

Embodiment 1
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air cleaner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the air cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2 and shows the structure of the intake air adjustment mechanism portion.
1 to 3, an air purifier 1 includes a casing 2, a pedestal 3, an intake opening 4, an air outlet 5, a blower 6, an air passage 7, a cleaning means 8, a movable louver 9, an intake air adjusting mechanism 11, a rotation A mechanism 12, a panel 20, an infrared sensor 30 and the like are provided. Further, a louver driving unit (not shown) for driving the movable louver 9 is provided.

In order to describe the configuration of the air purifier 1 in detail, the first arrow 50 represents the front direction of the air purifier 1, and the second arrow 51 represents the side direction of the air purifier 1. Hereinafter, the left and right refer to the left and right direction as viewed from the front direction of the air cleaner 1, and the front and rear refers to the front and rear direction as viewed from the front direction of the air cleaner 1.
In the following description, the surface facing the first arrow 50 will be referred to as the front portion of the air cleaner 1, and the surface facing the front portion will be referred to as the rear surface portion.

The air purifier 1 is formed in, for example, a substantially quadrangular rectangular tube shape, and is installed on the floor of a room. The casing 2 is a housing of the air cleaner 1 and is supported by the pedestal 3 and the rotation mechanism 12 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. A panel 20 is disposed facing the front direction of the casing 2, and an intake opening 4 is formed between the casing 2 and the panel 20.
In the casing 2, a cleaning unit 8, a blower 6, and an air passage 7 are arranged in order from an intake port 15 communicating with the intake opening 4. The air cleaner 1 is installed on a floor surface at a position close to any wall in the room, for example, with the rear surface portion of the air cleaner 1 facing the wall and the front portion of the air cleaner 1 facing the indoor space. Used in the state.

  The intake opening 4 is an opening for sucking indoor air into the casing 2, and is provided on the left and right side surfaces, the upper surface, and the lower surface of the air cleaner 1. That is, the intake opening 4 is a space of a gap provided between the casing 3 and the panel 20. The intake opening 4 has an intake adjustment mechanism 11 which is an example of an intake adjustment unit, and the intake amount and the intake direction can be adjusted by adjusting the opening area of the intake opening 4. Note that there may be an intake opening 4 that does not have the intake adjustment mechanism 11.

  The air outlet 5 is an opening for blowing the air sucked into the casing 2 to the outside, and is provided at one place or a plurality of places above the air intake opening 4.

  The blower 6 sucks air into the inside of the casing 2 through the intake opening 4 and blows out the air from the blowout port 5. A fan motor (not shown) whose rotation speed can be controlled by a control device (not shown). And a fan (not shown). In the present embodiment, two air blowers 6 are provided. The two air blowers 6 are arranged in a state where they are stacked in the vertical direction, and winds for guiding the air blown from the individual air blowers 6 respectively. Roads 7 are provided individually.

  These air passages 7 are arranged in parallel in the front-rear direction with respect to the front surface of the casing 2 when viewed in a horizontal section of the air purifier 1, for example, and the air outlets of the two blowers 6 and the two air outlets 5 are arranged. Connected.

The cleaning means 8 cleans the air passing through the casing 2 and is provided, for example, on an air passage that passes while air is sucked from the intake opening 4 by the blower 6. Here, “cleaning” means removing contaminants such as dust, smoke, pollen, viruses, mold, fungi, allergens, and odor components floating in the air. It means the action of collecting, inactivating, decomposing and adsorbing these contaminants.
Examples of the configuration of the cleaning means 8 include a dust collection filter that collects dust, a deodorization filter that adsorbs odor components, and a high voltage device that removes and decomposes contaminants by applying a high voltage to the electrodes. Or a combination thereof.

The movable louver 9 is an example of a wind direction varying means, and is formed by, for example, an elongated flat plate extending in the left-right direction of the casing 2. And the base end side of the movable louver 9 is attached to each outlet 5 via the louver drive part provided in each outlet 5, and the front end side of the movable louver 9 is shaken up and down by the louver starting part. It is possible to move. Further, the two movable louvers 9 are configured such that the direction of the air blown out from each outlet 5 can be individually changed. In the present embodiment, the case where the two movable louvers 9 are provided is illustrated, but only one or three or more movable louvers 9 may be provided according to the number of the outlets 5.
In particular, in the air passage 7, the opening variable mechanism 10 provided on the front side of the casing 2 suppresses the diffusion of the air blown out from the blowout port 5 to the lower side of the air cleaner 1 and rectifies the air blown out. It has been confirmed through experiments that there is an effect, and that the air volume with respect to the power input of the blower 6 is increased and the air blowing efficiency is improved.

The louver drive unit includes a support shaft that supports the movable louver 9 in a swingable manner, and an actuator (not shown) that rotates the support shaft. The movable louver 9 and the louver driving unit are one form of a wind direction varying unit capable of changing the wind direction of the blown air in the vertical direction.
2 indicates the elevation angle of the movable louver 9 and is an angle inclined upward with respect to a horizontal direction parallel to the floor surface. That is, θ = 0 ° represents the horizontal direction, and θ = 90 ° represents the vertical direction.

The rectifying mechanism 14 adjusts the air direction of the blown air in the left-right direction. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rectifying mechanism 14 is formed by, for example, a substantially triangular (fan-shaped) fin, and the wind receiving surface of each movable louver 9. A plurality are arranged on the side with an interval in the left-right direction. Each rectifying mechanism 14 swings in the left-right direction, and changes the wind direction of the blown air in the left-right direction according to the swing angle. The swinging operation of the rectifying mechanism 14 is executed by, for example, a rectifying drive unit (not shown) provided in the rectifying mechanism 14. In the present invention, the rectifying mechanism 14 is not necessarily provided. Further, for example, one rectifying mechanism 14 may be arranged only on both the left and right ends of the movable louver 9.
Note that the wind direction varying means indicates a mechanism for adjusting the airflow of the blown air, for example, and includes a configuration in which the movable louver 9 and the rectifying mechanism 14 described above are combined.

The intake adjustment mechanism 11 may adjust the opening area of the intake opening 4 by supporting the panel 20 from the casing 2 with a support member such as a jack structure as shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the intake air adjustment mechanism 11 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. This enlarged view corresponds to the right side surface direction of the air cleaner 1.
In FIG. 4, the intake air adjustment mechanism 11 has a jack structure, and can operate not only forward and backward but also up and down and left and right when the panel 20 is viewed from the front of the casing 2. The intake adjustment mechanism 11 includes a drive mechanism (not shown) such as a motor, and the opening area of the intake opening 4 is adjusted by controlling the drive mechanism according to a command from the control device.

  For example, by moving the panel 20 up and down using a jack structure, it is possible to adjust not only the intake opening 4 provided on the left and right but also the opening area of the intake opening 4 provided on the upper and lower sides of the panel 20. is there. By adjusting the intake opening 4 provided on the lower side of the panel 20, dust, pollen and the like settled on the floor surface can be easily sucked. Further, since the casing 2 has a vertically long structure, the intake opening 4 can be provided at a high position, and by adjusting the intake opening 4 provided at the upper part of the panel 20, air pollution such as odorous substances that do not settle out. You can inhale things more efficiently.

The room detection means detects the state of the room in which the air purifier 1 is installed, and includes at least a person detection means that can detect the presence or absence of a person in the room, that is, the person's presence state. . In addition, a configuration combined with a dirt sensor, a moving body sensor, a distance sensor, a humidity sensor, an illuminance sensor, or the like may be used.
The human detection means includes, for example, an infrared sensor 30 that detects a temperature while scanning a room that is a detection target, and the temperature of the room can be measured by the infrared sensor 30 to detect the position of the person.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the infrared sensor 30 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the infrared sensor 30 is rotationally driven in the left-right direction by a stepping motor (not shown). For example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is rotationally driven from the right end part (a) to the left end part (c) via the center part (b). When reaching the left end (c), the rotation is reversed in the reverse direction, and returns from the left end (c) to the right end (a) via the center (b). While repeating this operation, the infrared sensor 30 detects the temperature by scanning the temperature detection target range of the room left and right.

The infrared sensor 30 is installed at a height of 65 cm or more, desirably 75 cm or more, more desirably 80 cm or more from the floor surface. For a person with a height of hcm, the optimum height H to the top of the desk or table is calculated by the equation (1), and the optimum height to the top is generally about 65 to 72 cm. By installing the infrared sensor 30 at a higher position than the desk or table, the infrared sensor 30 improves the human detection accuracy without obstructing the detection range on the top of the desk or table, and draws out the air purifier's air cleaning ability most. be able to.
H = 0.433 × h-2 Formula (1)

Next, operation | movement of the air cleaner of this invention is demonstrated.
In the following description, an airflow generated by sucking air from the intake opening 4 is referred to as an intake airflow, and an airflow generated by blowing air from the outlet 5 is referred to as a blown airflow.

First, the operation of the air cleaner when a person is detected by the indoor detection means will be described.
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the operation of the intake opening and the air outlet according to the position of the person in Embodiment 1 according to the present invention. The third arrow 52 schematically shows the flow of the main intake airflow. The number of third arrows 52 represents the amount of intake air.
Further, the fourth arrow 53 schematically shows the flow of the main blowing airflow.

In FIG. 6, when the air cleaner 1 and the person 40 are in a positional relationship as shown in the figure, the indoor detection means first detects the position of the person 40. Then, by controlling the intake adjustment mechanism 11 by the control device, the opening area of the intake opening 4 close to the direction in which the person 40 is detected is increased, and the air intake amount is increased. The openings of the intake openings 4 arranged at the upper and lower portions of the air cleaner 1 are also adjusted so that the direction in which the person 40 is detected becomes large. At the same time, the air blown from the air outlet 5 is directed to the direction in which the person 40 is detected by the wind direction adjusting means.
Thus, both the blown airflow and the intake airflow are set in the direction in which the person is present. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently clean the air around the person.

Next, the operation of the air cleaner when no person is detected in the room by the room detecting means will be described.
When no person is detected in the room, the air intake adjustment mechanism 11 can also control the operation according to the amount of pollutants in the room. For example, when the main component of the pollutant detected by the dirt sensor is a substance having a high sedimentation speed such as dust or pollen, the intake opening 4 provided at the lower part of the panel 20 in the intake adjustment mechanism 11 as shown in FIG. In order to increase the amount of intake air from the intake air, the opening area of the intake opening 4 may be enlarged. In addition, when a plurality of blowers 6 are provided at the top and bottom as shown in FIG. 2, the amount of intake air from the lower blower may be increased by increasing the number of rotations of the lower blower from the upper side. .

  On the other hand, when the main component of the detected pollutant is an odorous substance or the like that is easily dispersed in the air, the intake air adjustment mechanism 11 as shown in FIG. In order to increase the amount of intake air from the portion 4, the opening area of the intake opening 4 on the upper surface side may be enlarged. Moreover, when the air blower 6 is provided with two or more up and down as shown in FIG. 2, you may increase the air intake amount of the upper air blower 6 by increasing the rotation speed of the air blower above the lower side.

  By the above-described operation, the air in the entire room can be efficiently cleaned even when a person is absent.

Further, by adopting a configuration having the rotation mechanism 12, the distance between the air purifier 1 and the indoor wall changes, and the bias of the area where the intake airflow in the room is generated is eliminated. Can be cleaned.
As described above, in the present embodiment, since the opening area of the intake opening 4 is adjusted according to the detection result of the indoor detection means, the area around the person can be preferentially cleaned.

Embodiment 2
In the first embodiment, the intake amount is adjusted by adjusting the opening area of the intake opening, but in the second embodiment, a flap or a damper is arranged in the intake opening.
The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same number is attached | subjected to the location similar to Embodiment 1, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an intake air adjustment mechanism according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. This cross-sectional view shows an AA portion in FIG.
In FIG. 7, the intake air adjustment mechanism may be a flap 21 that is a flat plate structure having a support portion and a movable portion in the casing 2. The flap 21 is installed along the upper and lower and left and right surfaces of the panel 20.
The flap 21 is provided with a flat plate-like member provided with a drive unit, and the opening area of the intake opening 4 can be adjusted by rotating the member around the axis of the drive unit. If the intake adjustment mechanism includes the flap 21, it is possible to adjust the intake direction by adjusting not only the opening area but also the angle of the flap 21, and the intake airflow in the intake opening 4 is controlled in more detail. be able to.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of another intake air adjustment mechanism according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. This cross-sectional view shows an AA portion in FIG.
In FIG. 8, the intake adjustment mechanism may adjust the opening area of the intake opening 4 by opening and closing these as the openable damper 22. The damper 22 is installed along the top and bottom and left and right surfaces of the panel 20.

Next, operation | movement of the air cleaner in Embodiment 2 is demonstrated.
Different points from the operation of the air cleaner described in the first embodiment will be described below.
When no person is detected in the room, the operation of the air intake adjustment mechanism 11 is controlled by the amount of pollutants in the room. When the main component of the detected pollutant is a substance having a high settling speed such as dust or pollen, the intake adjustment mechanism shown in FIG. 7 rotates the flap 21 disposed at the lower part of the panel 20 to rotate the intake opening. 4 is opened, and air is sucked in from the vicinity of the floor surface in the room, thereby generating an intake airflow near the floor surface. Also in the configuration provided with the damper 22 shown in FIG. 8, an intake air flow is generated by opening the damper 22 arranged at the lower portion of the panel 20 and sucking air near the floor surface.

  On the other hand, when the main component of the detected pollutant is an odor substance or the like that is easily dispersed in the air, the intake adjustment mechanism shown in FIG. 7 takes in the intake air by rotating the flap 21 disposed on the upper part of the panel 20. An opening air flow is generated by opening the opening 4 and sucking air from above the room. Also in the configuration provided with the damper 22 shown in FIG. 8, the intake airflow is generated in the upper part of the room by opening the damper 22 arranged at the upper part of the panel 20.

By the operation of the intake air adjustment mechanism described above, the air in the entire room can be efficiently cleaned even when a person is absent.
Further, when a person is present in the room, it operates in the same manner as in the first embodiment and has the same effect.

Embodiment 3
Hereinafter, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The configuration of the air cleaner and the operation of the intake air adjusting means are the same as those in the first and second embodiments, so that the description thereof will be omitted and the characteristic points of the air blowing operation of the air cleaner will be described.

First, the air blowing operation of the air purifier when a person is detected by the indoor detection means at a location away from the air cleaner 1 by 100 cm will be described.
If the control unit and there are people in the room based on the information obtained by the infrared sensor 30 it has determined to set the elevation angle of the movable louvers 9 to theta ₁ blast. theta ₁ is in the range of 60 to 90 °, desirably from 75 °.

FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the elevation angle of the air direction of the blown air, the wind speed of the human area, and the relative dust removal speed in Embodiment 1 according to the present invention.
In FIG. 9, a human area is defined as an area where a person mainly resides in a room 50 cm or more from the wall. Further, the relative dust removal speed indicates a value obtained by normalizing the average dust removal speed ηQ at each of the plurality of measurement points in the human area with the air volume generated by the blower 6. The relative dust removal rate increases as the air purification efficiency increases. The wind speed in FIG. 9 indicates the wind speed in the human area.

  When the elevation angle of the movable louver 9 is 60 to 90 °, the wind speed is suppressed to 0.3 m / sec or less. Here, 0.3 m / sec is an allowable limit of the wind speed that does not give a feeling of blowing to a person. If the wind speed at the position of the person exceeds the allowable limit, the feeling of blowing is generated. Note that 0.3 m / sec is an example of an allowable limit, and does not limit the present invention.

  Thus, by setting the elevation angle of the movable louver 9 in the range of 60 to 90 °, it is possible to blow out air toward the upper side of the person, and to suppress discomfort caused by the wind felt by the user, In addition, it is possible to efficiently clean the air in the human area.

Next, the operation of the air cleaner when a person is detected in the room by the indoor detection means and approaches a distance within 100 cm from the air cleaner 1 will be described.
When a person is detected in the room by the infrared sensor 30 and approaches a distance of 100 cm or less from the air cleaner 1, by blowing the elevation angle of the movable louver 9 at 90 °,
It becomes possible to clean a person at a short distance without giving a feeling of blowing by blowing air.

Next, the operation of the air cleaner when no person is detected in the room by the room detecting means will be described.
When no person is detected in the room by the infrared sensor 30, the elevation angle of the movable louver 9 is set to θ ₂ and air is blown. It is not necessary to consider the feeling of blowing to the person, and θ ₂ swings in the range of elevation angle 20 to 90 ° from the horizontal, or is fixed within the range of elevation angle 20 to 90 ° and blown to clean.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the elevation angle of the movable louver 9 which is a specific configuration of the wind direction varying means is set according to the detection result of the person, so that the person feels blown by the air blow. It becomes possible to clean without.

In the above-described first to third embodiments, the intake area or the intake direction is configured to control the opening area of the intake opening 4 in accordance with the detection result of the person, but other configurations are not problematic.
For example, a similar effect can be obtained by arranging a blowing means for sucking air for each intake opening arranged at the top, bottom, left and right of the air cleaner and controlling the intake amount of each blowing means. .
Moreover, Embodiments 1 and 3 or Embodiments 2 and 3 may be combined, and a synergistic effect can be obtained by combining them.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 Air Cleaner, 2 Casing, 3 Base, 4 Air intake opening,
5 outlet, 6 blower, 7 air path, 8 cleaning means, 9 movable louver,
10 opening variable mechanism, 11 intake adjustment mechanism, 12 rotation mechanism, 14 rectification mechanism,
15 Inlet 20 Panel, 21 Flap, 22 Damper,
30 Infrared sensor,
40 people, 50 first arrow, 51 second arrow, 52 third arrow,
53 Fourth arrow

Claims (13)

A casing having an air inlet and an air outlet;
A panel portion disposed to face the intake port;
An air intake opening formed between the panel portion and the casing and communicating with the air intake;
A blower for sucking air into the casing from the intake opening and blowing the air from the outlet;
Cleaning means for cleaning air passing through the inside of the casing;
Indoor detection means for detecting indoor conditions;
An intake air adjusting means for adjusting at least one of an intake air direction and an intake air amount sucked from the intake opening;
Control means for controlling the intake air adjusting means based on the information detected by the room detecting means. An air cleaner comprising: The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein the room condition detected by the room detection means is at least one of a person's occupancy condition and a person's position. The intake openings are provided at a plurality of locations,
At least one of the intake openings includes the intake adjustment means,
The air cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit individually controls the intake air adjusting unit according to a detection result of the indoor detection unit. The control means controls the intake air adjusting means so that an opening area of the intake opening adjacent to the position of the person detected by the indoor detection means is maximized among the plurality of intake openings. The air cleaner according to claim 3. The said control means controls the said air intake adjustment means arrange | positioned at the upper side or the lower side of the said casing based on the component of the indoor pollutant detected by the said indoor detection means. 4. The air cleaner according to 4. The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the intake air adjusting means has a jack structure. The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the intake air adjusting means has a flap structure. The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the intake air adjusting means has a damper structure. The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the air outlet in a state where the casing is installed is provided above the intake opening. Wind direction variable means for adjusting the direction of the air flow from the air outlet,
The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the control unit controls the wind direction varying unit in accordance with a detection result of the indoor detection unit. The said control means controls the said wind direction variable means so that the elevation angle of a blowing airflow may be set in the range of 60-90 degrees when a person is detected by the said indoor detection means. The air cleaner according to any one of 10. The said control means controls the said wind direction variable means so that the elevation angle of a blowing airflow may be set in the range of 20-90 degrees, when a person is not detected by the said indoor detection means. The air cleaner according to any one of the above. The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a rotation mechanism that supports the casing in a state of being rotatable in a horizontal direction.

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