JPH05338437A - Humidifier for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a humidifier for vehicle which generates humidifying vapor intermittently and controls in such a way that vapor is generated stably and reliably even in the condition where it tilts. CONSTITUTION:As for a vapor generation section 11 to be mounted on a dashboard section of vehicle, a nozzle case 13 is set in such a way that it is held by an outer case 12, and a vaporizing chamber 14 is set in the nozzle case 13. Water which is fed under pressure by a pump is supplied into the vaporizing chamber 14 and vaporized by a PTC heater 20. The pump is driven in the condition where water in the vaporizing chamber 14 vaporizes and disappears, temperature in the vaporizing chamber 14 rises, and resistance value of the PTC heater 20 rises above the set value in order to supply water into the vaporizing chamber 14. And, supply of water into the vaporizing chamber 14 is controlled intermittently to eliminate a necessity to collect vaporizing water in the vaporizing chamber 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted humidifying device which intermittently discharges humidifying vapor into a vehicle compartment and has a particularly simple structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A humidifying device for providing an appropriate humidity to the air of a living environment in which a human is present is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-16854.
As disclosed in No. 7, it is common that a certain amount of water is stored in a humidifying dish that constitutes an evaporation chamber, and the humidifying dish is heated to evaporate the water to generate humidifying vapor. It is a typical structure.

However, in the humidifying device having such a structure, a certain amount of water sufficient to generate the humidifying steam is stored in the humidifying tray, and thus the certain amount of water is heated. It takes a lot of time to vaporize. That is, the dead time from when the switch is turned on to generate steam until the steam is actually discharged becomes large.

Further, since the humidifying device is mainly composed of an evaporating dish for accumulating a fixed amount of water, when the humidifying device is tilted, the heating surface set in the evaporation chamber is filled with water. A situation occurs in which no contact occurs, and the humidifying operation is not performed smoothly. In particular, when the humidifying device is set in a portion such as a vehicle where vibration or acceleration acts, humidifying steam is not smoothly generated.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and when the humidifying control switch or the like is operated, the humidifying steam is promptly generated. For example, it is an object of the present invention to provide a humidifying device that is particularly suitable for mounting on a vehicle, in which a stable humidifying steam generating operation is performed even when the vehicle is tilted or subjected to acceleration.

[0006]

The on-vehicle humidifying device according to the present invention comprises an evaporation chamber into which water pumped by a pump mechanism is jetted and a heating mechanism for evaporating the supplied water into humidified steam. The pump mechanism is driven in a state in which the water to which the temperature in the evaporation chamber is supplied by the water supply controller evaporates and rises above a predetermined set temperature. The pump mechanism is driven until the temperature inside the evaporation chamber becomes equal to or lower than the set temperature, and water is supplied to the evaporation chamber.

[0007]

In the on-vehicle humidifier constructed as described above, water is supplied to the evaporation chamber when the pump mechanism is driven, and this water is heated and vaporized by the heating mechanism. The pump mechanism is driven when the temperature inside the evaporation chamber reaches a high temperature, which corresponds to the state of no water,
Further, when water is supplied to the evaporation chamber and its temperature drops, the water supply by the pump mechanism is stopped. For this reason, a limited amount of water is supplied to the evaporation chamber and a sufficient amount of water for steam generation, so that steam is quickly generated after the switch is turned on, and humidification steam is intermittently released. become. In addition, since water is not stored in the evaporation chamber, steam is stably generated even when the evaporation chamber is tilted or when acceleration is applied, which can be effectively applied to a vehicle.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the steam generating unit 11 set in the vehicle interior, and an outer case 12 made of resin or the like.
Inside, a nozzle case 13 also made of resin is set. An evaporation chamber 14 made of, for example, brass is set inside the nozzle case 13.

The evaporation chamber 14 integrally has a nozzle tube 15 for leading out steam, and the nozzle tube 15 is opened as a humidified steam discharge port toward the front of the steam generation section 11, and a metal is provided in this opening section. Made of mesh 16 is attached.

Water for steam generation is supplied to the evaporation chamber 14 through a check valve case 17, and the check valve case 17 is used.
Water is pressure-fed to and supplied through a water tube 18 made of resin, for example, having an inner diameter of 3 mm.

The check valve case 17 is provided with a ball 171 which constitutes a check valve body and a spring 172 which presses the ball 171 toward the water tube 18, and the pressure of water supplied through the water tube 18. Is higher than the set pressure of the spring 172, the ball 171 is moved, and the water is evaporated in the evaporation chamber 14
Is discharged inside. Here, a check hole 173 having a diameter of 0.3 mm, for example, is formed in the check valve case 17, and when the ball 171 is moved against the spring 172, water is atomized and supplied into the evaporation chamber 14. I am trying to do it.

The bottom surface of the evaporation chamber 14 and the electrode plate
The PTC heater 20 is set so as to be sandwiched between 19 and
It is sandwiched between the bottom of the evaporation chamber 14 and a spring 21 that supports the electrode plate 19. A wiring cord 22 is connected to the evaporation chamber 14 and the electrode plate 19.
Heating power is supplied to the PTC heater 20 via the. Here, the wiring cord 22 is housed in the wiring tube 23 together with the water tube 18, and is guided to a water tank portion not shown in this figure.

Between the outer case 12 and the nozzle case 13,
The air discharge path 24 is formed by an annular gap so as to surround the mesh 16 that discharges steam,
The nozzle case 13 is a protrusion 25 formed on the inner circumference of the outer case 12.
Held by

Inside the outer case 12, a motor 26 and an axial flow fan 27 rotated by the motor 26 are arranged, and air holes formed in the outer case 12 by the fan 27.
The air sucked from 28 is discharged from the air discharge passage 24. Electric power is supplied to the motor 26 by a wiring cord guided in the wiring tube 23.

An outer case having a built-in steam generation mechanism as described above
A switch 29 for control is appropriately provided on the device 12, and an LED 30 for displaying an operation state is provided. The outer case 12 is attached to a fixing base 31 and is set to be vertically tiltable by a shaft mechanism 32.

FIG. 2 shows a water tank portion 35 connected by a wiring tube 23. A water tank 37 made of resin is set in a tank case 36. This water tank 37 is, for example, 500c
A cap 38 having a capacity of about c and having an air hole with a diameter of about 1 mm is provided.

A pump that contacts the water tank 37
39 is provided, the suction port of this pump 39 is opened to the tank 37, and the discharge port of the pump 39 is the wiring tube 23.
It is connected to a water tube 18 which is passed inside.

A circuit device 40 is incorporated in the tank case 36, and a power cord 42 having a cigar socket 41 attached thereto is connected to the circuit device 40. Then, from this circuit device 40, the PTC heater 20 of the steam generating unit 11 and the motor
The power to 26, the control power of the pump 39, etc. are output.

In this way, the water tank 37, the pump 39, the circuit device
A tank cover 43 is set in front of the tank case 36 containing 40 etc., and this tank cover 43 is a hinge 44.
It is rotatably attached to the tank case 36 by. And by opening this tank cover 43,
The water tank 37 is properly taken out so that water can be replenished.

The steam generator 11 having such a structure is shown in FIG.
In the cabin of the car as shown in, for example, the dashboard
It is attached to the top of the 45 by using a double-sided tape or the like, and the vapor emission direction of the vapor generator 11 is set toward the driver's seat. The water tank portion 35 is attached and set at a position where it does not interfere with the passenger compartment, and the water tank portion 35 and the steam generating portion 11 are connected by a flexible wiring 23 made of resin.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the control circuit of the humidifying device constructed as described above. A power source 50 such as an on-vehicle battery is connected to the PTC heater 20 via a switch 29. In this case, a current detection circuit 51 is provided in this power supply circuit to detect the amount of current flowing through the PTC heater 20. The PTC heater 20 is supplied with heating power to generate heat, and the resistance increases as the temperature increases. It has the property of increasing the value.

Therefore, under the condition that the temperature of the PTC heater 20 becomes high, that is, when the water in the evaporation chamber 14 disappears and the temperature in the evaporation chamber 14 becomes high, the temperature of the PTC heater 20 rapidly rises and its resistance increases. The value increases and the current detection circuit 51
The amount of current detected at is low. Moreover, in the circuit configured as described above, by changing the set threshold reference voltage and the pump voltage, the intermittent interval of humidification,
Since the strength of humidification can be freely variably set, it is possible to provide the humidification that suits the taste.

The current detected by the current detection circuit 51 is
For example, it is converted into a voltage value and supplied to the comparator 52. The reference threshold voltage from the reference voltage setting circuit 53 is supplied to the comparator 52, and an output signal is generated from the comparator 52 in a state where the current of the PTC heater 20 is low. The output drives the pump 39.

That is, when heating power is supplied to the PTC heater 20 by turning on the switch 29 as shown in FIG. 5, the heating current is large because the temperature of the heater 20 is low in the initial state.

However, as the temperature of the PTC heater 20 rises, the heater current decreases, and when there is no water in the evaporation chamber 14, the heater current becomes lower than the set threshold current. Then, the pump 39 is operated with the heater current lower than this threshold value, and the water pressure in the check valve case 17 is increased. When this water pressure becomes larger than the set load of the spring 172, the ball 171 is moved by the water pressure and the water is sprayed from the throttle hole 173 toward the heated bottom surface of the evaporation chamber 14.

With such water supply, the temperature of the evaporation chamber 14, that is, the temperature of the PTC heater 20 decreases, the resistance value thereof decreases, and the heater current increases. Then, the operation of the pump 39 is stopped when the heater current exceeds a predetermined value, and the supply of water to the evaporation chamber 14 is stopped.

The water sprayed on the bottom surface of the evaporation chamber 14 evaporates in a short time, and the water vapor is discharged from the nozzle tube 15 through the mesh 16 toward the driver in the driver's seat for volume expansion. When all the water in the evaporation chamber 14 is evaporated, the temperature of the PTC heater 20 rises again, the operating state of the pump 39 is set, and the operation of supplying water to the evaporation chamber 14 and the operation of generating steam are repeated. The emission control of the humidifying steam is intermittently performed.

In this case, the motor 26 is driven by the operation of the switch 29 to rotate the fan 27, and the air flow generated by the fan 27 forms an annular air layer and is discharged from the air discharge passage 24. The generated vapor is emitted in a predetermined direction without being diffused. That is,
Local humidification is possible.

In the above embodiment, the fan 27 is set in the steam generating unit 11 to discharge the humidified steam in a predetermined direction. For example, as shown in FIG. You may make it attach to a part.

FIG. 7 shows the structure of the steam generating section 11 in such a case. The outer case 12 is inserted and fixed in a part of the outlet 55 of the air conditioner. The wiring tube 23 is connected to the nozzle case 13 through the louver 56 of the air conditioner. The nozzle case 13 has basically the same configuration as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the same portions are designated by the same reference numerals.

That is, by setting the steam generating portion 11 in the air outlet 55 portion of the air conditioner in this manner, the nozzle case 13 is set by the air flow of the air blown when the air conditioner operates.
An air layer is formed around the area to prevent diffusion of generated steam.

In addition, such a steam generating portion 11 may be mounted not only on the dashboard portion but also on the console box 57 or the peeler 58 as shown in FIG. Further, if an AC / DC converter is attached to the power supply circuit section, it can be used by being connected to a household power supply, and can be used on a desk 59 as shown in FIG. 9, for example.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the blowing means is not limited to the axial fan 27, but other blowing fans can be applied as appropriate, and the heating means of the evaporation chamber 14 is not limited to the PTC heater. .. In this case, a means for detecting the temperature rise of the evaporation chamber 14 may be set, and a water supply control circuit that operates the pump 39 when the temperature of the evaporation chamber 14 greatly rises may be set. Further, the check valve mechanism is used to supply water to the evaporation chamber 14, but this can be appropriately adopted as long as it is a valve mechanism that is opened when a water pressure higher than a certain specific pressure acts.

[0034]

As described above, according to the vehicle humidifying device of the present invention, the humidifying steam is intermittently generated by the simple mechanism to smoothly perform the humidifying operation in the vehicle interior. In this case, since it is not necessary to store water for generating steam in the evaporation chamber, a reliable steam generation operation can be guaranteed even when the steam generation part is tilted, and acceleration etc. Even if it works, stable steam generation control is performed, and the effect is remarkable when it is installed in the vehicle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional configuration diagram illustrating a steam generating portion of a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a front view thereof.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional configuration diagram illustrating a water tank portion combined with the steam generation portion, and FIG. 2B is a configuration diagram similarly viewed from the front.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an installation state of the humidifier on a vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation control circuit of the humidifier.

FIG. 5 is a signal waveform diagram similarly illustrating an operating state.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the installation state of the humidifier on the vehicle.

FIG. 7A is a sectional view showing a steam generating portion used in this embodiment, and FIG. 7B is a front view thereof.

FIG. 8 is a view showing still another embodiment of the installation state of the humidifier on the vehicle.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another application example of the humidifying device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Steam generation part, 12 ... Outer case, 13 ... Nozzle case, 14
... evaporation chamber, 17 ... check valve case, 18 ... throttle hole, 19 ... electrode plate, 20 ... PTC heater, 21 ... spring, 22 ... wiring cord, 23 ... wiring tube, 24 ... air discharge passage, 35 ... water tank Part, 37 ... Water tank, 39 ... Pump.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pump mechanism for pumping water, an evaporation chamber for injecting and supplying water pumped by this pump mechanism, and discharging the generated steam as humidified steam, and a setting corresponding to this evaporation chamber, A heating mechanism that evaporates the supplied water into humidified steam, detects a temperature rise in the evaporation chamber, and in a state where the temperature of the evaporation chamber of the supplied water evaporates and rises above a predetermined set temperature. A water supply controller for driving the pump mechanism, wherein water is supplied to the evaporation chamber until the temperature inside the evaporation chamber becomes equal to or lower than the set temperature. 2. The heating mechanism is composed of a PTC heater, and is provided with detection means for detecting a change in the resistance value of the PTC heater which decreases as the temperature in the evaporation chamber rises. The vehicle-mounted humidifying device according to claim 1, wherein the water supply control means is configured.