JPH06181860A - Hand dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dry a hand comfortably by increasing the power value of a heater in the initial drying of the hand by a hand dryer, and decreasing the power of the heater gradually according to the progression of the drying. CONSTITUTION:A control circuit 14, when detecting the hand by a hand sensor 9, detects the surface humidity of the hand according to a signal from a hand surface humidity sensor 11, and also, increases the power value of the heater 8 in the initial drying where high humidity exists to supply the power in accordance with humidity to the heater 8, and decreases the power of the heater 8 gradually according to the progression of the drying, thereby, the drying of the hand can be performed more comfortably.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hand dryer installed in a toilet or the like for drying water after hand washing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in a public toilet or the like, when a wet hand after washing the hand is handed out, a hand detection sensor senses this, and the fan is rotated and the heater is energized to warm the air from the outlet. A hand dryer is provided that is configured to blow out the air and quickly dry the hand.

[0003]

The above conventional hand dryer is designed to blow hot air of a considerably high temperature from the outlet in order to dry the wet hand after washing the hand as quickly as possible. If it is still wet, it is comfortable, but if the amount of water adhering to the hands decreases as the drying progresses, the hot air feels hot, which causes discomfort.

Therefore, in the present invention, the temperature of the warm air is raised at the beginning of the drying of the wet hand after washing the hands, and the temperature of the warm air is gradually decreased as the drying progresses, so that the hand can be dried comfortably. It is an issue to be solved.

[0005]

The technical means for solving the above-mentioned problems is to provide a blow-out port by rotating a fan and energizing a heater when a hand-out sensor senses an outstretched hand. A hand dryer configured to blow hot air from the hand, a hand surface humidity sensor that detects the surface humidity of the hand in a non-contact manner, and the temperature of the hot air is controlled based on a detection signal from the hand surface humidity sensor. And a control means for controlling the operation.

[0006]

According to the hand dryer having the above-mentioned structure, the control means, when the hand out is detected by the hand detection sensor, based on the detection signal from the hand surface humidity sensor, at the time of initial drying with high humidity. While raising the temperature of warm air,
As the drying progresses, the temperature of the warm air is controlled to be gradually lowered.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of a hand dryer-1 that is installed in a toilet or the like to dry water after hand washing. As shown in FIG. 1, in order to attach the hand dryer -1 to the wall surface 2 of the toilet room, a mounting bracket 3 is fixed to the wall surface 2 with a screw 4. The base metal fitting 5 of the dryer-1 is hooked. A base cover 18 is fixed to the base metal fitting 5 with a screw 19, and the base cover 18 is covered with a front cover 6.
In the space surrounded by the base cover 18 and the front cover 6, the fan 7 that is rotationally driven by the fan motor 7A.
A heater 8; a hand detection sensor 9 for detecting an outstretched hand; a hand temperature detection sensor 10 for detecting the temperature of the hand;
Along with the hand temperature detection sensor 10, a hand surface humidity sensor 11 that detects the surface humidity of the hand without contact is provided. The hand surface humidity sensor 11 is an infrared humidity sensor that utilizes the property that near infrared rays are absorbed by water. Further, the heater 8 is covered with a protective plate 12, and the printed circuit board 13 is further provided with a control circuit 14 having a microcomputer as a center. Since commercial power is supplied to the hand dryer-1, a power line (not shown) is connected to the terminal block 17 from the wiring box 15 through the lead-in port 16.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the hand sensor 9 and the hand surface humidity sensor 11 are connected to the input side of the control circuit 14, and the fan motor 7 is connected to the output side of the control circuit 14.
A and the heater 8 are connected.

The control circuit 14 controls the hand surface humidity sensor 11 when the hand out is detected by the hand sensor 9.
Based on the detection signal from the heater, the temperature of the warm air is increased by supplying a large amount of electric power to the heater 8 at the time of initial drying with high humidity, and the current to the heater 8 is gradually reduced as the drying progresses. By doing so, the temperature of the warm air is controlled to be gradually decreased.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the control circuit 14. As shown in FIG. 3, when the hand detection sensor 9 detects a hand, drive power is supplied to the fan motor 7A, and a signal from the hand surface humidity sensor 11 is input to respond to the hand surface humidity. After the power value (current value) for the heater 8 is calculated, the drying of the hand extended by the routine of supplying the power (current) to the heater 8 is controlled. As described above, by reducing the electric power value (current value) for the heater 8 as the hand surface humidity decreases, comfortable drying can be performed.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship of the warm air temperature corresponding to the surface humidity of the hand, and this relationship is the control circuit 1 described above.
The data is stored in the storage unit of the microcomputer 4 as data.

In the above embodiment, the hand drying control is performed based on the signal from the hand surface humidity sensor 11, but if the signal from the hand temperature detecting sensor 10 is added to the control condition, it is more reliable. It is possible to perform precise drying control and perform comfortable drying. Further, in this example, the case where the heater current is controlled to control the temperature is illustrated, but the temperature may be controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the fan to change the air volume.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an outstretched hand is sensed by the hand sensing sensor, it is determined based on the detection signal from the hand surface humidity sensor that the dryness in the early stage of high humidity is high. By supplying a large amount of electric power to the heater, the temperature of the warm air is raised and as the drying progresses
Since the temperature of the hot air is controlled to be gradually decreased by gradually reducing the energization of the heater, comfortable drying can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between warm air temperature and hand surface humidity.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hand Dryer 7 Fan 7A Fan Motor 8 Heater 9 Hand Sensing Sensor 11 Hand Surface Humidity Sensor 14 Control Circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hand dryer configured to blow hot air from an outlet by rotating a fan and energizing a heater when an outstretched hand is detected by a hand detection sensor. A hand dryer comprising a hand surface humidity sensor that detects the surface humidity of the hand in a non-contact manner, and control means that controls the temperature of the warm air based on a detection signal from the hand surface humidity sensor. -.