JP3120164B2 - Dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dryer, and more particularly to a dryer which can be used for both hair drying and hand drying.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional dryers are used for hair, limbs, etc.
It is general that it is configured specifically for the object to be dried. In addition, there has been proposed a hair dryer which can be used as a hand dryer by adding an additional device to a conventional hair dryer (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-66206).

[0003]

However, in the above configuration, the handling is difficult and the structure itself is complicated because an additional device is required.
There are many problems in practical use. As a result of studying the inconvenience of the inventor, it is general that the air blowing direction is changed in accordance with the difference in the dry area, and the air blowing mode is switched in response to the air blowing change operation. It has been found that the above configuration makes it possible to easily configure a dryer that serves both as a hair dryer and a hand dryer.

The present invention has been made based on the above findings, and has as its object to provide a dryer which can easily and reliably switch between a hair dryer and a hand dryer while maintaining a relatively simple structure. And

[0005]

As shown in FIG. 1, a dryer 10 according to the present invention has a base 16 which can be installed on various wall surfaces 12 such as vertical or horizontal, The above-described base 1 having an outlet 40
A dryer body 20 provided so as to be changeable in position with respect to 6,
A blower 52 is provided in the dryer main body 20 to blow air toward the blowout port 40, and a controller 34 for switching a blown state in the blower 52.

The present invention further includes a second detector 87 capable of outputting a signal 88 corresponding to the position changing operation of the dryer main body 20 with respect to the base 16, and a blower 52 controlled by the controller 34. At least the hair dryer mode and the hand dryer mode are set as the air blowing state, and each mode can be selectively selected in conjunction with the detection operation of the second detection section 87 described above. Further, when the control unit 34 detects that a part of the human body 36 has approached when the hand dryer mode is selected, the control unit 34 sends a signal 38 to the control unit 34 to send the air 39 in the hand dryer mode. It can be automatically executed.

[0007]

According to the above construction, for example, the dryer body 20
Is folded so as to approach the base 16 side, the position change state is detected by the second detection unit 87, and the control unit 3
4 is sent a signal 88. Here, the dryer body 2
If the control unit 34 is set so as to be in the hand dryer mode when 0 is folded, the dryer 10 enters a standby state in the mode.

When the hand 36 approaches the dryer 10 in this state, the first detecting unit 32 sends a signal 38 to the control unit 34, and the control unit 34 activates the blowing unit 52 in the hand dryer mode, and Is blown to the hand 36.

On the other hand, when the position of the dryer main body 20 is changed to a state where it is separated from the base 16 shown by the one-dot chain line, the mode of the control section 34 is switched to the hair dryer mode by the second detection section 87, and thereafter, the hair is dried. The air is blown at a temperature and air volume appropriate for the temperature.

[0010]

As described above, the present invention provides the control unit 34 with the hair dryer mode and the hand dryer mode, and automatically switches between the two modes in response to the change in the position of the dryer body 20 with respect to the base 16. Therefore, both modes can be easily and reliably switched while maintaining a relatively simple configuration.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIGS.
And a base 16 fixed to the base 16 with mounting screws 14.
And a dryer main body 20 pivotally supported via a hinge portion 18 provided at the upper end portion of the dryer.

The base 16 has a flat hollow elliptical shape as a whole. On the front side thereof, a main switch 22 for regulating the energization timing of the entire dryer and a switchable air blowing amount when used as a hair dryer. Switch 24, an operation unit 11 including a temperature change knob 26 for continuously changing the blast temperature, and a display unit 2 for displaying an operation mode or a switching state of the blast switch 24.
8 light emitting diodes 30. Further, the base 16 includes a first detection unit 32 at a lower end position thereof, and houses a control unit 34 for controlling the entire dryer inside.

The first detection unit 32 constantly radiates light rays such as infrared rays and detects reflection by the hand 36, detects heat and infrared rays radiated from the human body, and detects inductance and capacitance due to approach of the human body. When a human hand 36 approaches the position below the dryer 10, such as a detector that detects a change in
4 and, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.
Of the relay contacts 80, 82, 90 and 91 at the same time.

The dryer main body 20 is a flat hollow cylindrical body having substantially the same size as the base 16, and has an air outlet 40 at the tip end thereof, and has a base end hinged to an upper end of the base 16. A hand dryer mode in which the air outlet 40 is directed obliquely downward, as indicated by a dashed line, from a stopped state in which the base 16 is fixed to the wall surface 12 by being swingably attached via the portion 18. And a hair dryer mode in which the air outlet 40 is directed in a substantially horizontal direction indicated by a two-dot chain line imaginary line, and the rotation position can be changed in at least two stages.

Further, a heater 50 of a heat generating portion 48 is provided in a coil shape near the air outlet 40 inside the dryer main body 20 to generate heat at a predetermined temperature, and a blower 52 provided at a base end portion is connected to the heater 50. Blowing air toward the outlet 40
From the outside to the outside at an arbitrary temperature.

After the commercial AC voltage 56 input through the power plug 54 is full-wave rectified by the diode bridge 58 and applied to the DC motor 62 through the noise filter 60 to be driven, the blower 52 rotates. The fan 66 fixed to the shaft 64 rotates, and sends the air sucked from the mesh-shaped suction port 68 toward the heat generating section 48.

The heating section 48 changes the power consumed by the heater 50 steplessly by controlling the phase of the voltage applied to the heater 50 by the triac 70, and
It is possible to arbitrarily change the setting of the blast temperature sent from the apparatus. That is, the two main terminals of the triac 70 are connected in series with the heater 50, while the gate includes a control element 72 such as a diac and a variable resistor 74, and interlocks with the increase and decrease of the resistance value of the variable resistor 74. The ignition timing in the triac 70 is changed to raise or lower the heat generation temperature in the heater 50.

The above-mentioned variable resistor is composed of 74a and 74b.
In other words, the relay contacts 80 and 82 are switched by the signal 38 sent from the first detector 32, and the variable resistor 74 used for controlling the triac 70 is selectively switched.

That is, one of the variable resistors 74a has a switch 78 which is turned by the temperature-changing knob 26 provided on the front side of the base 16, and has a hair dryer mode in which the normally closed contact 80 keeps the ON state. Occasionally, from the state where the power supply to the heater 50 is stopped when the switch 78 is turned off, the resistance value of the variable resistor 74a is gradually reduced to increase the amount of power supply to the heater 50, and the heat generation temperature can be manually changed steplessly. And

The other variable resistor 74b has a normally open contact 82
Is used at the time of the hand dryer mode in which is turned on, and a semi-fixed type is used, and its resistance value is set in advance so that the blast temperature becomes a predetermined low temperature suitable for drying the hand 36. By doing so, the relay contacts 80 and 82 are switched in conjunction with the detection operation of the first detection unit 32, and regardless of the set position of the temperature change knob 26,
The heat generation temperature is set automatically.

By connecting the thermostat 84 in series with the heater 50, the thermostat 84 is turned off when the heater temperature rises above the set temperature, thereby preventing the heat generating portion 48 from becoming abnormally high. Further, a temperature fuse 85 interposed in series with the entire circuit is disposed near the heater 50, and when the operation of the thermostat 84 becomes defective, the energization is forcibly turned off. Filter 8 is connected in series with TRIAC 70.
6 to prevent erroneous operation due to noise during control in the triac 70.

The control section 34 has a “hair dryer mode” and a “hand dryer mode” as operation modes in the blower section 52, and an output signal from a second detection section 87 capable of detecting the rotation operation of the dryer body 20. The mode switch 42 is switched by 88, and the voltage applied to the blower 52 is changed so that the two modes can be selectively selected.

The second detecting section 87 includes a mode switch 42 of the control section 34 near the hinge section 18 which rotatably couples the dryer main body 20 to the base section 16, while the hinge section 1
The switch piece 46 is fixed to the rotating shaft 44 of the dryer 8 so that the signal 8 corresponding to the rotation of the dryer
As 8, the movement of the switch piece 46 is directly transmitted to the mode switch 42, and the switch contacts of the mode switch 42 are switched in two stages.

In the hand dryer mode, the motor 62 of the blower 52 is driven to rotate at the upper limit of the rated speed. The second contact 89 of the mode switch 42 is connected to a normally open relay contact 90 and a motor resistor 92. Blower 52
, The full-wave commercial AC voltage 56 dropped by the motor resistor 92 is applied to the blower 52.

In the hair dryer mode, the mode switch 4
In conjunction with the switching operation of the blower switch 24 connected to the second third contact 94, the rotation speed of the motor 62 can be changed to three stages of low speed, medium speed and high speed.

That is, at the time of low speed, a voltage which is stepped down through the two motor resistors 92 and 96 and half-wave rectified by the diode 98 is applied to the blower 52. At the middle speed, the voltage in the full-wave state reduced by the two motor resistors 92 and 96 is applied to the blower 52. At higher speeds, two motor resistors 92 and 96 are used during one half-wave.
In the other half-wave, the voltage reduced by one motor resistor 92 is applied via the diode 100 so that the voltage is applied to the blower 52 in conjunction with the switching operation of the blower switch 24. Change the voltage and blower 5
The amount of air sent from 2 to the outlet 40 is changed stepwise.

The display unit 28 is provided on the front side of the
Fourth four light emitting diodes 30a, 30b, 30c.
30d, and the current operating state of the dryer 10 can be displayed in a blinking state of each light emitting diode 30.

That is, the first and second light emitting diodes 30 a and 30 b connected in parallel in opposite directions are connected to the second contact 102 of the blower switch 24. Further, the third light emitting diode 30c is connected to the third contact 10 of the blower switch 24.
4, the first to third light emitting diodes 30a, 30b, and 30c as the air blowing switch 24 is switched in the hair dryer mode to increase the air blowing speed.
Are sequentially turned on to increase the number of emitted light.

On the other hand, when the main switch 22 is turned on when the hand dryer mode is selected by connecting the fourth light emitting diode 30d to the second contact 89 of the mode switch 42, only the fourth light emitting diode 30d is turned on to be in a standby state. Is displayed, and when the first detection unit 32 operates to start air supply, the first light emitting diode 30a is also turned on at the same time to indicate that air supply is being performed in the hand dryer mode.

Next, the operation procedure of the dryer 10 will be described in more detail. First, the dryer body 20 is attached to the base 1.
When the main switch 22 is completely folded to the side
Regardless of the on / off state of the air conditioner, the dryer 10 continues to be stopped.

Here, the dryer body 20 is moved from the base 16 to 1
When the outlet 40 is opened by only a step and the outlet 40 is positioned obliquely downward, the mode switch 42 is switched to the hand dryer mode, and the operation unit 11 provided on the front side of the base 16 is exposed. Then, when the main switch 22 is pressed, a standby state in which operation as a hand dryer is possible is established, and thereafter, the first detection unit 32 automatically determines the blowing time only by holding the hand 36 below the air outlet 40, and The air is blown at a low temperature of about several tens degrees due to the highest speed air blown by the dryer 10.

On the other hand, when the dryer body 20 is further rotated to the substantially horizontal position, the mode switch 42 is automatically switched to the hair dryer mode, and thereafter, the mode switch 42 and the temperature changing knob 26 correspond to the manually set state. The blowing of the temperature and the blowing amount is performed according to the ON period of the main switch 22.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the dryer body 20, in which two outlets 40 are provided on both sides around the fan 66 of the blower 52, and the outlets 40 are provided near the respective outlets 40. A heating section 48 is provided. Further, a first detection unit 32 is provided at a position in front of the dryer main body 20, and air is blown toward a position slightly forward of the first detection unit 32.
The direction of the outlet 40 is set so that 39 is concentrated.

The mode is switched by the dryer body 2
0 is in the hand dryer mode in a state where it is completely folded on the base portion 16. When it is slightly opened, the mode is changed to the hair dryer mode, and the opening / closing or rotation position of the dryer body 20 in the hair dryer mode is set to several steps or steplessly. The relationship between the position and the setting mode between the base 16 and the dryer main body 20 can be changed as appropriate, for example.

The change of the position of the dryer body 20 with respect to the base 16 is not limited to swinging, but can be changed such that the dryer body 20 can be horizontally moved or rotated in a bellows manner while maintaining the parallel state with the base 16. It is. Instead of being fixed to the vertical wall surface 12, it may be placed on a horizontal wall surface such as a desk.

If the base 16 is a hand-held handle,
Separately provided with a holder for wall mounting
It is also possible to fix it on the wall or hang it directly on the wall surface 12.

Further, instead of disposing the operation section 11 on the front side of the base section 16, a remote control switch can be used to remotely control the setting, such as on the side surface of the base section 16, on the dryer body 20, or separately. It can be changed in the state.

Further, if the start and end of the air blowing are controlled in accordance with the period in which the hand 36 is held over the front of the air outlet 40, the first detecting unit 32 may be arranged and configured as appropriate. Can be changed. For example, if the air is blown only for a set time with one switch-on, it is not necessary to directly detect that the hand is held, and the first detection unit 3
2 can be disposed at any position on the dryer 10.

Further, the structure of the second detecting section 87 is the same as that of the hinge section 1.
Instead of detecting the rotation of 8 and transmitting the rotation to the mode switch 42, the approach or separation state of the dryer main body 20 with respect to the base 16 may be detected by a limit switch or a proximity switch. Not only mechanical detection but also electrical detection is of course possible.

By the way, in a hand dryer using warm air that has just heated the surrounding air, the hand is dried in a short time due to the humidity of the warm air itself, regardless of the increase in air volume. It can be difficult to make it work. In such a case, instead of or in addition to the heat generating section 48, a small-sized compressor or a dehumidifier such as an electronic cooler utilizing the Peltier effect is built in to blow air with a reduced relative humidity in advance. Is effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where a dryer main body is closed.

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram showing an overall configuration of a drive circuit.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the dryer main body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Dryer 12 Wall surface 16 Base 20 Dryer main body 28 Display part 32 1st detection part 34 Control part 40 Air outlet 48 Heat generation part 52 Blow part 87 Second detection part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-252405 (JP, A) JP-A-63-216507 (JP, A) JP-A-3-65503 (JP, U) JP-A 66206 (JP, U) Shokai Sho 55-172754 (JP, U) Utility model registration 2522982 (JP, Y2) Utility model registration 2515966 (JP, Y2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) ) A45D 20/00-20/16 A47K 10/48

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A base (16) that can be installed on a wall surface (12) and an air outlet (40) for blowing air (39), and the position of the base (16) can be changed with respect to the base (16). A dryer body (20) provided; a blower (52) in the dryer body (20), which is capable of blowing air toward the air outlet (40); and a base ( 16) a second detection unit (87) capable of outputting a signal (88) corresponding to the position change operation with respect to the position change operation; The control unit (34), which can select each mode in conjunction with the detection operation of the second detection unit (87), and a part of the human body approaches when the control unit (34) selects the hand dryer mode Detect that Then, the control unit (3 described above
And a first detection unit (32) that sends a signal (38) toward 4) and automatically executes air blowing (39) in a hand dryer mode.