JP3120165B2 - 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.

[0004] The present inventor has studied the above disadvantages, and as a result, conventional hair dryers often use a motor with a rating that is more than the required air flow. It has been found that the hair dryer and the hand dryer can be used together by automatically blowing air at the maximum air volume.

[0005] The present invention has been made based on the above findings, and has as its object to provide a dryer integrally having the functions of a hair dryer and a hand dryer while maintaining a relatively simple configuration.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in a dryer according to the present invention, as schematically shown in FIG.
Is provided in the dryer main body 20) having the air blower 52, which allows air to be blown toward the air outlet 40, and the control unit 34 controls the air blowing state of the air blower 52.

Further, the control unit 34 has a hair dryer mode in which the air volume can be manually changed by the operation unit 11 and a hand dryer mode in which a substantially maximum air volume of the air blowing unit 52 is automatically set. When the control unit 34 detects that a part of a human body has approached when the hand dryer mode is selected, a signal is sent to the control unit 34. 38 is sent, and air blowing in the hand dryer mode can be automatically executed.

[0008]

According to the above configuration, when the operation mode of the control section is switched to the hand dryer mode, the dryer enters a standby state. Here, the hand 36 is connected to the dryer body 2
0, the first detector 32 detects this and sends a signal 38 to the controller 34.
4 automatically starts the blowing unit 52. At this time, the blower 5
2 is set in advance so that air is blown at a maximum or close to the air flow provided by the air blower.
6 is performed.

[0009]

According to the present invention, as described above, one dryer 1
During 0, the function as a hair dryer and the function as a hand dryer are integrally provided, and when used as a hand dryer, the blower is configured so that the air is automatically blown at almost the maximum air volume that the dryer has. The two different functions can be accurately and easily realized while keeping the relatively simple configuration while effectively utilizing the capability of the above.

[0010]

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 energizing timing of the entire dryer and a switchover of the air flow when used as a hair dryer are possible. And a display unit 28 having four light emitting diodes 30 for displaying an operation mode or a switching state of the blower switch 24. Is provided. 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 emits light rays such as infrared rays and detects reflection by the hand 36, heat and infrared rays radiated from a human body, inductance and capacitance due to approach of a human body. When the 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 body 20 is a flat hollow cylindrical body having substantially the same size as the base portion 16, and a blower 39
And the base portion is swingably attached to the upper end of the base portion 16 via the hinge portion 18 so that the base portion can be moved closer to the base portion 16 fixed to the wall surface 12. The rotation position is changed to a hand dryer mode in which the outlet 40 is directed obliquely downward as indicated by the dashed line and a hair dryer mode in which the outlet 40 is directed substantially horizontally as indicated by the dashed line. At least 2
It can be changed to stages.

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

The blower 52 performs full-wave rectification of the commercial AC voltage 56 input through the power plug 54 by the diode bridge 58, and then applies it to the DC motor 62 through the noise filter 60 to drive the DC motor 62. 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 in a stepless manner by controlling the phase of the voltage applied to the heater 50 by a 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 two of 74a and 74b.
In other words, the relay contacts 80 and 82 are switched by the signal 38 sent from the detection unit 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 is kept on. 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 heating 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 which can detect the rotation operation of the dryer main 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 for rotatably connecting the dryer main body 20 to the base section 16, while the hinge section 1 is connected to 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, and 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 stepped down through the two motor resistors 92 and 96 and subjected to half-wave rectification by the diode 98 is applied to the blower unit 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 base 16 with
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 lit to stand by. 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 a 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 main body 20, in which two outlets 40 are provided on both sides around a fan 66 of the blower 52, and near the 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 switching may be manually performed by a switch provided separately.

The change of the position of the dryer body 20 with respect to the base 16 is not limited to swinging, but may be changed such that the dryer body 20 can be horizontally moved or rotated in a bellows manner while maintaining a 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 may be provided to place the side section of the base section 16, etc. in a suitable place, on the dryer body 20, or separately. It can be changed in the state.

Further, if the start and the 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 detector 32 may be arranged and configured as appropriate. Can be changed. For example, if the air is blown only for a set time by one switch-on, it is not necessary to directly detect that the hand is held, and the detection unit 32 can be arranged at an arbitrary 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 hot air that simply heats the surrounding air, the hand is dried in a short time due to the humidity of the hot air itself, regardless of the increase in the air volume. Can be difficult. 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 11 Operation part 20 Dryer main body 24 Blow switch 28 Display part 32 1st detection part 34 Control part 40 Blow-off port 48 Heat generation part 50 Heater 52 Blow part 62 Motor 66 Fan

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-216507 (JP, A) JP-A-2-252405 (JP, A) JP-A-3-65503 (JP, U) JP-A-1 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 dryer body (20) provided with an air outlet (40) for blowing air (39), and an air blower in the dryer body (20) that enables air to be blown toward the air outlet (40). Section (52), and the air volume is controlled by the operating section (1)
A hair dryer mode in which the setting can be manually changed according to 1) and a hand dryer mode in which the substantially maximum air volume of the blower section (52) is automatically set are provided, and both modes can be alternatively selected. Control unit (34)
When detecting that a part of the human body approaches when the control unit (34) selects the hand dryer mode, the control unit (34) sends a signal (38) to the control unit (34) to automatically execute air blowing in the hand dryer mode. And a first detection unit (32).