JP6205779B2 - Hand dryer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hand drying device that blows air on a user's hand to dry it.

  In recent years, toilets and washrooms in public facilities such as railway stations, hotels, movie theaters and large commercial facilities have been equipped with hand-drying equipment that inserts wet hands after washing with water and automatically dries with the air blown out. is set up. As a general-purpose hand-drying apparatus, one described in Patent Document 1 below is known.

  In the hand drying device described in Patent Document 1 below, when a user inserts a wet hand into a concave hand drying chamber (hand insertion portion), high-pressure air blows out from the nozzle, and the water adhering to the hand is removed. Blow away with air to dry. The air blown out from the nozzle is supplied from a blower (high-pressure airflow generator) arranged on the upstream side. This blower is composed of a motor (DC brushless motor) and a turbo fan. When the turbo fan is rotated by driving the motor, air is sucked from the outside of the hand dryer and blown to the nozzle side.

  Although there is no explicit description in Patent Document 1 below, a heater that heats air blown from the blower is generally provided in the blower passage (exhaust passage) that communicates the blower and the nozzle. Thereby, the air blown out from the nozzle becomes warm air, and the drying of the user's hand is promoted.

JP 2010-237781 A

  In the manual drying device that heats the air with the heater as described above, for example, when dust is clogged in the air suction path of the blower, the amount of air flowing through the motor and the heater is less than normal, and the temperature The problem of excessively rising can occur. In other words, although the same electric power as normal is supplied to the motor and heater, the amount of flowing air is reduced compared to normal, so the motor and heater are not cooled by air and higher than normal. It becomes temperature. As a result, there is a possibility that the motor or the heater breaks down, or that abnormally high air temperature is blown from the nozzle to the user's hand. Therefore, in the conventional hand dryer, a plurality of temperature sensors (temperature detection units) that detect the temperatures of the motor and the heater are provided, and the motor and the heater are controlled based on the temperature detected by each temperature sensor. Therefore, it has been generally performed to prevent the occurrence of the abnormality.

  However, in such a conventional hand drying apparatus, there are problems that providing a plurality of temperature sensors increases the manufacturing cost and makes the configuration complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and its purpose is to reduce the number of temperature detection units to be provided and suppress an increase in manufacturing cost, while also preventing motor and heater failures due to excessive temperature rise. An object of the present invention is to provide a hand-drying device that can be prevented.

  In order to solve the above problems, a hand drying device according to the present invention is a hand drying device that blows air on a user's hand to dry the hand drying chamber, which is a space into which the user's hand is inserted; , A nozzle that blows air into the hand drying chamber, an air passage from the intake port that takes in air to the nozzle, and a fan that is placed in the air passage, and the air sucked from the intake port is hand-dried from the nozzle by driving the fan with a motor A blower that sends out air so as to blow into the chamber, a heater that is provided in the air passage on the downstream side of the blower, heats the air passing therethrough, and is provided in the air passage on the downstream side of the heater, and the temperature of the air And a control unit for controlling the blower and the heater. The control part of this invention controls a fan and a heater based on the temperature which a temperature detection part detects.

  In the hand dryer according to the present invention, the motor and the heater of the blower are provided in the air passage, and the temperature detection unit is provided in the air passage on the downstream side thereof. Even if either one of the motor and the heater is overheated, the temperature of the air that flows to the downstream side of the air passage through heat exchange with them increases, so the temperature detected by the temperature detector is higher than normal. High value will be shown.

  Therefore, according to the hand dryer according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the excessive temperature rise of the motor and the heater while reducing the number of temperature detecting portions to be provided and suppressing an increase in manufacturing cost. By controlling the motor and heater based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit, it is possible to prevent malfunctions of the motor and heater due to excessive temperature rise and situations where excessively heated air is blown to the user's hand. Is possible.

  In the hand dryer according to the present invention, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or higher than the first temperature, the control unit executes the first control for reducing the output of the heater, and executes the first control. It is also preferable to execute the second control for stopping the driving of the motor when the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or higher than the second temperature after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  In this preferable aspect, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit increases and becomes equal to or higher than the first temperature, the first control is performed to decrease the output of the heater. Therefore, when an excessive temperature rise occurs in at least one of the motor and the heater, first, by reducing the output of the heater that has a high contribution to the temperature rise of the air, the heater malfunctions due to the excessive temperature rise or the temperature rises excessively. It is possible to prevent the warm air from being blown onto the user's hand.

  When only the heater has caused the excessive temperature rise, the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit tends to slow or decrease after the first control is executed. However, if a high temperature is still detected after the execution of the first control, the motor is overheated. Therefore, after the predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the first control, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or higher than the second temperature, the second control for stopping the motor is executed, whereby the motor caused by excessive temperature rise Can be prevented.

  The first temperature and the second temperature can be determined based on the characteristics of the motor and the heater, but are not necessarily different temperatures.

  In the hand dryer according to the present invention, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or higher than the first temperature, the control unit executes the first control for reducing the output of the heater, and executes the first control. It is also preferable to execute the third control for stopping the driving of the motor when the amount of increase in the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit per unit time is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  In this preferable aspect, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit increases and becomes equal to or higher than the first temperature, the first control is performed to decrease the output of the heater. Therefore, when an excessive temperature rise occurs in at least one of the motor and the heater, first, by reducing the output of the heater that has a high contribution to the temperature rise of the air, the heater malfunctions due to the excessive temperature rise or the temperature rises excessively. It is possible to prevent the warm air from being blown onto the user's hand.

  When only the heater has been overheated, the temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit tends to slow down or decrease after the first control is executed. Show. However, if the temperature rises significantly even after the execution of the first control, the motor is overheated. Therefore, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the first control, if the amount of increase in temperature detected by the temperature detection unit per unit time is greater than or equal to the predetermined amount, the third control for stopping the motor is executed. Thus, it is possible to suppress a motor failure due to excessive temperature rise.

  Here, since control is performed based on the amount of increase in temperature detected by the temperature detection unit per unit time, it is possible to quickly determine whether or not to stop the motor before the temperature rises greatly, and more reliably. Motor failure can be suppressed.

In the hand drying apparatus according to the present invention, the control unit is configured to predetermined time from the execution of the first control has elapsed, it is also preferable not to perform a control the second system.
In the hand dryer according to the present invention, it is also preferable that the control unit does not execute the third control until a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the first control.

In this preferable aspect, the second time is maintained until a predetermined time elapses from the execution of the first control.
Control does not execute the control. Moreover, in this preferable aspect, the third control is not executed until a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the first control. For a while after the output of the heater is lowered, the temperature of the air on the downstream side of the heater tends to become unstable. In this preferred embodiment, by waiting for the elapse of a predetermined time, temperature instability as described above becomes a disturbance and prevents a situation in which it is erroneously determined that the motor is overheated. Can do.

  In the hand dryer according to the present invention, it is also preferable that the temperature detection unit is provided in the vicinity of the nozzle.

  In this preferable aspect, by providing the temperature detection unit in the vicinity of the nozzle, it is possible to detect a temperature close to the temperature of the air blown from the nozzle to the user's hand. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent a situation in which excessively heated air is blown onto the user's hand.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the failure of a motor and a heater by excessive temperature rising, etc. can be prevented, suppressing the increase in manufacturing cost by reducing the number of the temperature detection parts to provide.

It is a perspective view of the hand-drying apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing in the AA cross section of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the hand drying flow of the hand drying apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the hand drying flow of the hand drying apparatus which concerns on another embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible in the drawings, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, a hand dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hand dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

  The hand dryer HD is installed with its back surface in contact with a wall surface W such as a toilet room, and includes a function unit 10 and a water receiving unit 20 provided below the function unit 10. A hand drying chamber 30 that is concave toward the wall surface W is formed between the functional unit 10 and the water receiving unit 20.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the functional unit 10 includes a first case 110 that forms a space therein, an inner case 130 that is disposed in the first case 110, and a blower 120 that is accommodated in the inner case 130. And a heater 190. A hand detection sensor 150 and a control device 160 are disposed below the inner case 130 inside the first case 110, and a nozzle member 140 is connected to the lower portion of the inner case 130. Further, a temperature sensor 170 is disposed so as to be inserted into the nozzle member 140.

  The blower 120 has a motor 121 disposed therein and a fan (not shown) connected to the output shaft of the motor 121. The motor 121 is an electric motor that is driven when supplied with electric power, and the supply of electric power is controlled by the control device 160. Further, the motor 121 sucks air from the blower inlet 122 and takes it into the inside by rotating the fan via its output shaft. The taken-in air flows to the motor 121 side, and is blown out to the outside from a blower outlet 123 opened outside thereof.

  The hand detection sensor 150 is a sensor for detecting that a user's hand has been inserted into the hand drying chamber 30. Here, the hand drying chamber 30 is irradiated with infrared rays, and when the user's hand is inserted into the hand drying chamber 30, the infrared rays reflected by the user's hand are received. The hand is supposed to be detected. When the hand detection sensor 150 detects the insertion of the user's hand, the hand detection sensor 150 transmits a detection signal to the control device 160.

  The nozzle member 140 is connected to the inner case outlet 132 at the lower end of the inner case 130 so that the inside thereof communicates. A slit-like nozzle hole 141 is provided at the lower end of the nozzle member 140 and protrudes into the hand drying chamber 30 from the lower surface of the first case 110. Moreover, the nozzle member 140 is formed so that the internal cross-sectional area gradually decreases from the upper end portion to the lower end portion. Inside the nozzle member 140, a temperature sensor 170 is inserted from the outside, and is configured to be able to detect the temperature of air.

  The heater 190 is provided in the vicinity of the inner case outlet 132, and is configured such that air flowing from the inner case outlet 132 into the nozzle member 140 can pass through the inside. Further, the heater 190 generates heat when supplied with electric power, and can heat the air passing through the heater 190 by heat transfer. The supply of this electric power is controlled by the control device 160, and the larger the supplied electric power, the larger the output of the heater 190 and the higher the temperature of the passing air.

  The water receiver 20 includes a second case 200 that is integrally formed of a resin material, and a water receiver tray 220 that is disposed below the second case 200. The second case 200 has a back plate 201 extending along the wall surface W and a bottom plate 202 extending forward from the lower end of the back plate 201. In addition, side plates 203 are provided on both sides and front ends of the back plate 201 and the bottom plate 202 so as to project forward or upward. The second case 200 configured in this way and the lower surface of the first case 110 define a hand drying chamber 30 with its front and left and right sides open. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, the bottom plate 202 is provided with a drain hole 210 penetrating in the vertical direction. The water discharged downward from the drain hole 210 is configured to be stored in a water receiving tray 220 disposed below the bottom plate 202.

  The operation of the hand dryer HD configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a hand drying flow of the hand drying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  When power is supplied to the hand drying device HD, the hand detection sensor 150 irradiates the hand drying chamber 30 with infrared rays and waits for insertion of the user's hand (S101: No). When the user's wet hand is inserted into the hand drying chamber 30 and the hand detection sensor 150 detects it (S101: Yes), the hand detection sensor 150 transmits a detection signal to the control device 160. Receiving the detection signal, the control device 160 starts supplying power to the motor 121 and the heater 190, and starts driving and outputting them (S102).

  The flow of air in the hand dryer HD at this time will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 again. When the motor 121 starts driving, a fan (not shown) connected to the output shaft starts to rotate. By the rotation of the fan, air is sucked in as indicated by an arrow Fa from the first suction port 111 and the second suction port 204 provided on the side surfaces near the back surface of the functional unit 10 and the water receiving unit 20, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the air sucked from the first suction port 111 and the second suction port 204 includes a first rear air passage 112 formed by the back surface and the wall surface W of the functional unit 10, and a water receiving unit. The second rear air passage 205 formed by the rear surface of the wall 20 and the wall surface W flows toward the filter member 180 provided at the lower back surface of the functional unit 10. The filter member 180 is a mesh-like member through which air can pass, and is configured to be able to remove foreign substances contained in the air when passing.

  The air that has passed through the filter member 180 from the wall surface W side to the front side changes its flow direction upward as indicated by an arrow Fb and flows into an intake duct 181 provided downstream. Then, the air flows in the intake duct 181, and flows from the inner case inlet 131 opened toward the wall surface W side to the front as indicated by an arrow Fc and flows into the inner case 130.

  A blower 120 is accommodated in the inner case 130 with the blower inlet 122 facing the inner case inlet 131. The air passing through the inner case inlet 131 and flowing into the fan 120 from the fan inlet 122 reaches the vicinity of the motor 121. Since the motor 121 driven by the power supply generates Joule heat in its windings and the like, the air flowing in the vicinity of the motor 121 is heated to raise the temperature. The heated air is blown out from the blower outlet 123 as indicated by an arrow Fd.

  The air blown out from the blower outlet 123 flows between the blower 120 and the inner case 130 and reaches the lower inner case outlet 132. As described above, the heater 190 is disposed in the vicinity of the inner case outlet 132, and the air passes through the heater 190 and further flows to the upper end of the nozzle member 140 below. Since the heater 190 generates heat upon receiving power supply, the air passing therethrough is heated by heat transfer and further heated to flow into the nozzle member 140. The temperature detected by the temperature sensor 170 at this time is the temperature of the air heated by the motor 121 and the heater 190 and flowing into the nozzle member 140.

  As described above, the nozzle member 140 is formed so that the inner cross-sectional area gradually decreases from the upper end to the lower end. Therefore, the air flowing into the inside from the upper end portion of the nozzle member 140 is accelerated toward the lower end portion, and is blown out from the nozzle hole 141 into the hand drying chamber 30 as indicated by an arrow Fe. The wet hand (not shown) of the user inserted into the hand drying chamber 30 is dried by blowing off the adhering water by the heated and blown air.

  With reference to FIG. 3 again, the description of the manual drying flow will be continued. When the user finishes drying the hand and pulls out the hand from the hand drying chamber 30, and the hand detection sensor 150 no longer detects the presence of the hand in the hand drying chamber 30 (S103: No), the control device 160 Then, power supply to the motor 121 and the heater 190 is stopped, and driving and output thereof are stopped (S109).

  When the hand detection sensor 150 continuously detects the presence of the hand in the hand drying chamber 30 (S103: Yes), the control device 160 detects that the temperature T detected by the temperature sensor 170 is equal to or higher than the reference temperature T1. It is determined whether or not there is (S104). Then, when the temperature T is not equal to or higher than the reference temperature T1 (S104: No), neither the motor 121 nor the heater 190 is overheated, and the temperature of the air downstream thereof is not increased ( Normal). Therefore, in this case, the control device 160 continues the rotation drive of the motor 121 and the output of the heater 190.

  On the other hand, when the temperature T detected by the temperature sensor 170 is equal to or higher than the reference temperature T1 (S104: Yes), an excessive temperature rise has occurred in at least one of the motor 121 and the heater 190, and the air downstream of them is excessive. It can be determined that the temperature has risen (abnormal). Therefore, in this case, the control device 160 reduces the power supplied to the heater 190 and decreases the output (S105). This is because the output of the heater 190, which has a higher contribution to the temperature rise of the air than the motor 121, is first reduced so that the excessively heated air is not blown from the nozzle hole 141 to the user's hand. It is to do. When the hand detection sensor 150 continuously detects the presence of a hand in the hand drying chamber 30, the control device 160 continues driving the motor 121 and outputting the heater 190 (S106: Yes).

  Of the motor 121 and the heater 190, when only the heater 190 is overheated, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 170 after that is decreased by reducing the output of the heater 190 in step 105, It should show a tendency for the rise to slow or decline. However, if a high temperature continues to be detected thereafter, it can be determined that the motor 121 is overheated.

  Therefore, the control device 160 determines whether or not the temperature T detected by the temperature sensor 170 is equal to or higher than the reference temperature T2 after the time t1 has elapsed from the decrease in the output of the heater 190 (S107: Yes) (S108). . If the temperature T is equal to or higher than the reference temperature T2, the control device 160 determines that an excessive temperature rise has occurred in the motor 121, and stops the driving of the motor 121 and the output of the heater 190 (S109). Thereby, it becomes possible to suppress the failure of the motor 121 due to excessive temperature rise.

  Further, for a while after the output of the heater 190 is reduced, the temperature of the air downstream of the heater 190 tends to become unstable. However, in the hand dryer HD, the controller 160 does not determine whether the temperature T is equal to or higher than the reference temperature T2 until the time t1 has elapsed since the output of the heater 190 is decreased (S105). Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation where the temperature instability as described above becomes a disturbance and it is erroneously determined that the motor 121 is overheated.

  Furthermore, by providing the temperature sensor 170 inside the nozzle member 140, it is possible to detect a temperature close to the temperature of the air sprayed on the user's hand. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent a situation in which excessively heated air is blown onto the user's hand.

  Here, the reference temperature T1 may be a constant value, or may be a value that is changed according to the season so that accurate control can be performed regardless of temperature fluctuations.

  In step S105, the electric power supplied to the heater 190 is reduced and then output. However, as another aspect, the supply of electric power to the heater 190 is completely stopped and the subsequent output is stopped. Good.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the hand dryer which concerns on another embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. The hand drying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention is different from the hand drying apparatus according to the previous embodiment only in a part of the hand drying flow, and the other configurations are common. For this reason, in the following description, only the said different part is demonstrated and description is abbreviate | omitted about a common structure.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a hand drying flow of the hand drying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  In the manual drying flow, a step (S108 ′) of determining whether or not the temperature rise detected by the temperature sensor 170 is an amount of increase in temperature per unit time that is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount in the manual drying flow (S108 ′); The step (S107 ′) in which the time t2 is set after the output of the heater 190 is reduced until the determination of the excessive temperature rise is different from the manual drying flow of the previous embodiment.

  Of the motor 121 and the heater 190, when only the heater 190 is overheated, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 170 after that is decreased by reducing the output of the heater 190 in step 105, It should show a tendency for the rise to slow or decline. However, if the temperature rises significantly thereafter, it can be determined that the motor 121 is overheated.

  Therefore, the control device 160 determines that the increase amount ΔT / Δt per unit time of the temperature T detected by the temperature sensor 170 is equal to the reference amount L after the time t2 has elapsed from the output decrease of the heater 190 (S107 ′: Yes). It is determined whether or not this is the case (S108 ′). If ΔT / Δt is greater than or equal to the reference amount L, the control device 160 determines that the motor 121 is overheated, and stops the rotational drive of the motor 121 and the output of the heater 190 (S109). Thereby, it becomes possible to suppress the failure of the motor 121 due to excessive temperature rise.

  Further, for a while after the output of the heater 190 is reduced, the temperature of the air downstream of the heater 190 tends to become unstable. However, in the hand drying device HD of the present embodiment, the control device 160 determines that the increase amount ΔT / Δt of the temperature T per unit time is equal to or greater than the reference amount L until the time t2 has elapsed since the output decrease of the heater 190 (S105). Do not make any judgments. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation where the temperature instability as described above becomes a disturbance and it is erroneously determined that the motor 121 is overheated.

  Further, in the hand dryer according to this another embodiment, since the control is performed based on the increase amount ΔT / Δt of the temperature T detected by the temperature sensor 170 per unit time, the motor 121 is increased before the temperature rises greatly. It is possible to quickly determine whether it is necessary to stop. Further, the time t2 provided in step S107 'is shorter than the time t1 provided in step S107 of the previous embodiment, so that a motor failure can be more reliably suppressed.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples. In other words, those specific examples that have been appropriately modified by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they have the characteristics of the present invention. For example, the elements included in each of the specific examples described above and their arrangement, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, and the like are not limited to those illustrated, but can be changed as appropriate. Moreover, each element with which each embodiment mentioned above is provided can be combined as long as technically possible, and the combination of these is also included in the scope of the present invention as long as it includes the features of the present invention.

HD: Hand dryer 10: Function unit 20: Water receiving unit 30: Hand dryer 120: Blower 121: Motor 123: Blower outlet 140: Nozzle member 141: Nozzle hole 150: Hand detection sensor 160: Controller 170: Temperature sensor 190: Heater

Claims (5)

A hand drying device that blows air on a user's hand to dry it,
A hand drying room which is a space into which a user's hand is inserted;
A nozzle for blowing air into the hand drying chamber;
An air passage from the intake port for taking in air to the nozzle;
A blower that is arranged in the air passage and drives the fan by a motor, and sends out air so that air sucked from the air inlet is blown out from the nozzle to the hand drying chamber,
A heater that is provided in the air passage on the downstream side of the blower and heats the air passing therethrough;
A temperature detection unit that is provided in the air passage on the downstream side of the heater and detects the temperature of air;
A controller that controls the blower and the heater,
The controller is
When the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or higher than the first temperature, the first control is performed to reduce the output of the heater,
When the second temperature is the same temperature as the first temperature or higher than the first temperature,
After a predetermined time from the execution of the first control has elapsed, characterized in that the temperature of the temperature detecting unit detects that the case was the second temperature or more, to perform a second control for stopping the driving of the motor and to that hand-drying apparatus. A hand drying device that blows air on a user's hand to dry it,
A hand drying room which is a space into which a user's hand is inserted;
A nozzle for blowing air into the hand drying chamber;
An air passage from the intake port for taking in air to the nozzle;
A blower that is arranged in the air passage and drives the fan by a motor, and sends out air so that air sucked from the air inlet is blown out from the nozzle to the hand drying chamber,
A heater that is provided in the air passage on the downstream side of the blower and heats the air passing therethrough;
A temperature detection unit that is provided in the air passage on the downstream side of the heater and detects the temperature of air;
A controller that controls the blower and the heater,
The controller is
When the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or higher than the first temperature, the first control is performed to reduce the output of the heater,
After a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the first control, a third control for stopping the driving of the motor when the amount of increase in temperature detected by the temperature detection unit per unit time is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount. hand dryer you and executes. Wherein the control unit is configured from the execution of the first control until the elapse of a predetermined time, the hand drying apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it does not execute the second control. The hand dryer according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit does not execute the third control until a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the first control. The temperature detection section, the hand drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that provided in the vicinity of the nozzle.

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