JP6890292B2 - hair dryer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a hair dryer having a function of detecting the temperature of hair.

Conventionally, as this kind of hair dryer, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 describes a hair dryer configured to detect the temperature of hair by detecting infrared rays emitted from the hair and turn on an LED when the detected temperature of the hair reaches a predetermined temperature. Has been done.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-95813

However, the hair dryer of Patent Document 1 still has room for improvement from the viewpoint of making the entire hair into a more appropriate dry state.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hair dryer capable of making the entire hair in a more suitable dry state in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

In order to achieve the above object, the hair dryer according to the present invention
The blower that blows warm air and the blower
A hair temperature detecting unit that detects the temperature of the hair heated by the warm air blown from the blowing unit, and a hair temperature detecting unit.
The amount of change in the temperature of the hair detected by the temperature detection unit per unit time is integrated with the heating time, and the amount of heating given to the hair by the warm air is calculated based on the result of the integration. Calculation part and
The amount of water contained in the entire hair is estimated based on the amount of heat calculated by the amount of heat calculation unit, and it is determined whether or not the amount of water has reached at least one preset reference value for the amount of water. Moisture content determination unit and
Based on the result determined by the water content determination unit, a water content transmission unit that transmits information on the water content to the user, and a water content transmission unit.
Is configured to include.

According to the hair dryer according to the present invention, the entire hair can be brought into a more suitable dry state.

It is a perspective view of the hair dryer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical cross-sectional view which shows the internal structure of the hair dryer of FIG. It is a block diagram about the control part of the hair dryer of FIG. It is a graph which shows an example of the temperature change of the hair at the time of heating by warm air. It is a graph for demonstrating the principle of integrating the amount of heat given to hair. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the amount of heat given to the hair, and the amount of water of the hair. It is a figure which shows the example which is displayed on the water content display part. It is a figure which shows the modification which is displayed on the moisture content display part. It is a figure which shows the modification which is displayed on the moisture content display part. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the amount of heat given to the hair, and the amount of water of the hair. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the water content of a hair, and the temperature of a hair.

(Knowledge on which this disclosure was based)
The present inventors have obtained the following novel findings as a result of diligent studies in order to make the entire hair in a more appropriate dry state.

In order to make the whole hair more suitable for drying, it is desirable to heat the whole hair without excess or deficiency until the whole hair has an optimum amount of water. Conventionally, the temperature of hair has been used as a guideline for determining the dry state of hair. However, the amount of water contained in the hair is not proportional to the temperature of the hair.

For example, it is assumed that the amount of water (moisture content) contained in the hair is 35% and the temperature of the hair is 30 degrees at the start of heating in the hair to which warm air is applied. Further, it is assumed that the optimum amount of water contained in the hair at the end of heating is 10%, and the temperature of the hair required to obtain the optimum amount of water is 60 degrees. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, when the hair is started to be heated by the hair dryer, the temperature of the hair rises rapidly, and when the temperature reaches about 50 degrees or more, the temperature change of the hair becomes small. When the temperature of the hair reaches about 60 degrees, the amount of water continues to decrease while maintaining the temperature almost constant. More specifically, when the amount of water contained in the hair is 10% to 20%, the temperature of the hair is maintained at about 60 degrees.

Therefore, in the conventional configuration in which the LED is turned on when the temperature of the hair reaches a predetermined temperature (for example, 60 degrees) to display the dry state to the user, the amount of water contained in the hair is the optimum amount of water. The LED lights up before it reaches 10%. Therefore, the user erroneously recognizes that the portion of the hair to which the warm air is applied has finished drying, and either changes the portion to which the warm air is applied to another portion of the hair, or stops the operation of the hair dryer. In this case, the entire dry state of the hair becomes insufficient.

Also, the user usually changes the portion of the hair to which warm air is applied in order to dry the entire hair more evenly. At this time, the temperature of the part of the hair that has been heated by the warm air and has reached the optimum amount of water decreases while not being exposed to the warm air. In this state, when warm air is blown to the hair portion again, the LED does not light until the temperature of the hair portion reaches 60 degrees. Therefore, the user may mistakenly recognize that the hair portion is not sufficiently dried, and may continue to apply warm air to the hair portion. In this case, the entire hair will be overheated.

On the other hand, the present inventors have found that there is a correlation between the amount of water contained in the entire hair and the amount of heat applied to the hair. In addition, the present inventors calculate the amount of heating based on the temperature of the hair, estimate the amount of water contained in the entire hair based on the amount of heating, and transmit information on the amount of water to the user. , It has been found that the whole hair can be in a more suitable dry state. Based on these novel findings, the present inventors have arrived at the following inventions.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a blower portion that blows warm air and a blower unit.
A hair temperature detecting unit that detects the temperature of the hair heated by the warm air blown from the blowing unit, and a hair temperature detecting unit.
The difference per unit time between the hair temperature detected by the temperature detection unit and the room temperature is integrated with respect to the heating time, and the amount of heating given to the hair by the warm air is calculated based on the integrated result. Heat amount calculation unit and
The amount of water contained in the entire hair is estimated based on the amount of heat calculated by the amount of heat calculation unit, and it is determined whether or not the amount of water has reached at least one preset reference value for the amount of water. Moisture content determination unit and
Based on the result determined by the water content determination unit, a water content transmission unit that transmits information on the water content to the user, and a water content transmission unit.
Provide a hair dryer equipped with.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a length input unit for inputting the length of the hair is further provided.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the length of the hair input by the length input unit, and corrects the correction. The hair dryer according to the first aspect is provided, which determines whether or not the set water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a hair amount input unit for inputting the amount of hair is further provided.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the hair amount input by the hair amount input unit, and the correction is performed. The hair dryer according to the first or second aspect, which determines whether or not the water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, an environmental temperature detecting unit for detecting the environmental temperature around the hair is further provided.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the environmental temperature detected by the environmental temperature detecting unit, and the correction is performed. The hair dryer according to any one of the first to third aspects, which determines whether or not the water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, an environmental humidity detecting unit for detecting the environmental humidity around the hair is further provided.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the environmental humidity detected by the environmental humidity detection unit, and the correction is performed. The hair dryer according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, which determines whether or not the water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the heating time detecting unit for detecting the elapsed time from the start of heating of the hair heated by the warm air is further provided.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the elapsed time detected by the heating time detection unit, and the correction is performed. The hair dryer according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, which determines whether or not the water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the water content transmitting unit has a plurality of light emitting bodies, and the light emitting body to emit light is changed based on the result determined by the water content determining unit. The hair dryer according to any one of the six aspects is provided.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the water content transmitting unit has at least one light emitting body, and the light amount or color of the light emitting body is changed based on the result determined by the water content determining unit. The hair dryer according to any one of the first to sixth aspects is provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

Further, in the following, for convenience of explanation, terms indicating directions such as "up", "down", "front", and "rear" are used assuming a state during normal use, but the use of the hair dryer of the present invention is used. It does not mean to limit the state or the like.

<< Embodiment >>
The overall structure of the hair dryer according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hair dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the hair dryer of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the hair dryer 1 according to the present embodiment includes a main body portion 10 and a handle portion 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, a blower portion 11 for blowing warm air is provided inside the main body portion 10. The blower portion 11 includes a fan 12, a motor 13 which is an example of a drive source, and a heater 14 which is an example of a heating portion. The fan 12 is rotationally driven by the motor 13 to take in external air into the main body 10 through a suction port 10a provided at the rear end of the main body 10, and is provided at the front of the main body 10. It is configured to blow air to the outside through the air outlet 10b. The heater 14 heats the air blown from the fan 12 to generate warm air. The detailed configuration in the vicinity of the air outlet 10b is the same as that of the conventional hand dryer, and will be omitted.

Further, inside the main body 10, there is a room temperature sensor 15 which is an example of an environmental temperature detection unit that detects the environmental temperature around the hair, and a humidity which is an example of the environmental humidity detection unit that detects the environmental humidity around the hair. A sensor 16 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an infrared sensor 17 which is an example of a hair temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of hair and a water content display unit 18 which is an example of a water content transmission unit are attached to the front portion of the main body portion 10. Is provided. The infrared sensor 17 detects the temperature of the hair by detecting the infrared rays emitted from the hair.

A length input unit 19A for inputting the length of the hair and a hair amount input unit 19B for inputting the amount of hair are provided on the upper part of the main body portion 10. The length input unit 19A is configured so that the hair length can be input in three stages of, for example, "short", "normal", and "long". The hair amount input unit 19B is configured to be able to input the amount of hair in three stages of, for example, "more", "normal", and "less".

The handle portion 20 is formed in a substantially tubular shape. The upper end portion 20a of the handle portion 20 is rotatably attached to the rear lower end portion 10c of the main body portion 10. A power cord 21 is connected to the lower end portion 20b of the handle portion 20. By connecting the power cord 21 to an external power source, electric power for driving the hair dryer 1 is supplied.

A switch 23, which is an example of an input unit, is provided on the front side surface of the handle unit 20. By operating the switch 23, the user can turn on / off the power supply, switch between hot air and cold air, switch the air volume, and the like.

Inside the handle unit 20, a control unit 22 that controls the operation of each unit and each device is provided.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram relating to the control unit 22 of the hair dryer 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 22 includes a blower unit 11, a room temperature sensor 15, a humidity sensor 16, an infrared sensor 17, a water content display unit 18, a length input unit 19A, and a hair amount input unit. It is electrically connected to 19B and the switch 23. The control unit 22 controls the drive of the blower unit 11 based on the input information input through the switch 23 and the detection information of the room temperature sensor 15, the humidity sensor 16, and the infrared sensor 17. The control unit 22 includes a heating time detection unit 24, a heating amount calculation unit 25, and a water content determination unit 26.

The heating time detection unit 24 detects the elapsed time from the start of heating of the hair heated by warm air.

The heating amount calculation unit 25 integrates the amount of change in the hair temperature per unit time detected by the infrared sensor 17 with respect to the heating time, and based on the result of the integration, the heating amount given to the hair by warm air. Is calculated.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of a temperature change of hair when it is heated (dried) by warm air. As shown in FIG. 4, as the heating time increases, the temperature of the hair gradually rises with reference to room temperature (for example, 25 degrees) while greatly fluctuating up and down. In FIG. 4, the alternate long and short dash line shows the approximate average of the hair temperature.

FIG. 5 is a graph for explaining the principle of integrating the amount of heat applied to the hair. As shown in FIG. 5, the heating amount calculation unit 25 integrates the amount of change in the hair temperature per unit time tm with respect to the heating time. That is, the heating amount calculation unit 25 calculates the area of the region (hatched portion in FIG. 5) sandwiched between the temperature change curve of the hair and the straight line indicating the room temperature. The area is the amount of heat given to the hair.

The reason why the room temperature is used as a reference is that it can be assumed that the temperature of the hair when it is not exposed to warm air (when it is not heated) is the same as or substantially the same as the room temperature (environmental temperature). In the present embodiment, the room temperature is detected by the room temperature sensor 15, but may be detected by the infrared sensor 17. That is, the infrared sensor 17 may be configured to detect the temperature of the hair and the room temperature. Further, the heating amount calculation unit 25 may store the temperature assumed to be room temperature in advance. In this case, it is possible to eliminate the need to provide the room temperature sensor 15.

It is possible that the power of the hair dryer 1 is once turned off by the user during heating and then turned on again. In this case, for example, if the period during which the power is off is within a preset time, it may be considered that the hair dryer 1 is being used substantially continuously, and the amount of heat may be integrated.

The water amount determination unit 26 estimates the amount of water contained in the entire hair based on the amount of heat calculated by the heat amount calculation unit 25, and the water amount reaches at least one preset water amount reference value. Determine if it is.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the amount of heat applied to the hair and the amount of water in the hair. As shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the amount of water (moisture content) contained in the hair at the start of heating is 35%, and the optimum amount of water contained in the hair at the end of heating is 10%. In this case, the amount of heat applied to the hair increases in proportion to the decrease in the amount of water in the hair. That is, the amount of heat given to the hair and the amount of water in the hair are in a proportional relationship. Therefore, the water content determination unit 26 can estimate the total water content of the hair based on the amount of heat applied to the hair. The water content determination unit 26 stores in advance a water content determination formula based on the proportional relationship between the heating amount applied to the hair and the water content of the hair.

The water content determination unit 26 determines whether or not the estimated water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value. For example, when the estimated water content is 25% and the water content reference value is 20%, the water content determination unit 26 determines that the estimated water content has not reached the water content reference value. Further, for example, when the estimated water content is 15% and the water content reference value is 20%, the water content determination unit 26 determines that the estimated water content has reached the water content reference value. ..

The water content display unit 18 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 displays information on the water content based on the result determined by the water content determination unit 26. In the present embodiment, the water content display unit 18 includes at least one LED which is an example of a light emitting body. As shown in FIG. 7, the water content display unit 18 changes the color of the LED based on the result determined by the water content determination unit 26. Note that FIG. 7 shows the change in the color of the LED by the difference in the hatching interval for convenience of explanation.

For example, the water content display unit 18 changes the color of the LED to blue when the result determined by the water content determination unit 26 does not reach the water content reference value. On the other hand, the water content display unit 18 changes the color of the LED to red when the result determined by the water content determination unit 26 reaches the water content reference value. The user can know the progress of heating by checking the color of the LED. As a result, the entire hair can be brought into a more suitable dry state.

The water content determination unit 26 has a plurality of (for example, three) water content reference values, and is configured to determine which water content reference value the estimated water content has reached. Is preferable. In this case, by increasing the types of colors (for example, blue → green → yellow → red) displayed in order by the water content display unit 18 according to the result determined by the water content determination unit 26, the user can heat You can know the progress in more detail.

The water content display unit 18 may be configured to change the light amount of the LED instead of changing the color of the LED. This configuration also allows the user to know the progress of heating in more detail.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the water content display unit 18 has a plurality of (for example, eight) LEDs as an example of the plurality of light emitters, and is based on the result determined by the water content determination unit 26. The LED to emit light may be changed. In this case, for example, the LEDs may be turned on or off in order from the right side or the left side. Further, the LEDs to be lit may be changed in order from the right side or the left side. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the water content display unit 18 may be provided on the side surface of the main body portion 10 instead of the front portion. In this case, the water content display unit 18 is provided on both side surfaces of the main body unit 10 so that the water content display unit 18 can be seen regardless of whether the user holds the handle unit 20 with his right hand or his left hand. Is preferable.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the water content display unit 18 may be provided with a 7-segment display so as to digitally display information on the water content. This configuration also allows the user to know the progress of heating in more detail.

According to the hair dryer 1 according to the present embodiment, the amount of heating is calculated based on the temperature of the hair, the amount of water contained in the entire hair is estimated based on the amount of heating, and information on the amount of water is provided to the user. It is configured to communicate. As a result, the entire hair can be brought into a more suitable dry state.

Next, a case where the hair length is input to the length input unit 19A will be described.

When the length of the hair is different, the amount of heating required to obtain the optimum amount of water in the entire hair is also different. For example, when the length of the hair is long, the amount of heating required to obtain the optimum amount of water in the entire hair is shorter than the case where the length of the hair is short or more than usual. Therefore, the amount of heat given to the hair and the amount of water in the hair have a relationship as shown in FIG. 10 according to the length of the hair. In FIG. 10, the alternate long and short dash line shows the relationship between the amount of heat applied to the hair and the amount of water in the hair when the length of the hair is long. In addition, the solid line shows the relationship between the amount of heat applied to the hair and the amount of water in the hair when the length of the hair is normal. In addition, the alternate long and short dash line shows the relationship between the amount of heat applied to the hair and the amount of water in the hair when the length of the hair is short.

Therefore, the water content determination unit 26 corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit 25 according to the hair length input by the length input unit 19A. It is preferable to determine whether or not the corrected water content has reached the water content reference value. As a result, the entire hair can be brought into a more suitable dry state in consideration of the length of the hair.

Next, a case where the hair amount is input to the hair amount input unit 19B will be described.

Similar to the case of different hair lengths described above, when the amount of hair is different, the amount of heat required to obtain the optimum amount of water in the entire hair is also different. For example, when the amount of hair is large, the amount of heating required to obtain the optimum amount of water in the entire hair is small or larger than in the normal case. Therefore, the amount of heat given to the hair and the amount of water in the hair have a relationship similar to that shown in FIG. 10 according to the amount of hair in the hair.

In this case, the water amount determination unit 26 corrects the water amount estimated based on the heat amount calculated by the heat amount calculation unit 25 according to the hair amount input by the hair amount input unit 19B. It is preferable to determine whether or not the corrected water content has reached the water content reference value. As a result, the entire hair can be brought into a more appropriate dry state in consideration of the amount of hair.

Further, depending on the user, the hair dryer 1 may be used so as to completely dry the hair on one side and then dry the hair on the other side. In such a case, while the hair on one side is being heated, the hair on the other side is naturally dried under the influence of the ambient temperature (room temperature) or the environmental humidity, and the entire hair is adjusted to the optimum amount of water. The amount of heating required for this may be reduced.

Therefore, the water content determination unit 26 corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit 25 according to the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor 15, and the corrected water content. It is preferable to determine whether or not the amount has reached the water content reference value. As a result, the entire hair can be brought into a more suitable dry state in consideration of the room temperature.

Further, the moisture amount determination unit 26 corrects the moisture amount estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit 25 according to the humidity detected by the humidity sensor 16, and the corrected moisture amount is corrected. It is preferable to determine whether or not the water content reference value has been reached. This makes it possible to bring the entire hair into a more suitable dry state in consideration of humidity.

Further, the water content determining unit 26 corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculating unit 25 according to the elapsed time detected by the heating time detecting unit 24, and the correction is made. It is preferable to determine whether or not the amount of water has reached the reference value for the amount of water. As a result, the entire hair can be brought into a more appropriate dry state in consideration of the elapsed time from the start of heating.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented in various other aspects. For example, in the above description, the water content display unit 18 has been described as an example of the water content transmission unit, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the water content transmitting unit may be configured to transmit the water content by voice, vibration, or the like.

By appropriately combining any of the various embodiments, the effects of each can be achieved.

Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, various modifications and modifications are obvious to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that such modifications and modifications are included within the claims of the present invention, as long as they do not deviate from the scope of the invention according to the appended claims.

The present invention is useful for commercial and household hair dryers because it can bring the entire hair into a more suitable dry state.

1 Hair dryer 10 Main body 10a Suction port 10b Blower 10c Rear lower end 11 Blower 12 Fan 13 Motor 14 Heater 15 Room temperature sensor 16 Humidity sensor 17 Infrared sensor 18 Moisture content display 19A Length input 19B Hair volume input 20 Handle 20a Upper end 20b Lower end 21 Power cord 22 Control unit 23 Switch 24 Heating time detection unit 25 Heating amount calculation unit 26 Moisture content determination unit

Claims (7)

The blower that blows warm air and the blower
A hair temperature detecting unit that detects the temperature of the hair heated by the warm air blown from the blowing unit, and a hair temperature detecting unit.
The difference per unit time between the hair temperature detected by the hair temperature detector and the room temperature is integrated with respect to the heating time, and the amount of heat applied to the hair by the warm air is calculated based on the integrated result. The heating amount calculation unit and
The amount of water contained in the entire hair is estimated based on the amount of heat calculated by the amount of heat calculation unit, and it is determined whether or not the amount of water has reached at least one preset reference value for the amount of water. Moisture content determination unit and
Based on the result determined by the water content determination unit, a water content transmission unit that transmits information on the water content to the user, and a water content transmission unit.
A hair dryer. It also has a length input section for inputting the length of the hair.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the length of the hair input by the length input unit, and corrects the correction. The hair dryer according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the set water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value. Further equipped with a hair amount input unit for inputting the amount of hair,
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the hair amount input by the hair amount input unit, and the correction is performed. The hair dryer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein it is determined whether or not the water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value. It also has an environmental temperature detector that detects the environmental temperature around the hair.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the environmental temperature detected by the environmental temperature detecting unit, and the correction is performed. The hair dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein it is determined whether or not the water content has reached at least one preset water content reference value. It also has an environmental humidity detector that detects the environmental humidity around the hair.
The water content determination unit corrects the water content estimated based on the heating amount calculated by the heating amount calculation unit according to the environmental humidity detected by the environmental humidity detection unit, and the correction is performed. The hair dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein it is determined whether or not the moisture content has reached at least one preset moisture content reference value. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the water content transmitting unit has a plurality of light emitting bodies, and the light emitting body to emit light is changed based on the result determined by the water content determining unit. hair dryer. Any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the water content transmitting unit has at least one light emitting body, and changes the light amount or color of the light emitting body based on the result determined by the water content determining unit. Hair dryer described in.

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