JP2019214009A - Dehumidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a dehumidifier which can perform laundry drying operation for long time.SOLUTION: A lower AMR sensor 83 detects whether a water level in a drain tank 15 exceeds a half position, and an upper AME sensor 72 detects whether the water level in the drain tank 15 becomes a full state. If a magnetic field cannot be detected by the lower AMR sensor 83, a drainage promotion lamp 30a is lightened, and a prescribed notification sound is emitted from a notification part 78. Therefore, when a user can performs laundry drying operation by a dehumidifier 1, if the water level in the drain tank 15 exceeds the half at operation start time, notification is made, whereby a work for discharging waste water in the drain tank 15 can be promoted by the user. Thus, it does not occur that during the operation, the water level in the drain tank 15 becomes full and the operation is interrupted, and the laundry drying operation can be continuously performed for as long time, and therefore, user-friendliness of equipment is improved.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to a dehumidifier for detecting a water level of drainage accumulated in a drain tank.

  Conventionally, in this type, there is a dehumidifier in which a magnet is installed in a float that moves up and down according to the water level in a drain tank, and an AMR sensor that detects a magnetic field of the magnet is provided at a position facing the magnet. When the inside of the drain tank is at a normal water level, the control unit determines that the AMR sensor continues to detect the magnetic field of the magnet and is in a normal state, and when the inside of the drain tank is full, the AMR sensor uses the magnet. The control unit determines that the magnetic field of the drain tank cannot be detected and the drain tank is full, and notifies the user that the inside of the drain tank is full and the water needs to be discarded by the notifying means. (For example, Patent Document 1)

JP 2017-136580 A

  However, in this conventional device, since only one AMR sensor for judging whether the drain tank is full is installed, the water level in the drain tank is almost full at the time of starting operation of the device. When the magnetic field can be detected by the AMR sensor and the notification of the full state cannot be made, the magnetic field cannot be detected by the AMR sensor shortly after the operation of the device is started. Since the drain water must be discarded, the equipment cannot be used continuously for a long time, and thus there is a problem that the usability is poor.

  Also, in the case where the equipment is operated and the laundry is dried while the laundry is being dried indoors at night, even if the full state is notified by the notification means shortly after the start of the operation, the room in which the laundry is dried is occupied by the user. Because the user is not aware of the notification because the user is away from the area where the user is away, and the user does not take measures to discard the drain water in the drain tank and restart the operation, the operation of the equipment remains stopped until morning and the laundry does not dry Given the circumstances, there was room for improvement.

In order to solve the above problems, according to claim 1 of the present invention, a drain tank for storing generated drain water;
A float that moves up and down according to the water level in the drain tank,
A magnet provided on the float,
An AMR (Anisotropic-Magneto-Resistance) sensor for detecting the magnetic field of the magnet;
Notification means for performing predetermined notification based on the detection result of the AMR sensor;
A control unit that determines a water level of the tank based on the detection result of the AMR sensor and notifies the notification by the notification unit,
The AMR sensor is divided into an upper AMR sensor for detecting the magnetic field of the magnet provided on the float, and a lower AMR sensor located below the upper AMR sensor and detecting the magnetic field of the magnet provided on the float. Installed,
The magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor is larger than the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor, and the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor and the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor at least partially overlap. And
When the magnetic field cannot be detected by the lower AMR sensor, the controller notifies the notification means that the drain tank is almost full, and when the magnetic field cannot be detected by the upper AMR sensor, The informing unit notifies that the tank is full.

Further, according to claim 2, a compressor, a condenser, a decompression device, an evaporator, a refrigeration device in which the refrigerant flows sequentially in the accumulator,
A heater near the air outlet for heating the air,
When the upper AMR sensor cannot detect a magnetic field, the control unit stops the compressor and switches the heating heater to an ON state.

  According to the present invention, the AMR sensor includes an upper AMR sensor that detects a magnetic field of a magnet provided in a float, and a lower AMR sensor that is located below the upper AMR sensor and detects a magnetic field of a magnet provided in a float. The magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor is larger than the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor, and the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor and the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor at least partially overlap. With such a configuration, when the lower AMR sensor cannot detect the magnetic field, the notification means notifies that the drain tank is almost full, and when the upper AMR sensor cannot detect the magnetic field, the drain tank is full. When the drain tank is almost full at the start of operation of the equipment, the lower AMR sensor Since the user is notified that the drain tank is almost full, the user is aware of the state of the drain tank and is encouraged to discard the water in the drain tank. When the laundry is dried at night or when the laundry is dried at night, it is possible to prevent the equipment from stopping operation in a short time from the start of the operation and prevent the laundry from drying in the morning.

  In addition, since the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor is larger than the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor, the upper AMR sensor has a large margin until it detects a full state, so that the upper AMR sensor is close to the upper limit water level of the drain tank. Since drain water can flow in, the time before notification of a full state is increased, and the operation of the equipment is extended, so that laundry can be dried for a long time. In addition, the lower AMR sensor has a smaller margin than before the upper AMR sensor to detect that the water tank is almost full, so that the user is notified early that the drain tank is almost full and the user is informed that the drain is full. Since drainage of the drain water in the tank can be encouraged, drying of the laundry can be continuously performed for a long time.

  When the upper AMR sensor cannot detect the magnetic field, the compressor is stopped and the heater is switched to the ON state. Therefore, the compressor is stopped before the drain tank is full to raise the water level of the drain tank. By driving the heater, hot air can be blown out from the outlet and the laundry can be dried continuously, so the drain tank is full after drying the laundry at night and operating the equipment. , The laundry can be continuously dried.

1 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of an embodiment of the present invention. Exploded perspective view of the same embodiment Vertical sectional view of the same embodiment Control block diagram of the same embodiment The perspective view which looked at the drain tank from the upper part. It is a figure which especially shows the floating accommodating part which accommodated the float seen from the inside of the drain tank, (A) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the floating accommodating part, (B) shows the floating accommodating part when a float is inserted. FIG. 6C is a longitudinal sectional view of the drain tank, and FIG. 6C is a longitudinal sectional view of the drain tank when the lift of FIG. Partial enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a full water detection unit of the embodiment. (A) is an external perspective view seen from the surface of the float, (B) is an external perspective view seen from the back of the float, and (C) is a longitudinal sectional view of the float. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor and the lower AMR sensor of the embodiment. Timing chart for explaining the operating state of the embodiment The figure explaining the state where the water level of the drain tank of the embodiment exceeded half. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the water level of the drain tank according to the embodiment is full. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation unit according to the embodiment.

An embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, an air conditioner of the present invention is described as being applied to a dehumidifier that dehumidifies moisture contained in air by dew condensation using a vapor compression refrigeration cycle.

The dehumidifier 1 has a right frame 2, a left frame 3, a decorative board 4, and a base 5, which constitute the appearance of the dehumidifier 1. The upper end portion where the right frame 2 and the left frame 3 fit together forms a handle 10. The right frame 2 has a suction port 11 having a plurality of slits. The suction port 11 has a filter 13 and a filter case 14 on the outer surface 12 side. The filter 13 is made of a resin net or a nonwoven fabric, and removes dust and odor components mixed into the intake air. The filter case 14 attaches the filter 13 to the suction port 11. The right frame 2 is a drain tank 15
Has a tank insertion port 16 at the lower part of the suction port 11 to be attached and detached.

The left frame 3 has an outlet 20 having a plurality of slits at an upper portion. The air outlet 20 has a wind direction plate 21 that can control the direction of blowing dry air from an obliquely upward direction to a horizontal direction. The wind direction plate 21 is driven by a wind direction plate motor 22.

The decorative board 4 has an operation unit 25 above. The operation unit 25 includes an upper surface 26 of the decorative board 4, an operation unit case 27, and an operation unit 28, as shown in FIG. The operation unit 25 includes, for example, switches 29 such as an operation switch, a timer switch, and an operation mode selection switch, and lamps 30 such as an operation lamp.

The dehumidifier 1 has, as main internal components, a sirocco fan 31, a fan motor 32, a refrigerating device, a drain tank 15, a control unit 34, and a full water detection mechanism.

The center of rotation of the sirocco fan 31 is fixed coaxially with the rotation axis of the fan motor 32. The sirocco fan 31 draws air from the suction port 11 and forms an air passage that blows out from the blowout port 20. The sirocco fan 31 and the fan motor 32 are attached to a fan case 36.

The refrigeration apparatus includes a compressor 40, a condenser 41, a decompression device 42, an evaporator 43, and an accumulator 44 in the order in which the refrigerant flows. When flowing through the evaporator 43, the refrigerant evaporates by removing heat from the air passing outside the evaporator 43. Accordingly, the surface of the evaporator 43 is cooled to a temperature equal to or lower than the dew point temperature, and moisture in the air passing therethrough is condensed on the surface of the evaporator 43. According to this principle, the dehumidifier 1 removes moisture from the air to dehumidify.

The compressor 40 is fixed on the base 5 and is connected to the evaporator 43 and the condenser 41 via a pipe 45. The evaporator 43 and the condenser 41 are constituted by a first heat exchanger 48 and a second heat exchanger 49, respectively. Each of the first heat exchanger 48 and the second heat exchanger 49 is a fin tube type heat exchanger, and the first heat exchanger 48 and the second heat exchanger 49 are arranged in the same air passage in order from the upstream side. Are located. The evaporator 43 and the condenser 41 are connected to the fan case 3
The sirocco fan 31 in FIG. 6 is fixed via a drain pan 50 to a surface opposite to the fixed surface. The drain pan 50 receives the condensed water generated in the evaporator 43 and guides the condensed water from the drain port 51 to the drain tank 15.

With the above configuration, the air sucked from the suction port 11 is filtered, after the dust and odor components are removed, the water is removed by the evaporator 43, further passes through the condenser 41, and the sirocco fan 31 It is blown out from the outlet 20.

The drain tank (tank) 15 stores generated drain water discharged from the drain port 51 of the drain pan 50. The drain tank 15 is connected to the fan case 36 through the tank insertion port 16.
It is attached to and detached from by sliding horizontally. The drain tank 15 includes a fan case 36.
Is mounted in the tank chamber 52 (FIG. 3) formed by the above.

The drain tank 15 has a tank lid 53, and the condensed water from the drain port 51 falls into the drain tank 15 from the tank lid 53. The drain tank 15 has a floating accommodating portion 54 for accommodating the floating 80 inserted with the vertically downward direction as the insertion direction.

  Here, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the drain tank 15 as viewed from above.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views specifically showing the floating accommodating portion 54 accommodating the floating 80 as viewed from the inside of the drain tank 15, wherein FIG. 6A is a longitudinal sectional view of the floating accommodating portion 54, and FIG. FIG. 7C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the drain tank 15 showing the floating accommodating portion 54 when the floating is performed, and FIG. 7C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the drain tank 15 when the floating 80 in FIG.

  The floating accommodating portion 54 is provided at a position on the far side in the mounting direction of the drain tank 15 and opposed to an upper AMR sensor 82 and a lower AMR sensor 83 described later. The floating accommodating portion 54 has a slit 55, an insertion guide 56, a rising portion 57, and a pull-out preventing pin 58. The slit 55 is provided in the vertical direction from the upper end 60 to the lower end 61 of the floating storage part, and allows the drain water in the drain tank 15 to enter the floating storage part 54. Further, the slit 55 guides the protrusion 87 in the insertion direction of the float 80. The insertion guide 56 is formed to rise from the side surface 62 of the floating accommodating portion 54. The rising height of the insertion guide 56 from the left and right side surfaces 62 to the floating 80 is changed. Thereby, the wide area 63 and the narrow area 64 (FIG. 6C) are formed in the space in which the floating 80 is stored from the near side to the far side in the insertion direction of the floating 80 into the floating receiving portion 54.

The rising portions 57 are two members that rise vertically from the bottom surface 65 of the floating housing portion 54 and the end of the slit 55 toward the inside of the floating housing portion 54. The insertion guide 56 and the rising portion 57 are in line contact with the inserted floating 80 and support the floating 80, so that the floating 80 is in surface contact with the side surface 62 and the bottom surface 65 of the floating receiving portion 54 and is stuck by surface tension. To prevent accidents. The detachment prevention pin 58 is detachably provided at the upper end of the floating accommodating portion 54,
The floating 80 is supported so that the floating 80 does not fall out of the floating accommodating portion 54.

The control unit 34 (control unit) illustrated in FIG. 4 controls the operation of the dehumidifier 1 by electrically controlling the fan motor 32, the compressor 40, and the like based on an instruction from the switches 29.

The control unit 34 has a storage unit 70 and a timer 71. Storage unit 70
Stores an operation program of the fan motor 32, the compressor 40, and the lamps 30, which is executed based on an instruction received from the switches 29. The timer 71 performs time measurement for the timer operation of the dehumidifier 1 and the like. The temperature sensor 75 and the humidity sensor 76 measure the ambient temperature and the humidity of the dehumidifier 1, and the control unit 34 uses the obtained values as needed for control.

  The temperature sensor 75, the humidity sensor 76, and the heater 79 are provided, for example, near the suction port 11. The notification unit 78 as a notification unit notifies an alarm for notifying the user of the situation based on an instruction from the control unit 34. The heater 79 is provided below the air outlet 20 of the dehumidifier 1 main body, and changes the temperature of the wind blown from the air outlet 20 by switching the ON / OFF state based on an instruction of the control unit 34.

The full water detection unit includes a float 80, a magnet 81 provided on the float 80, an upper AMR sensor 82 for detecting a magnetic field of the magnet 81, and a lower AMR sensor 83, and the AMR sensor (Anisotropic-Magneto- Resistance, anisotropic magnetoresistive sensor) is mounted at a predetermined position together with a signal processing circuit and the like.

  FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dehumidifier 1 specifically explaining the full water detection unit.

8A is a perspective view of the appearance of the float 80 viewed from the front surface 88, FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the appearance of the float 80 viewed from the back surface 86, and FIG.

The float 80 is accommodated in the float accommodating portion 54 of the drain tank 15 and moves up and down according to the water level in the drain tank 15. The float 80 is a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped, and is formed of a material having buoyancy such as expanded polystyrene. The float 80 has a wide portion 85 at the upper end to increase the width. As shown in FIG. 6C, the width W1 of the wide portion 85 shown in FIG.
It is larger than the width of the narrow region 64 formed therein and smaller than the width of the wide region 63. On the other hand, the width W2 of the float 80 other than the wide portion 85 is smaller than the width of the narrow region 64. Note that the length of the wide portion 85 (the wide region 63) in the insertion direction (X-axis direction in FIG. 7) is not particularly limited, and may be longer or shorter than illustrated in the present embodiment.

  The float 80 has a projection 87 on a back surface 86 opposite to the surface facing the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83. The protrusion 87 has a size that allows the protrusion 87 to be inserted into the floating accommodating portion 54 along the slit 55. The projection direction of the projection 87 (Y-axis direction) is a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the wide portion 85 (Z-axis direction).

  The magnet 81 has a magnetizing direction (regardless of the position of the N-pole and S-pole) in the horizontal direction (Z-axis direction) on the surface facing the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83, and is a thin plate-shaped vertically-long rectangular parallelepiped. It is. The dimensions of the magnet 81 are, for example, 15 mm in length × 8 mm in width × 3 mm in thickness. The magnet 81 is fitted into a concave portion formed on a surface 88 facing the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 of the float 80 so that the center in the width direction of the magnet 81 matches the center in the width direction of the float 80. It is arranged. Since the width W2 of the float 80 is smaller than the width of the narrow region 64, the float 80 moves in the width direction in the float accommodating portion 54. The magnet 81 is designed to have such a size that the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 can detect the magnetic field of the magnet 81 even in this case.

  The upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 are mounted on a substrate 90 and attached to the fan case 36 so as to detect a magnetic field in a horizontal direction parallel to the magnetizing direction of the magnet 81. Specifically, the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 are located at positions opposite to the tank chamber 52 of the fan case 36 and corresponding to the floating accommodating portions 54 (the floating 80 and the magnet 81) of the drain tank 15. The upper AMR sensor 82 is provided above the lower AMR sensor 83 in the X-axis direction. That is, the magnet 81 faces the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 in a direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the insertion direction.

  The positional relationship between the magnet 81 and the upper AMR sensor 82 is such that the upper AMR sensor 82 detects the magnetic field of the magnet 81 until the water level of the drain tank 15 reaches the specified full position (the magnetic field having a strength equal to or higher than a predetermined value is detected). ), It is specified that a magnetic field is not detected (a magnetic field having a strength smaller than a predetermined value is detected) when the water level exceeds a predetermined full position.

  The positional relationship between the magnet 81 and the lower AMR sensor 83 is such that the lower AMR sensor 83 detects the magnetic field of the magnet 81 until the water level of the drain tank 15 exceeds a half water level position of the specified drain tank 15 (not less than a predetermined value). Is detected, and a magnetic field is not detected (a magnetic field having a strength smaller than a predetermined value is detected) when the water level exceeds a half level of the specified drain tank 15.

  Next, the operation of the full-water detecting unit in the present embodiment will be described.

  When the drain tank 15 is mounted in the tank chamber 52, the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 detect a magnetic field of the magnet 81 having a strength equal to or higher than a predetermined value. The detection results of the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 are transmitted to the control unit 34, and the control unit 34 determines that the drain tank 15 has been mounted.

When the water level of the drain water rises, the drain water floats from the slit 55 and penetrates into the accommodation portion 54,
The float 80 gradually rises due to buoyancy. Since the width W2 of the float 80 is smaller than the width of the narrow region 64 in the accommodation space in the float accommodation portion 54, the float 80 may move in the width direction. But,
The magnet 81 is designed to have such a size that the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 can detect a magnetic field having a strength equal to or more than a predetermined value even in such a case. Therefore, even if the float 80 moves in the width direction, the detection accuracy is ensured.

Further, the shape of the magnet 81 is a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped along the moving (vertical movement) direction of the float 80, and the magnetizing direction is a horizontal direction on a surface facing the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83. . As a result, the magnetic field generated by the magnet 81 generates a magnetic flux widely in the vertical movement direction of the magnet 81, and the horizontal component of the magnetic field can be effectively applied to the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 in a wide range.

Next, the magnetic field detection ranges of the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 will be described.
Since the detection range of the magnetic flux density of the upper AMR sensor 82 is up to 1 mT and the detection range of the magnetic flux density of the lower AMR sensor 83 is up to 2 mT, the detection sensitivity of the upper AMR sensor 82 is lower than that of the lower AMR sensor 83. Will be better. Therefore, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 9, the magnetic field detection range Wu of the upper AMR sensor 82 is larger than the magnetic field detection range Wd of the lower AMR sensor 83 (Wu> Wd), and the magnetic field of the upper AMR sensor 82 The detection range Wu and the magnetic field detection range Wd of the lower AMR sensor 83 are installed so as to partially overlap.

  Regarding the overlap of the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83, preferably, when the magnet 81 is located at the center in the vertical direction (X-axis direction) of the magnetic field detection range Wd of the lower AMR sensor 83, It is preferable that the magnetic field detection range Wu of the upper AMR sensor 82 and the magnetic field detection range Wd of the lower AMR sensor 83 overlap so that the magnetic field of the magnet 81 can be detected near the lower end of the magnetic field detection range Wu of the AMR sensor 82. Thus, the functions of the present invention can be realized with the minimum required detection sensitivity of the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83.

  Thereby, when the water level of the drain tank 15 does not exceed half, both the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 detect the magnetic field of the magnet 81, so that they are turned on, and when the water level of the drain tank 15 exceeds half, While the upper AMR sensor 82 remains in the ON state, the lower AMR sensor 83 cannot detect the magnetic field of the magnet 81 and is switched to the OFF state. When the water level in the drain tank 15 reaches the full position, the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor The switch 83 switches to the OFF state because the magnetic field of the magnet 81 cannot be detected.

  When the water level in the drain tank 15 exceeds half, the lower AMR sensor 83 switches to the OFF state earlier than the upper AMR sensor 82, so that the water level in the drain tank 15 exceeds half earlier. Since this can be notified, it is possible to prompt the user to drain the drain tank 15 at an early stage, and to prevent the drying operation of the laundry from being interrupted.

  When the water level of the drain tank 15 becomes full, the upper AMR sensor 82 switches to the OFF state later than the lower AMR sensor 83, so that the upper limit water level at which drain water does not leak from the drain tank 15 is set. Since the drain water can be stored up close, the drying operation of the laundry can be continuously performed for a long time.

  Further, since the upper AMR sensor 82 and the lower AMR sensor 83 are installed so that their magnetic field detection ranges partially overlap each other, they can be installed at positions close to each other. It is possible to detect the state where the water level of the drain tank 15 is more than half and to detect the full state without increasing the moving distance of the mounted float 80 in the vertical direction (X-axis direction), and to increase the size of the drain tank 15. As a result, it is possible to prevent the dehumidifier 1 from increasing in size and increasing the installation space for the equipment.

Next, a specific operation content during the operation of the dehumidifier 1 will be described.
First, when a switch for giving an operation start instruction is operated from the switches 29 in the operation unit 25, the compressor 40 is driven at a predetermined rotation speed, whereby the refrigerant circulates in the refrigeration apparatus, and Air dehumidification is performed. Then, the operation of the equipment causes dehumidification in the room and drying of the laundry installed in front of the outlet 20, and drain water dropped from the evaporator 43 accumulates in the drain tank 15.

  Then, as time elapses, dehumidification of the room and drying of the laundry progress, and the water level in the drain tank 15 exceeds a half position of the drain tank 15, the float 80 rises and as shown in FIG. The magnet 81 is located outside the magnetic field detection range 83. Therefore, the magnetic field cannot be detected by the lower AMR sensor 83, and the lower AMR sensor 83 switches to the OFF state.

  Thereby, as shown in (1) of FIG. 10, the control unit 34 turns on the drainage promotion lamp 30 a as notification means formed on the lamps 30 of the operation unit 25, and a predetermined notification sound is output from the notification unit 78. Sounds. As a result, the user is notified that the water level in the drain tank 15 has reached half the position of the drain tank 15 and the drain water in the drain tank 15 needs to be drained, and the drain accumulated in the drain tank 15 is notified. The user can be encouraged to perform the drainage operation.

  Thereafter, when the operation of the dehumidifier 1 is continued without drainage of the drain water in the drain tank 15 being continued and the water level of the drain tank 15 rises and becomes almost full, the float 80 rises and as shown in FIG. The magnet 81 is located outside the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor 82. Therefore, the magnetic field cannot be detected by the upper AMR sensor 82, and the upper AMR sensor 82 switches to the OFF state.

  Thereby, as shown in (2) of FIG. 10, the control unit 34 turns on the full-water lamp 30b as the notification means formed on the lamps 30 of the operation unit 25, stops the compressor 40, and heats the heater. 79 is switched to the ON state, and a predetermined notification sound is emitted from the notification unit 78. Thereby, it is possible to inform the user that the drain tank 15 is full and the drain water needs to be drained, and to prevent the drain water from continuing to accumulate in the drain tank 15 by stopping the compressor 40. It is possible to prevent the drain water from leaking from the drain tank 15.

  Further, even if the drain water in the drain tank 15 is not drained, warm air is blown out from the outlet 20 by switching the heating heater 79 to the ON state, and the drying operation of the laundry can be continued. In the case where the laundry is dried at night and the equipment is operated, and the laundry is dried at midnight, even if the drain tank 15 becomes full during operation, the heater 79 is switched to the ON state to dry the laundry. Thus, the laundry can be continuously dried until morning.

  Note that the rotation speed of the fan motor 32 may be increased at the timing when the upper AMR sensor 82 is turned off, the compressor 40 is stopped, and the heater 79 is turned on. Accordingly, a large amount of warm air heated by the heater 79 can be applied to the laundry to be dried, so that the laundry dried at night can be efficiently and continuously dried until morning.

  As described above, the lower AMR sensor 83 detects whether the water level in the drain tank 15 has exceeded a half position, and the upper AME sensor 72 detects whether the water level in the drain tank 15 is full. If the magnetic field cannot be detected by the AMR sensor 83, the drainage promotion lamp 30a is turned on and the notification unit 78 emits a predetermined notification sound. When the water level of the drain tank 15 is more than half, the user is notified, and the user can be prompted to discard the drainage in the drain tank 15, so that the drain tank 15 becomes full during the operation and the operation is interrupted. Since the drying operation of the laundry can be continuously performed for a long time without any trouble, the usability of the device is improved.

  Further, since the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor 82 is larger than the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor 83, the lower AMR sensor 83 is in the OFF state regarding the width of the water level change until the upper AMR sensor 82 switches to the OFF state. Since the upper AMR sensor 82 is switched to the OFF state, the time required to detect the full state of the drain tank 15 is longer than that of the lower AMR sensor 83 because the upper AMR sensor 82 is switched to the OFF state. Since the drain water can be stored up to near the upper limit water level, the drying operation of the laundry can be continuously performed for a long time, so that the usability of the device is improved.

  Further, since the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor 83 is smaller than the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor 82, the width of the water level change until the lower AMR sensor 83 switches to the OFF state turns the upper AMR sensor 82 into the OFF state. Since the lower AMR sensor 83 is switched to the OFF state, the time required for notifying that the water level has exceeded half of the drain tank 15 is shorter than the upper AMR sensor 82 because the lower AMR sensor 83 is switched to the OFF state. Can be notified that the water level of the drain tank 15 has exceeded the half position, and the user can be prompted to drain the drain water in the drain tank 15 at an early stage.

  Further, when the upper AMR sensor 82 is switched to the OFF state, the full state is detected, the compressor 40 is stopped, and then the heater 79 is switched to the ON state to blow warm air from the outlet 20, so that the laundry is removed. When the drying operation of the laundry is performed by the dehumidifier 1 after drying at night, the drying operation of the laundry can be continuously performed even if the drain tank 15 becomes full during the operation. The washed laundry can be continuously dried.

  In addition, other configurations used in the present embodiment are presented as examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and may be embodied in other various forms. Various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

1 dehumidifier 15 drain tank 30a drainage promotion lamp (notification means)
30b Full lamp (notification means)
Reference Signs List 40 Compressor 41 Condenser 42 Pressure reducing device 43 Evaporator 44 Accumulator 78 Notification unit (notification unit)
79 Heater 80 Floating 81 Magnet 82 Upper AMR sensor 83 Lower AMR sensor

Claims (2)

A drain tank for storing the generated drain water,
A float that moves up and down according to the water level in the drain tank,
A magnet provided on the float,
An AMR (Anisotropic-Magneto-Resistance) sensor for detecting the magnetic field of the magnet;
Notification means for performing predetermined notification based on the detection result of the AMR sensor;
A control unit that determines a water level of the tank based on the detection result of the AMR sensor and notifies the notification by the notification unit,
The AMR sensor is divided into an upper AMR sensor for detecting the magnetic field of the magnet provided on the float, and a lower AMR sensor located below the upper AMR sensor and detecting the magnetic field of the magnet provided on the float. Installed,
The magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor is larger than the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor, and the magnetic field detection range of the upper AMR sensor and the magnetic field detection range of the lower AMR sensor at least partially overlap. And
When the magnetic field cannot be detected by the lower AMR sensor, the controller notifies the notification means that the drain tank is almost full, and when the magnetic field cannot be detected by the upper AMR sensor, A dehumidifier, wherein the notification unit notifies that the tank is full. A compressor, a condenser, a decompression device, an evaporator, a refrigeration device in which a refrigerant flows sequentially in the accumulator,
A heater near the air outlet for heating the air,
2. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein when the upper AMR sensor cannot detect a magnetic field, the controller stops the compressor and switches the heater on. 3.

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