JPH05261230A - Controlling device for air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform operation for cleaning air at the optimum air quantity corresponding to dust concentration in the inside of a room, the area of the room and airtightness. CONSTITUTION:A microcomputer 2 compares the dust concentration detected by a dust sensor 3 with a plurality of threshold values, and thereby, changes and increases the air quantity of a blowing fan 6. Thereafter, the microcomputer 2 compares the rate of change at a time of attenuation of the dust concentration detected by the dust sensor 3 with reference set value. The microcomputer 2 decides whether the threshold value is maintained in a present value or changed large or small by the compared result. Thereby, the air quantity of the blowing fan 6 is set.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for an air purifier which automatically performs an air purifying operation according to the dust concentration in a room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air purifier sucks indoor air from an intake port by the action of a blower fan, captures dust from the intake air with a filter, and discharges the dust-captured air from the discharge port into the room. It is a composition.

Thus, conventionally, when automatically operating this type of air purifier, a gas (reducing gas) in the room is used.
A gas sensor that detects the concentration of the gas is provided, and the detected gas concentration of this gas sensor is compared with a plurality of preset thresholds to increase the air volume of the blower fan in stages, after which the detected gas concentration stops. The blower fan is stopped when the detected gas concentration has decreased or the detected gas concentration has not changed.

[0004]

As described above, the air purifier mainly removes dust in the room by the filter and has almost no ability to absorb gas (reducing gas). It is usually discharged to the outside by natural ventilation.

Therefore, it is known that when the interior of a room is contaminated with dust and the dust concentration increases, the gas concentration also increases in correlation with this, but the dust is trapped by the filter of the air purifier and is thus increased. In the process of decreasing the concentration, it is not so closely related to the decrease in gas concentration.

Therefore, as in the conventional structure, if the blower fan is stopped when the detected gas concentration is attenuated to the stop threshold value or when there is no change in the detected gas concentration, the dust concentration will be reduced. Therefore, there is a problem that the optimum air cleaning operation cannot be carried out and the cleaning becomes insufficient, or the cleaning becomes excessive, resulting in wasteful consumption of energy and generation of noise more than necessary.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an air purifier control device capable of performing an optimum air cleaning operation according to the dust concentration in a room.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an air purifier in which the air in a room is sucked in by the action of a blower fan and the dust is captured from the sucked air by a filter. The dust concentration detecting means for detecting is provided, and the control means for increasing the air volume of the blower fan according to the dust concentration detected by the dust concentration detecting means is provided, and the dust concentration detected by the dust concentration detecting means is attenuated by the control means. If the change rate is smaller than the reference set value, the air volume of the blower fan is set to be larger than that when the change rate is smaller than the reference set value, and the change rate is larger than the reference set value. It is characterized in that when it is large, the air volume of the blower fan is set to be smaller than when the reference set value is set.

[0009]

According to the control device for an air purifier of the present invention, the control means sets the air volume of the blower fan in accordance with the rate of change when the dust concentration detected by the dust concentration detecting means is attenuated.
It is possible to perform the optimum air cleaning operation according to the dust concentration in the room.

The control means sets the air volume of the blower fan to be larger than when the change rate is smaller than the reference set value, and the change rate is set to the reference set value. When it is larger, the air volume of the blower fan is set to be smaller than that at the reference set value, so that the optimum air cleaning operation can be performed even in accordance with the size of the room and the air density (natural ventilation degree). it can.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the electrical configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

The operation unit 1 is provided on an operation panel of the main body of the air purifier (not shown) and is adapted to output a selection command signal for automatic operation and manual operation based on a user's operation. The selection command signal is applied to the input port of the microcomputer 2 which is the control means.

The dust sensor 3, which is a dust concentration detecting means, is provided in the main body of the air cleaner and is composed of, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element. And this dust sensor 3
When the light emitted from the light emitting element is scattered by the dust in the air, the light receiving element receives the scattered light and detects the concentration of the dust in the air. The signal is applied to the input port of the microcomputer 2.

The microcomputer 2 operates as described later in response to a selection command signal from the operation unit 1 and a detection signal from the dust sensor 3, and outputs a display signal from the output port to display the indicator 4. And a drive signal is output from another output port and applied to the drive circuit 5. Then, the drive circuit 5 operates the blower fan 6 including a fan and a drive motor for driving the fan at the rotation speed indicated by the drive signal.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The ROM of the microcomputer 2 has a low speed for operating the blower fan 6 in four stages of low speed, medium speed, high speed and maximum speed according to the detected dust concentration indicated by the detection signal of the dust sensor 3. A threshold value SAa, a medium speed threshold value SBa, a high speed threshold value SCa and a maximum speed threshold value SDa are set and stored.

When the manual operation is selected by the operation unit 1 and the selection command signal is given, the microcomputer 2 first gives a manual operation display signal to the display 4 to display "manual".

Further, the microcomputer 2 is adapted to give a drive signal to the drive circuit 5 in accordance with the selection command signal from the operating section 1, and the drive circuit 5 has a low speed (low air volume) which is the rotational speed indicated by the drive signal. ), Medium speed (medium air volume), high speed (strong air volume) or maximum speed (strongest air volume) 6
Then, the manual air cleaning operation is started. After that, when the selection command signal from the operation unit 1 becomes a stop signal, the microcomputer 2 stops outputting the drive signal, and the manual air cleaning operation is stopped.

When automatic operation is selected by the operation unit 1, the following operation is performed.

That is, when the automatic selection operation is selected, the microcomputer 2 receives the selection command signal from the operation unit 1 to give an automatic operation display signal to the display unit 4 to display "automatic". Let

Furthermore, the microcomputer 2 reads the detected dust concentration indicated by the detection signal of the dust sensor 3 and gives a display signal indicating the level to the display 4 to display the level.

When the detected dust concentration reaches the low speed threshold value SAa, the microcomputer 2 outputs a low speed drive signal and supplies it to the drive circuit 5. Then, the drive circuit 5 operates the blower fan 6 at a low speed (weak air volume) indicated by the drive signal.

After that, when the detected dust concentration reaches the medium speed threshold value SBa, the microcomputer 2 outputs a medium speed drive signal to give it to the drive circuit 5, and the drive circuit 5 blows air. The fan 6 is operated at a medium speed (medium air volume).

When the detected dust concentration reaches the high speed threshold value SCa, the microcomputer 2 outputs a high speed drive signal and gives it to the drive circuit 5. The drive circuit 5 causes the blower fan to operate. 6 will be operated at high speed (strong air volume).

When the blower fan 6 is operated so as to increase the air volume stepwise as described above, the dust in the room is captured by the filter, and the dust concentration detected by the dust sensor 3 is gradually attenuated. Like

Therefore, the microcomputer 2 calculates the rate of change of the attenuation for a fixed time ΔT from the time point TP of the peak value of the dust concentration detected by the dust sensor 3, and compares the rate of change with the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT.

Here, the microcomputer 2 is the same as that shown in FIG.
As shown in, the change rate ΔTSa / ΔT is equal to the reference set value ΔT.
When it is equal to or within the range of S / ΔT, the threshold values SAa, SBa, SCa and SDa are left unchanged.

As a result, the microcomputer 2
After that, when the detected dust concentration becomes less than the high speed threshold SCa, the blower fan 6 is switched from the high speed (strong air amount) to the medium speed (medium air amount) to operate, and the detected dust concentration is the medium speed threshold. When it becomes less than the value SBa, the blower fan 6 is switched to low speed (weak air volume) to operate, and when the detected dust concentration becomes less than the low speed threshold value SAa, the blower fan 6 is stopped. ..

Further, in the microcomputer 2, as shown in FIG. 3, the change rate ΔTSb / ΔT is the reference set value ΔTS /.
If it is smaller than ΔT, the medium speed threshold value SBa, the high speed threshold value SCa and the maximum speed threshold value SDa are set to predetermined values ΔSa, ΔSb and ΔSc (ΔSa <ΔS, respectively).
threshold values SBb, SCb and S that are smaller by b <ΔSc)
Change to Db.

As a result, the microcomputer 2
Then, the detected dust concentration changes, and the maximum speed threshold SDb
As described above, the blower fan 6 is switched from the high speed (strong wind amount) to the maximum speed (strongest wind amount) to operate, and when the detected dust concentration becomes less than the changed maximum speed threshold SDb, the blower fan 6 is operated. When the detected dust concentration is changed to a high speed threshold value SCb, the blower fan 6 is switched to a medium speed (medium air amount) to operate and the detected dust concentration is being changed. Speed threshold SB
When it becomes less than b, the blower fan 6 is switched to a low speed (weak air volume) to operate, and when the detected dust concentration becomes less than the low speed threshold value SAa, the blower fan 6 is stopped.

That is, in the microcomputer 2, the change rate ΔTSb / ΔT when the detected dust concentration is attenuated is the reference set value Δ.
When it is smaller than TS / ΔT (= ΔTSa / ΔT), the air volume at the change rate detection time TX is set to the maximum air volume larger than the previous strong air volume, and after the change rate detection time TX. The total air flow rate is set to be larger than that in the case of the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT shown in FIG.

Further, in the microcomputer 2, as shown in FIG. 4, the change rate ΔTSc / ΔT is the reference set value ΔTS.
If it is larger than / ΔT, the medium speed threshold value SBa, the high speed threshold value SCa, and the maximum speed threshold value SDa are respectively larger than the threshold values SBc and SC by a constant value ΔSd.
Change to c and SDc.

As a result, the microcomputer 2
After that, since the detected dust concentration becomes less than the changed high speed threshold SCc, the blower fan 6 is operated at high speed (strong air volume).
To a medium speed (medium air volume) to operate, and when the detected dust concentration becomes less than the change medium speed threshold SBc, the blower fan 6 is switched to a low speed (weak air volume) to operate, and the detected dust When the density becomes lower than the low speed threshold value SAa, the blower fan 6 is stopped.

That is, in the microcomputer 2, the change rate ΔTSc / ΔT when the detected dust concentration is attenuated is the reference set value Δ.
If it is larger than TS / ΔT, change rate detection time TX
Is set to a medium air volume that is smaller than the previous strong air volume, and the total air volume after the change rate detection time TX is lower than that for the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT shown in FIG. It is set to be small.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the microcomputer 2 gradually changes the rotation speed of the blower fan 6, that is, the air volume, in accordance with the increase of the dust concentration detected by the dust sensor 3, and thereafter, When the detected dust concentration is attenuated, the air volume of the blower fan 6 is changed according to the magnitude of comparison between the change rate and the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT.

Therefore, unlike the one using the conventional gas sensor, the air cleaning operation can be performed with an optimum air volume according to the concentration of the dust captured by the filter.

Moreover, the microcomputer 2 determines whether the change rate ΔTSa / ΔT of the dust concentration detected by the dust sensor 3 is equal to the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT or is within the range, each threshold value SAa, SBa, SCa and S
If Da remains unchanged and the rate of change in detected dust concentration ΔTSb / ΔT is smaller than the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT, the thresholds SBa, SCa, and SDa are changed by a predetermined value. With the values SBb, SCb and SDb,
Change rate of detected dust concentration ΔTSc / ΔT is the reference set value ΔT
If it is larger than S / ΔT, the threshold values SBa, SCa
And SDa are changed by a certain value and change thresholds SBc, S
Cc and SDc.

Therefore, the rate of change in the detected dust concentration ΔTSa /
When ΔT is near the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT, the air volume after the change rate detection time TX becomes the same reference air volume as the conventional one, and when the change rate ΔTSb / ΔT is smaller than the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT. , The air volume after the change rate detection time TX becomes larger than the reference air volume, and when the change rate ΔTSc / ΔT is larger than the reference set value ΔTS / ΔT, the change rate detection time T
The air volume after X becomes smaller than the reference air volume.

By the way, the change in the dust concentration in the room varies depending on the size of the room and also the airtightness of the room, that is, the amount of dust discharged to the outside by natural ventilation. For example, if the size of the room is large, the rate of change in dust concentration is usually as shown in FIG. 3, but even if the size of the room is large, the airtightness is low (natural ventilation is large). In such a case, the change rate of the dust concentration may be as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, if the size of the chamber is small, the rate of change in dust concentration is usually as shown in FIG. 4, but even if the size of the chamber is small, the airtightness is high. If the natural ventilation is small, the change rate of the dust concentration may be as shown in FIG.

Similarly, when the size of the chamber is medium, the rate of change in dust concentration is usually as shown in FIG. 2, but the airtightness is low even when the size of the chamber is medium. By the way,
The rate of change in dust concentration may be as shown in FIG. 4, and the rate of change in dust concentration may be as shown in FIG. 3 if the airtightness is high even if the room is medium in size. It may be.

Therefore, as described above, the change rate ΔTSa / Δ of the detected dust concentration is controlled by the microcomputer 2.
T, ΔTSb / ΔT and ΔTSc / ΔT and reference set value Δ
If the air volume of the blower fan 6 is set by comparison with TS / ΔT, the optimum air cleaning operation can be performed according to the size of the room and the airtightness, and the air volume becomes insufficient and the air cleaning becomes insufficient. On the other hand, on the contrary, there is no possibility that the air volume becomes excessive and wasteful energy is consumed, or that noise is generated more than necessary.

In the above embodiment, the air volume is set by changing the threshold value according to the rate of change of the dust concentration detected by the dust sensor 3 when the dust concentration is reduced. It is also possible to store a plurality of pattern data in which the air volume changes variously in advance, and select and execute one of the plurality of pattern data according to the rate of change.

Besides, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be appropriately modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0046]

As described above, the control device of the air purifier of the present invention sets the air volume of the blower fan in accordance with the rate of change of the dust concentration detected by the dust concentration detecting means when the dust concentration is attenuated. , The air cleaning operation can be performed with the optimum air volume according to the dust concentration in the room, the size of the room, and the airtightness. There is no need for wasteful consumption or excessive noise generation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Dust concentration characteristic diagram when the rate of change is approximately the reference set value

[Figure 3] Dust concentration characteristic diagram when the rate of change is smaller than the reference set value

[Figure 4] Dust concentration characteristic diagram when the rate of change is larger than the reference set value

[Explanation of symbols]

In the drawing, 2 is a microcomputer (control means), 3 is a dust sensor (dust concentration detection means), and 6 is a blower fan.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air purifier in which indoor air is sucked in by the action of a blower fan and dust is captured from the intake air by a filter, and a dust concentration detecting means for detecting the concentration of dust in the room, And a control means for increasing the air volume of the blower fan according to the detected dust concentration of the dust concentration detection means, the control means, when the detected dust concentration of the dust concentration detection means is attenuated, the change rate thereof. When the change rate is smaller than the reference set value, the air volume of the blower fan is set to be larger than when the change rate is set, and when the change rate is larger than the reference set value, the reference setting is set. A controller for an air purifier, which is configured to set the air volume of the blower fan to be smaller than that at a value.