JP6116750B2 - Hand dryer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hand dryer for drying wet hands after washing.

  Conventionally, instead of wiping the wet hands after washing with a towel or handkerchief, etc., the wet hands are inserted into the hand insertion section, and water that adheres to the hands by jetting a high-speed air flow into the inserted hands. A hand-drying device that blows away the hands to dry the hands is used.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a hand drying apparatus that includes a capacitance type human body detection sensor that detects a human body from a signal determination unit by detecting a change in capacitance due to the approach of a human body.

JP 2013-099396 A

  The hand drying device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 operates by detecting a user's hand based on a change in capacitance when the user's hand is inserted into a hand insertion unit. When a touch switch using such a capacitance type detection sensor is used as an operation switch for setting an apparatus, a detection electrode for detecting a change in capacitance is arranged inside the case. It is necessary to determine whether or not the user's hand has been touched (operated) by using the detection electrode in the casing. For this reason, in order to improve detection accuracy, it is important to keep the positional relationship between the detection electrode and the casing surface that forms the operation unit constant. In particular, if a gap is generated between the casing and the detection electrode, the dielectric constant is increased. Greatly reduces the detection accuracy.

  On the other hand, the front cover on the front surface of the housing of the hand dryer is generally attached and detached to access a power supply terminal block and an electric circuit arranged inside the product at the time of maintenance or construction. Since the front cover is detachable, when the detection electrode is provided on the front cover, it is necessary to connect the detection electrode and the control unit in the main body with a detachable conductive wire, but the longer the conductive wire is, the more conductive it becomes. Since the capacitance of the line becomes large, it becomes difficult to detect the capacitance change at the detection electrode. For this reason, it is necessary to fix the detection electrode inside the main body, and the operation surface (the part touched by the finger) and the detection electrode cannot be fixed to each other.

  Therefore, in a hand dryer that has a touch switch using a capacitance type detection sensor placed on the front of the case where it is most easy to operate, the positional relationship between the case and the detection electrode is appropriate by opening and closing the front cover. However, there is a problem that the detection accuracy is lowered, thereby causing problems such as malfunction and inability to detect.

  This invention is made in view of the above, Comprising: Obtaining the hand dryer which the detection sensor based on the electrostatic capacitance change comprised by the detachable component and the detection electrode can detect operation stably stably. Objective.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a case in which a user inserts a hand insertion portion and a blower opening leading to the hand insertion portion, and is installed inside the case. A blower that generates an airflow and a hand detection sensor that detects that a user's hand has been inserted into the hand insertion unit, and the blower is generated when the hand detection sensor detects the user's hand. A hand-drying device that jets the airflow from the blower opening to the hand insertion portion, the front panel being detachable on the front surface of the housing and provided with an operation portion for changing the device settings; A holder installed at a position corresponding to the operation unit on the back surface, an electrode unit that is held by the holder and detects a change in capacitance that occurs when the operation unit is operated by a user, and electrostatic that is generated in the electrode unit A control unit for controlling the blower motor based on the change in capacity; Comprising, as the electrode portion comes into contact with the rear surface of the front panel, characterized by holding the electrode portion by the holder.

  The hand dryer according to the present invention has an effect that the positional relationship between the housing and the electrode unit is maintained in an appropriate state, and the detection sensor can detect the operation accurately and stably based on the change in capacitance.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a hand dryer as an embodiment of a hand dryer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the hand dryer according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the hand dryer according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a front view of the hand dryer with the front panel removed. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the lower part of the hand dryer. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the operation unit. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of a cross section of the operation unit. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the operation unit. FIG. 9 is a rear view of the front panel. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view of the lower part of the rear surface of the front panel. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of the structure of the operation unit. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating still another example of the structure of the operation unit.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a hand dryer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In addition, the shape and dimension of each structural member in each drawing do not limit the present invention.

Embodiment.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a hand dryer as an embodiment of a hand dryer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the hand dryer according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the hand dryer according to the embodiment. The housing 10 of the hand dryer 1 includes a rear flange (rear overhanging portion, an overhanging portion far from the user) 21 and a front flange (front overhanging portion, an overhanging portion close to the user) that are arranged in the front-rear direction with respect to the user. ) 22 and the hand insertion part 9 is formed between them. The hand dryer 1 is a capacitance type detection sensor 8 (a front side detection sensor 8a, a rear side detection) for detecting the presence / absence of the user's hand in the hand insertion unit 9 and detecting the dryness of the hand inserted by the user. The sensor 8b), the blower unit 2 including a blower motor for forming dry air for drying the wet hand of the user inserted in the hand insertion unit 9, and the hand insertion unit 9 are irradiated with ultraviolet rays. The illumination unit 3 includes an illumination lamp that sterilizes or sterilizes the surface of the user's hand. In addition, the illumination part 3 may be provided also in the back flange 21, and you may enable it to irradiate a back surface side of a user's hand with an ultraviolet-ray.

  The hand dryer 1 has air outlets 5 a and 5 b in the rear flange 21 and the front flange 22 of the housing 10, respectively, and dry air blown from the air blower 2 is formed inside the rear flange 21 and the front flange 22. Further, the air is blown out from the air blowing ports 5a and 5b through the front exhaust duct 62 and the rear exhaust duct 63 toward both sides of the user's palm and back of the hand.

  In addition, the blower motor of the blower unit 2 can adopt any one as long as it forms dry air in order to dry wet hands, and can freely adjust the air volume by controlling the rotation speed. It is. Further, the blower unit 2 may not be a blower motor, but may be a compressor that stores compressed air in a tank and controls the variable valve by opening and closing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 10 has air blowing ports 5 a and 5 b for blowing dry air formed by the air blowing unit 2 toward the hand inserting unit 9, facing the hand inserting unit 9. The heater 4 is provided between the air blower 2 and the air outlets 5a and 5b, and heats the dry air formed by the air blower 2 so as not to feel a cold wind even in winter or the like to warm the air. The blower ports 5a and 5b may be configured by a plurality of small holes arranged in a straight line in the side surface direction, or may be configured by a long and narrow slit in the side surface direction. However, the speed of the air blown from the small holes or the slit-shaped air outlets 5a and 5b may be increased.

  The detection sensor 8 is connected to the control unit 30 and is adjacent to the inner wall of the housing 10, and a printed wiring board on which a conductive wire is printed on a printed circuit board (PCB) is disposed on the front flange 22 side. The rear flange 21 is fixed as a rear detection sensor 8b. When the hand dryer 1 is activated, the user tends to move the hand to the vicinity of the air outlets 5a and 5b from which the drying air is blown in the hope that the hand will be dried early, so that the user's hand can be detected more easily. In addition, in order to easily detect a change in the amount of moisture attached to the user's hand, the detection sensor 8 is formed in the hand insertion portion 9 so as to be disposed at least in the vicinity of the air blowing ports 5a and 5b. It is preferable.

  Next, a capacitance type detection sensor will be described. The control unit 30 is connected to the detection sensor 8, a drain conductive plate (not shown), a dryness display unit (not shown), the operation board 15, the display unit 13, the air blowing unit 2, and the heater 4. The control unit 30 is inserted into the manual insertion unit 9 based on the detection unit 31 to which the detection sensor 8 is connected and detects the capacitance generated in the detection sensor 8, and the capacitance value detected by the detection unit 31. A dryness detection means 32 for detecting and determining the dryness of the hand, a hand detection means 33 for determining the presence or absence of a hand in the hand insertion portion 9 based on the capacitance value detected by the detection means 31, and a dryness detection Based on the detection result of the means 32 or the hand detection means 33, the display part 13, the drying condition display part not shown, the control part 34 which controls operation | movement of the ventilation part 2, the heater 4, etc. are provided. The control unit 34 detects an operation on the operation unit 12 and performs a process of changing settings of the main body according to the detected operation content.

  A drain conductive plate (not shown) is also connected to the detection means 31, and a water amount detection means (not shown) provided in the control unit 30 is based on the change in capacitance detected by the detection means 31. The control unit 34 controls the display unit 13 to display full water based on the detection result of a water amount detection unit (not shown).

  A holder 16 is fixed to the front surface of the control unit 30. The holder 16 will be described later.

  Next, the operation unit will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation unit 12 is provided at the lower front portion of the front panel 11. By adjoining the display unit 13 in the vicinity of the operation unit 12, the operated state can be displayed and confirmed by an LED (Light Emitting Diode). The operation unit 12 is long in the width direction of the housing 10 and can be operated to turn on / off the power, adjust the air volume, turn on / off the heater 4, and switch the mode when the water is full. Further, when it is desired to prohibit the operation, the operation prohibition can be switched.

The operation unit 12, on-off switch 12a, air flow adjustment switch 12b, the heater switch 12c, the key lock switch 12d and the full Mizumo Dosuitchi 12e is provided. ON OFF switch 12a is a switch for switching on and off of operation. Even if the on / off switch 12a is in the “off” state, the hand detection by the front detection sensor 8a and the rear detection sensor 8b is merely invalidated, and the power supply to the control circuit is not shut off. The air volume adjustment switch 12 b is a switch that adjusts the air volume during operation of the blower unit 2. The heater switch 12c is a switch for switching between on and off the heater 4. Key lock switch 12d is a switch for setting the key lock state to disable the operation of the on-off switch 12a, air flow adjustment switch 12b, the heater switch 12c and the full Mizumo Dosuitchi 12e. The full water mode switch 12e is a switch for setting an operation mode when the drain tank 7 is full. In addition, a display unit 13 is provided above the various switches to display the state of the apparatus (setting state of each switch) with LEDs.

The display unit 13 includes an on / off switch 12a, an air volume adjustment switch 12b, a heater switch 12c, a key above the on / off switch 12a, the air volume adjustment switch 12b, the heater switch 12c, the key lock switch 12d, and the full water mode switch 12e. LED lamps 13a _{1 to} 13e for notifying the respective states set by the lock switch 12d and the full water mode switch 12e are provided. The on / off switch 12a is provided with LED lamps 13a ₁ and 13a ₂ corresponding to the display characters “ON” and “OFF”, respectively. When the LED lamps 13a ₁ and 13a ₂ are turned on, The state which the driving | running | working is turned on or is turned off is alert | reported. In addition, five LED lamps 13b _{1 to} 13b ₅ are arranged in a horizontal row above the air volume adjustment switch 12b, and notify the magnitude of the air volume blown out from the air blowing ports 5a and 5b. By lighting in order from the left, it is informing that the air volume is large.

  Further, an LED lamp 13c is provided above the heater switch 12c. The LED lamp 13c is lit when the heater 4 for heating the air blown from the air blowing ports 5a and 5b is “ON”, and when the heater 4 is “OFF”. The light is turned off to notify the heater 4 on / off state. Further, an LED lamp 13d is provided above the key lock switch 12d. The LED lamp 13d is turned on when the key lock is set, and is turned off when the key lock is not set. Is displayed. An LED lamp 13e is provided above the full water mode switch 12e. For example, the LED lamp 13e is turned on when the drain tank 7 is set to a mode for stopping the operation when the drain tank 7 is full, and the operation is performed when the drain tank 7 is full. If the mode is set to continue, the light is turned off to notify the operation mode when the water is full.

  Capacitance switches change the capacitance depending on the contact area of the finger, so the change in capacitance increases by touching the finger firmly, but if you touch it lightly or touch the end of the capacitance switch, The change in capacitance is small. Further, in the capacitance switch, when a conductor such as water is touched, the capacitance changes in the same manner as when touched with a finger. In the case of small water droplets, the change in capacitance is small, but when a large water droplet passing through the main body passes over the capacitance switch, the change in capacitance is slightly large.

Here, in order to prevent erroneous detection due to the adhesion of water , if the detection threshold value of the switch is set high, it is impossible to detect only by lightly touching the switch. Conversely, if the threshold value is set low, it is erroneously detected that a finger touches when a large water droplet adheres. In addition, large water droplets that travel through the main body are removed in a short time without staying on the capacitance switch. Therefore, when a change exceeding the threshold value continues for a certain period of time, detection is performed to prevent false detection. However, it is necessary to touch the capacitance switch for a certain period of time during operation. In the case of a switch that needs to be operated a plurality of times, such as the air volume adjustment switch 12b, the operability deteriorates as the operation time per operation becomes longer.

Therefore, in the hand dryer 1, the time required to accept the operation is changed depending on the function of the switch to be operated. On-off switch 12a, but all the same air volume adjustment switch 12b and the required time for key lock setting of the switching and the key lock switch 12d of the heater switch 12c, the key lock release only when necessary time in the key lock switch 12d For example, the operation is not accepted unless the touch is continued for about 2 seconds or longer. By doing so, it is possible to maintain the operability as well as possible and prevent malfunction due to the flow of water droplets.

Next, an outline of the operation will be described. The state in which the red LED lamp 13a ₁ corresponding to “OFF” of the on / off switch 12a of the operation unit 12 is lit is a state in which the operation of the hand dryer 1 is turned off. First, when touching a finger to the on-off switch 12a, operating on-off switch 12a is operated is turned on, along with the LED lamps 13a ₂ corresponding to "ON" is turned on, the red LED lamp 13a corresponding to "Off" ₁ goes off. When the operation is turned on, the hand dryer 1 is ready for use at any time. Therefore, if a wet hand is inserted into the hand insertion part 9, the front detection sensor 8a and the rear detection sensor 8b detect the hand and operate the air blowing part 2, and air is blown out from the air blowing ports 5a and 5b. Can be dried.

When the operation is turned on, the LED lamps 13b _{1 to} 13b ₅ corresponding to the air volume adjustment switch 12b, the LED lamp 13c corresponding to the heater switch 12c, and the LED lamp 13d corresponding to the key lock switch 12d are at that time. Depending on the setting state, the light remains on or off, and the respective setting state is notified. When the on / off switch 12a of the operation unit 12 is touched while the operation is on, the power of the hand dryer 1 is turned off, the LED lamp 13a ₁ corresponding to “OFF” of the display unit 13 is lit, and “ON” LED lamp 13a ₂ corresponding to the LED lamp 13b is turned off, LED lamps 13b _{1 to} 13b ₅ corresponding to the air volume adjustment switch 12b, the LED lamp 13c corresponding to the heater switch 12c, and the LED lamp 13d corresponding to the key lock switch 12d are all turned off. To do.

Only when the operation is on, the air volume adjustment switch 12b, the heater switch 12c, and the key lock switch 12d of the operation unit 12 can be received. When the air volume adjustment switch 12b is touched while the operation is on, the air volume increases by one step each time the air volume adjustment switch 12b is touched, and the corresponding LED lamps 13b _{1 to} 13b ₅ are lit in order from the left. The air volume is provided in five stages, which means that the state in which all the _five LED lamps 13b _{1 to} 13b ₅ arranged side by side are lit is set to the maximum air volume. If the air volume adjustment switch 12b is further operated once in the state where the maximum air volume is set, the flow returns to the minimum air volume, and only the leftmost LED lamp 13b ₁ is turned on among the _five LED lamps 13b _{1 to} 13b ₅ arranged side by side. The remaining LED lamps 13b ₂ , 13b ₃ , 13b ₄ , 13b ₅ are turned off.

Touching the heater switch 12c in a state where the driver is turned on, the heater 4 and the "ON" can be switched between "Off", if setting state of the heater 4 is "ON", the heater 4 is operated The corresponding LED lamp 13c is lit. If the heater 4 is set to “OFF”, the heater 4 does not operate and the LED lamp 13c is turned off. Switching of the input and a switching of the heater 4 is repeated in the order each time to put the heater switch 12b and "ON" and "OFF".

  When the key lock switch 12d is touched while the operation is on, the key lock setting can be switched. When the key lock is set, the corresponding LED lamp 13d blinks, and when the key lock is not set, the corresponding LED lamp 13d is turned off. When the key lock switch 12d is touched in a state where the key lock is not set, the key lock is set, and when the key lock switch 12d is touched in the state where the key lock is set, the key lock is released.

When the key lock is set, the acceptance of all the operations of the on / off switch 12a, the air volume adjustment switch 12b, the heater switch 12c, and the full water mode switch 12e of the operation unit 12 as operation switches is prohibited. For this reason, in the state where the key lock is set, the operation is not accepted even if any of the on / off switch 12a, the air volume adjustment switch 12b, the heater switch 12c and the full water mode switch 12e is touched, and the setting is switched. And cannot be changed.

  When the full water mode switch 12e is touched while the operation is on, the operation mode when the drain tank 7 is full can be switched. For example, it is possible to switch between a mode in which the operation is stopped when the drain tank 7 is full and a mode in which the operation is continued. For example, if the setting state is such that the operation is stopped when the drain tank 7 is full, the corresponding LED lamp 13e is lit. If the setting state is such that the operation is continued when the drain tank 7 is full, the LED lamp 13e is turned off.

Next, the operation of the hand dryer 1 will be described. A user of the hand dryer 1 stands on the front side of the hand dryer 1 and inserts a wet hand into the hand insertion portion 9 through an opening provided at the top of the hand dryer 1. Then, the detecting means 31 detects that the capacitance has changed in the front side detection sensor 8a and the rear side detection sensor 8b due to the inserted hand in the lower part (back side) of the hand insertion part 9. The hand detection means 33 determines that a hand is inserted in the hand insertion portion 9 . Thereby, the control means 34 gives an instruction | indication so that the ventilation part 2 may start a driving | operation. When the air blowing unit 2 is activated, external air from which dust has been removed by passing through the air filter 51 is sucked from the air intake port 50, and this air is sucked into the air intake side of the air blowing unit 2 through the air intake duct 52. The air blowing unit 2 generates high-pressure air from the air thus sucked.

  The high-pressure air whose pressure has been increased by the blower 2 is exhausted into the exhaust chamber 60 from the exhaust side of the blower 2. At this time, when the heater switch 12 c is on, a part of the high-pressure air is heated by passing through the heater 4. The high-pressure air heated by passing through the heater 4 and the high-pressure air not passing through the heater 4 after passing through the exhaust port 61 are mixed, and the front exhaust duct 62 and the rear exhaust are mixed. It divides into a duct 63 and flows. The high-pressure air of warm air that has been divided and passed through the front exhaust duct 62 and the rear exhaust duct 63 is converted from the high-pressure air by the air blowing port 5a provided in the front flange 22 and the air blowing port 5b provided in the rear flange 21, respectively. Converted to air. And this high-speed air of warm air is jetted in the manual insertion part 9 from the ventilation openings 5a and 5b.

  Since a plurality of the air blowing ports 5a and 5b are installed substantially linearly in the width direction of the hand insertion portion 9, an air curtain shape extending in the width direction of the hand insertion portion 9 near the opening of the hand insertion portion 9 High-speed air is ejected. The air curtain-like high-speed air hits both the back and palm of the user's wrist inserted in the hand insertion unit 9 or the vicinity of the wrist, and water adhering to the front and back of the hand is blown off as water droplets. .

  At that time, the ejection direction of the air blowing ports 5 a and 5 b is inclined slightly downward from the horizontal direction and is directed toward the back side of the hand insertion portion 9. For this reason, the high-speed air ejected from the air blowing ports 5a and 5b is also ejected toward a direction inclined slightly downward from the horizontal direction, that is, toward the back side of the hand insertion portion 9. In other words, high-speed air collides at an angle inclined toward the fingertip direction (downward) rather than perpendicular to the hand. Accordingly, most of the high-speed air ejected from the air blowing ports 5a and 5b collides with the hand and then flows along the hand from the wrist toward the fingertip, and much of the water adhering to the hand also flows along the hand from the wrist to the fingertip. Flows in the direction. Then, the water that has reached the fingertip is peeled off from the fingertip in the vicinity of the bottom portion of the hand insertion portion 9 to form water droplets, and most of the water is blown down downward, that is, toward the bottom wall 9c of the hand insertion portion 9.

The water droplets blown off from the wet hand and peeled hit the front wall 9a, the rear wall 9b or the bottom wall 9c of the hand insertion portion 9 . Then, water droplets striking the front wall 9a and rear wall 9 b flows down towards the bottom wall 9c is a bottom of the hand insertion portion 9, the drain port (not shown) provided in the bottom wall 9c of the hand insertion portion 9 From the drainage tank 64 through the drainage channel 64.

  The detection means 31 detects that the user's hand has been pulled out of the hand insertion portion 9 and the capacitance change in the front hand detection sensor 8a and the rear hand detection sensor 8b has disappeared. If it determines with the hand not being inserted in 9, the control means 34 will stop the ventilation part 2. FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a front view of the hand dryer with the front panel removed. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the lower part of the hand dryer. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the operation unit. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of a cross section of the operation unit. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the operation unit. The front panel 11 is formed of synthetic resin such as ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) material, PC (polycarbonate) material, or an alloy material thereof. The thickness of the operation unit 12 which is a part of the front panel 11 is thicker than the thickness of the front panel 11 other than the operation unit 12 and is about 2.5 to 4.0 mm. Since the front panel 11 is a resin molded product, deformation and twisting may occur. In this case, in order to prevent the operation board 15 and the operation unit 12 from contacting at an angle, in other words, in order to allow the operation unit 12 and the electrode 14 to contact in parallel, the wall thickness is increased. It is preferable.

  On the back side (the product back side) of the operation unit 12, an electrode 14 for detecting a change in capacitance is disposed. The electrode 14 is printed on the operation board 15 and fixed to the front side of the control unit 30 via the holder 16. A spacer 17 is arranged between the front panel 11 and the electrode 14 so as not to generate a gap. The spacer 17 may be made of a flexible conductive rubber material or another material having conductivity. This is because detection accuracy of a hand or a finger is lowered when a space is generated between the front panel 11 and the electrode 14. When the spacer 17 having the conductive spacer 17 disposed between the back surface of the front panel 11 and the electrode 14 is deformed, the distance between the back surface of the front panel 11 and the electrode 14 is maintained at a constant distance. The space between them can be filled. Since the spacer 17 is made of a conductive material, the electrode 14 for detecting a change in capacitance is in the same state as protruding from the back side of the front panel 11, as if the electrode 14 is on the back side of the front panel 11. It can be considered that it touches. If the electrode 14 can be closely attached to the back surface of the front panel 11 without a gap, a structure in which the spacer 17 is omitted may be employed.

  Next, a method for fixing the front panel 11 and the holder 16 will be described. FIG. 9 is a rear view of the front panel. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view of the lower part of the rear surface of the front panel. The front panel 11 is provided with a fitting portion (not shown) to be fixed to the housing 10 at the lower end portion of the front panel 11 so that the front panel 11 can be removed during construction and maintenance of the hand dryer 1. When the front panel 11 is removed, it is removed after loosening a screw in a fitting portion (not shown). A protrusion 41 is provided on the back side of the front panel 11 at a portion facing the holder 16 so as not to generate a gap between the front panel 11 and the electrode 14. Further, on the holder 16 side, there is provided a clamping portion 42 that clamps the projection 41 of the front panel 11 when the projection 41 of the front panel 11 is inserted with the front panel 11 closed.

  When the protrusion 41 is inserted, the sandwiching part 42 is expanded by the protrusion 41 and elastically deformed, so that the distance between the front panel 11 and the electrode 14 can be kept constant. Furthermore, the protrusion 41 has a maximum width at the intermediate portion, and the width of the base portion (that is, the boundary portion with the front panel 11) is narrower than that of the intermediate portion. For this reason, when the protrusion 41 is inserted into the holding part 42, the front panel 11 is stabilized by the protrusion 41 and the holding part 42 in a state where the tip of the holding part 42 is located at the base part of the protrusion 41. It is always pulled to the back side. Thereby, since no space is generated between the front panel 11 and the electrode 14, the operation at the operation unit 12 is stably detected. Further, even if the user forgets to tighten the screw by mistake during construction or maintenance, no gap is generated between the front panel 11 and the electrode 14, and the operation at the operation unit 12 can be detected stably. Furthermore, since the front panel 11 is firmly fixed to the housing 10 even without screws, the workability can be improved without using screws.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of the structure of the operation unit. A description of the same parts as those in FIG. 8 is omitted. The electrode 14 is made of a metal that can expand and contract in the front-rear direction, such as a spring or a leaf spring. In the electrode 14, it is preferable that the area of the contact portion with the front panel 11 and the contact portion with the operation substrate 15 is large and the plate thickness is thick because the detection sensitivity is improved.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating still another example of the structure of the operation unit. A description of the same parts as those in FIG. 8 is omitted. The operation board 15 is fixed so as to be extendable and retractable by interposing a spring in the holder 16. Although an example using a spring is given here, the same effect can be obtained even if another member is used as long as it is a stretchable member.

  In the above description, the configuration including the front side detection sensor 8a and the rear side detection sensor 8b is taken as an example, but the configuration including only one of them may be used.

  As described above, the hand dryer according to the present invention is useful in that it can accurately detect a change in capacitance that occurs when the user operates the operation unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hand dryer, 2 ventilation part, 3 illumination part, 4 heater, 5a, 5b ventilation opening, 7 drainage tank, 8 detection sensor, 8a front side detection sensor, 8b back side detection sensor, 9 hand insertion part, 9a front wall, 9b Rear wall, 9c bottom wall, 10 housing, 11 front panel, 12 operation section, 12a on / off switch, 12b air volume adjustment switch, 12c heater switch, 12d key lock switch, 12e full water mode switch, 13 display section, 13a ₁ , _{13a 2, 13b 1, 13b 2} , 13b 3, 13b 4, 13b 5, 13c, 13d, 13e LED lamp, 14 electrodes, 15 operation panel, 16 holder, 17 spacers, 21 aft flange 22 forward flange, 30 control unit 31 detection means 32 dry condition detection means 33 hand detection means 34 control means 41 projection part 42 clamping part , 50 Intake port, 51 Air filter, 52 Intake duct, 60 Exhaust chamber, 61 Exhaust port, 62 Front exhaust duct, 63 Rear exhaust duct, 64 Drainage channel.

Claims (8)

A hand insertion part into which a user can insert a hand, a housing in which a ventilation opening leading to the hand insertion part is formed, a blower part that is installed inside the housing and generates an air current, and a user in the hand insertion part A hand detection sensor for detecting that the hand has been inserted, and when the hand detection sensor detects a user's hand, the air flow generated by the blower is transmitted from the blower opening to the hand inserter. A hand dryer for spraying,
A front panel that is detachable on the front surface of the housing and provided with an operation unit for changing device settings;
A holder installed at a position corresponding to the operation unit on the back of the front panel;
Held by the holder, the electrodes of the operation unit detects a change in capacitance caused when operated by a user,
Based on the change in capacitance caused in the electrodes, and a control unit for controlling the blowing section,
As the electrodes are in contact with the rear surface of the front panel, a hand drying apparatus characterized by holding the electrodes by the holder.   The hand dryer according to claim 1, wherein the front panel is positioned in the front-rear direction by the holder. A protrusion provided in a portion facing the holder on the back side of the front panel;
And a clamping portion provided on the back side of the front panel to mate with the protrusion,
The hand dryer according to claim 2, wherein the front panel is positioned in the front-rear direction by contacting a tip portion of the protrusion and a bottom portion of the clamping portion.   The hand-drying device according to claim 3, wherein the clamping unit urges the protrusion in a rearward direction of the device. Wherein the rear side of the front panel, hand dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, portions corresponding to the electrodes is characterized in that it is a thicker than other portions. The hand drying apparatus according to the conductive elastic members from claim 1, characterized in that interposed in any one of the 5 between the rear and the electrodes of the front panel. The electrodes are hand drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the metal formed into expandable shape in the longitudinal direction of the device. The electrodes are arranged on one side of the operation panel,
The said operation board is being fixed to the said holder via the elastic member, and is urged | biased by the said elastic panel at the said front panel side, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Hand dryer.