JPH0248051Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial application field The present invention relates to a so-called air cleaner that purifies air by collecting and removing dust in dust-containing air. This invention relates to detecting the lifespan of a collection member.

Conventional technology Generally, air purifiers aimed at removing dust from the air include a so-called mechanical filter system that collects dust using a filter (mechanical filter) composed of pores, and a so-called mechanical filter system that collects dust using a filter (mechanical filter) that is composed of pores. There is a so-called electric dust collection method that collects dust on a dust collection electrode, but in both methods, the performance of the mechanical filter, which is the dust collection member, deteriorates when the amount of dust collected by the dust collection electrode exceeds a certain value. It is necessary to detect the lifespan of these products because they rapidly decline.

Conventionally, in the case of mechanical filter type air cleaners, a method has been used to detect the lifespan of the filter by utilizing the fact that the pressure difference before and after the filter changes due to the accumulation of dust.

On the other hand, in the case of electric dust collection, a method has been proposed in which the lifespan of a dust collection electrode is detected by utilizing the change in capacitance of a discharge circuit due to the accumulation of dust.

In addition, for small air purifiers such as table-top and wall-mounted types, there are methods to detect the lifespan of dust-collecting members based on discoloration of the dust-collecting member due to collected dust, and methods for detecting the lifespan of small-sized air purifiers such as table-top and wall-mounted types. It has been used to take advantage of the fact that the amount of light transmitted through a filter changes depending on the filter's contamination.

Problems to be Solved by the Present Invention In the prior art described above, the method of detecting the life of the filter using changes in the pressure difference before and after the filter cannot be used in electrostatic precipitator systems where the pressure difference is small, and it is difficult to handle. However, the method that utilizes changes in the capacitance of the discharge circuit has the problem that it is difficult to use in the mechanical filter method, the device becomes complicated, and it is affected by temperature and humidity. It was hot.

In addition, in methods that utilize discoloration of dust collection members, when dust is collected on the inner surface of the dust collection electrode, as in the case of electric dust collection, the discoloration is difficult to see and therefore the lifespan cannot be detected accurately. However, the method of installing a single filter in the airflow behind the dust collection part has the problem that if the dust collection performance of the dust collection part is high, the contamination of the filter is minimal, so it is difficult to accurately predict the lifespan of the dust collection member. There was a flaw that I couldn't know about.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve such problems in the conventional technology and provide an air purifier having a function of accurately and easily detecting the lifespan of a dust collection member regardless of the dust collection method. It is something.

Next, the configuration of the present invention will be explained.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention takes the following steps:
In an air purifier having a dust collector, a light-transmissive detection member 6 having a small hole 16 such as a piece of plastic or glass is disposed in the air flow path on the outflow side of the dust collector 1, and the detection member A light receiving section 4, such as a commercially available photoelectric conversion element, is provided on the other side of the detection member 6, facing the lamp 3 provided on one side of the detection member 6. Light receiving member 18
The light receiving member 19 with poor light transmittance receives the light passing through the small hole 16 of the detecting member 6, and the light receiving member 18 with excellent light transmittance receives the light passing through the small hole 16 of the detecting member 6 other than the small hole 16. It is arranged so as to receive the light that passes through the part.

Function Generally, most of the dust in the air that passes through a dust collector is collected by the dust collecting member, but since the dust collection efficiency of the dust collector is not 100%, there is always a few percent or more of the dust. It flows out of the dust collector without being collected.

Therefore, as time passes, uncollected dust adheres to the detection member 6 of the present invention, which is disposed in the flow path on the outflow side of the dust collector 1, and the amount of the adhering dust decreases as the amount of dust is collected on the dust collecting member. There is a certain relationship with the amount of dust generated.

In the present invention, the lamp 3 is provided on one side of the light-transmissive detection member 6 having a small hole 16, and the light receiving section 4 is provided on the other side. The light from the sensor is directly received by the light-receiving member 19, which constitutes the light-receiving section 4, and which has poor light transmittance, and the other light that has passed through the detection member 6 is received by the light-receiving member 18, which has good light transmittance. Light receiving member 1
The part 9 appears dark and the part 18 bright, but when dust adheres to the detection member 6 and the transmittance decreases, the part of the light receiving member 18 also becomes dark, and finally the light receiving member 19
The brightness will be the same.

Therefore, by setting the light transmittance of the light-receiving member 19 to a certain value in advance, the life of the dust-collecting member of the dust-collecting section can be set to the time when the light-receiving members 18 and 19 have the same brightness.

Example 1 Figure 2a is a side cross section of an example of the present invention,
b is a cross-sectional view of the light receiving section 4. The air cleaner shown in the figure has a mechanical filter type dust collector 1 inside, and a detection member 6 made of a light-transmitting plastic plate is arranged in the flow path on the outflow side of the dust collector 1. There is a small hole 16 in the center of the detection member 6.
is provided.

Opposed to the lamp 3 provided on one side of the detection member 6, a light receiving section 4 is provided on the other side of the detection member 6, and is adapted to receive the light of the lamp 3 that has passed through the detection member 6. There is.

The light receiving section 4 includes two light receiving members 1 having different light transmittances.
8 and a light-receiving member 19, the light-receiving member 19 having poor light transmittance receives the light passing through the small hole 16 of the detecting member 6, and the light-receiving member 18 having excellent light transmittance
is adapted to receive the light transmitted through the detection member 6.

Now, when dust-containing air is sent into this air cleaner from the direction of the arrow by a blowing means (not shown), most of the dust is collected in the dust collector 1, but a few percent or less of the dust remains. Since the collected dust adheres to the detection member 6 on the outflow side of the dust collector 1 and reduces its light transmittance, the light intensity of the light receiving member 18 that receives the light transmitted through the detection member 6 also changes over time. The brightness of the light-receiving member 18 and the light-receiving member 19 eventually become equal.

Therefore, by setting the light transmittance of the light receiving member 19 to a predetermined value, the life of the dust collecting member can be set to the time when the light receiving member 18 and the light receiving member 19 have the same brightness.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the detection member 6 in the present invention.

In the figure, an electrostatic precipitator 1 similar to that in FIG.
A lamp 3 is provided on one side of a light-transmissive plate-shaped detection member 6 disposed in the flow path on the outflow side of the sensor, and a tip of an optical fiber 2 is provided as a light receiving portion on the other side of the detection member 6. 4 and is provided facing the lamp 3, and a photoelectric conversion element (not shown) is provided at the other end of the optical fiber 21.

The detection member 6 is made of conductive material such as a plastic film on which copper iodide is vapor-deposited, and light-transmissive electrode plates 20 which are also made of conductive material are provided opposite to each other on both sides of the film. A voltage is applied between the member 6 and the electrode plate 20 so that the electrode plate 20 has the same polarity as the charged dust in the dust collector 1,
This promotes the adhesion of dust to the detection member 6.

As shown in the above embodiments, the dust collector 1 of the present invention may be of either an electrostatic precipitator type or a mechanical filter type, and the light receiving section 4 is also a lamp 3 that passes through the detection member 6 as shown in the embodiments. The present invention is not limited to the method of the light receiving part, as long as it can sense the light of the light receiving part. The light-transmissive detection member 6 may be made of plastic as shown in the embodiment, or
Any material to which dust can adhere, such as glass or mica, may be used.

Further, in addition to the plate shape shown in the embodiment, the detection member 6 may be shaped like a trapezoid to make it easier for dust to adhere to it. must be opposed along the optical axis.

Effects of the invention As described above, the present invention detects the life of the dust collecting member based on the uncollected dust slightly flowing out from the dust collector, so the present invention can be used regardless of the dust collection method. It is possible to detect the lifespan of the dust collection member.

In addition, in the present invention, the life of the dust collection member is detected only by the amount of dust attached to the detection member 6, so it is not affected by temperature and humidity unlike methods that use changes in capacitance, and moreover, it is not affected by temperature and humidity. Unlike the dust method, which uses discoloration of the dust collection member, visual recognition is not difficult, so the accuracy of lifespan detection is high.

Furthermore, in the present invention, detection is performed by directly comparing the light transmitted through the detection member 6 with the light from the lamp 3 that has passed through the small hole 16, so even if the detection member 6 is poorly contaminated, the lamp 3 is detected. Detection of the lifespan of the dust collection member does not become inaccurate due to deterioration of the dust collection member.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram related to improvement of the conventional method,
FIG. 2a is a side cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2b is a partial cross-sectional view of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of an embodiment of the improved detection member 6 of the present invention. 1... Dust collector, 2... Channel, 3... Lamp,
4... Light receiving section, 5... Cover, 6... Detection member,
7... Discharge electrode, 8... Dust collection electrode, 9... Air cleaner, 10... Blower, 11... Body, 12... Repulsion electrode, 13... Amplifier, 14... Output terminal, 1
5... Input terminal, 16... Small hole, 17... Lens, 18... Light receiving member, 19... Light receiving member, 20
...Transparent electrode, 21...Optical fiber bundle, 22...
...power supply, 23...wire mesh, 24...terminal, 25...
Terminal, 26...Power supply.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A light-transmissive detection member 6 having a small hole 16 is disposed in a flow path on the outflow side of the dust collector of an air purifier having a dust collector 1, Opposing the lamp 3 provided on one side of the detection member 6, a light receiving section 4 is provided on the other side of the detection member 6, and the light receiving section 4 includes two types of light receiving members 18 and the light receiving member 1 having different light transmittances.
9, the light receiving member 19 with poor light transmittance receives the light passing through the small hole 16 of the detecting member 6, and the light receiving member 18 with excellent light transmittance receives the light passing through the small hole 16 of the detecting member 6.
An air purifier characterized by receiving light transmitted through a portion other than the small hole 16 of the air purifier. (2) The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving section 4 is a light receiving section connected to a photoelectric conversion element.