JPH08164087A - Device for drying hands - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a device for drying hands, which can quickly warm air when a high-speed air flow is ejected without adding a special heating means such as an electric heater which increasingly consumes electricity. CONSTITUTION: In a device for drying hands, a high-pressure air current generated by a high-pressure air current generating device 3 is injected as a high-speed working current through nozzles 19 and 20 to blow off moisture on the hands by a kinetic energy of the working current. An electric-powered damper 14 which opens and closes an air suction port 9 of the high-pressure air current generating device 3 is provided near the port 9. The electric-powered damper 14 is usually maintained to a closed state for checking the suction air to the air suction port 9. The damper is operated to be open with a delay of a little time from the operation start of the high-pressure air current generating device 3 and is maintained to an open state which allows the suction air to be flowed. The damper 14 is set to the closed state by the stop of the high-pressure air current generating device 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hand dryer for wiping a wet hand after washing with kinetic energy of a high-speed air stream.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to maintain a hand in a hygienic state, it is necessary to wash the hand and also to perform a drying treatment after the washing in a hygienic manner. Therefore, the wet hand is directly dried by washing or the like. For example, a hand dryer as disclosed in JP-A-2-23918 is used.

As shown in FIG. 7, the conventional hand dryer shown in the above publication is constructed by providing a heating means by an electric heater 103 on a blowing means 102 rotated by an induction motor 101. The air blower 102 forms an air flow blown to the hand dryer by the rotation of the sirocco type blades, and the electric heater 103 heats the air flow formed by the blower 102 to convert the air blown to the hand dryer to hot air. To do.

In the hand dryer having the above structure, the hand can be dried hygienically by holding the wet hand over the hand dryer where hot air is blowing. That is, the water content of the hand hit by the hot air is evaporated by the heat, blown off by the wind and removed from the hand without wiping with a woven cloth or the like.

In such a hand dryer, since the moisture is evaporated by heat energy, it takes a long time for the drying process, which is troublesome to use. Therefore,
Hand dryers have been developed that dry the hands by blowing away moisture from the hands by the kinetic energy of a high-speed air stream. Since this type of hand dryer does not use heat energy for hand drying, it is possible to perform a quicker drying process than that of the above-mentioned type and is excellent in usability.

[0006]

Among the conventional hand dryers described above, a hand dryer that dries a hand with a high-speed air flow without relying on heat energy has some advantages as described above, but it is wet. The so-called sensible temperature of the hand during processing is fairly low because the high-speed wind is applied directly to the hand. Therefore, in the winter season, especially in the severe winter season, the hand feels a considerably cold sensation, which is awkward for the user.

Although there is a familiar method for eliminating the cooling sensation due to a high-speed air flow, for example, an electric heater is incorporated, but an apparatus of this kind which is originally characterized by performing a drying process without relying on heat energy is provided. However, such a method of adding the heating means is not suitable because it may reduce the original characteristics of the apparatus, and also increases power consumption, which is not a good idea.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to blow a high-speed air flow without adding a special heating means such as an electric heater which consumes a lot of power. The object is to obtain a hand dryer that can quickly warm up the air, and especially to eliminate the feeling of cold air at the beginning of use, and to improve the ease of use.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is that a high pressure air flow generated by a high pressure air flow generator is ejected as a high-speed working air flow by a nozzle,
An electric damper that opens and closes near the air suction port of the high-pressure airflow generator is provided for the hand dryer that dries the moisture of the hand by the kinetic energy of the working air flow and dries the hand, and this electric damper is usually the air suction port. To the closed state that blocks the intake air to the high pressure air flow generator, and opens it with a small time delay from the start of the operation of the high pressure air flow generator to maintain the open state that allows the flow of the intake air. A means to make it closed by stopping is adopted.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 2 blows out a high-pressure air flow by a high-pressure air flow generator as a high-speed working air flow by a nozzle, and blows off moisture of the hand by the kinetic energy of the working air flow. An electric damper that opens and closes is provided on the air discharge side of the high-pressure airflow generator for the hand dryer that dries the electric dryer, and this electric damper is normally maintained in a closed state that blocks air blown from the air discharge port. , A means to open the high-pressure airflow generator with a small time delay from the start of operation to maintain the open state that allows the flow of blown air, and to close it by stopping the high-pressure airflow generator To do.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 3 uses the electric damper in the means according to claim 1 or 2 to detect the intake air temperature and the outside air temperature to the high pressure air flow generator. When the temperature detecting means is provided and the temperature detecting means detects a temperature equal to or higher than the set temperature, a means for always keeping the open state regardless of other conditions is adopted.

[0012]

According to the above-mentioned means, even if the high-pressure air flow generator is operated, the suction of the air from the air suction port is blocked by the electric damper for a short period of time. There is almost no air flow in the generator, and the air in the high-pressure airflow generator is rapidly heated by the heat generated by the motor coil of the high-pressure airflow generator, and at the same time as the opening operation of the electric damper, It is blown out from the airflow generator and is blown out from the nozzle as a working airflow in a heated state. When the high-pressure airflow generator stops, the electric damper also closes and waits for the next operation.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if the high-pressure airflow generator is operated, the blowout of air from the air discharge port is blocked by the electric damper for a short time. There is almost no air flow in the generator, and the air in the high-pressure airflow generator is rapidly heated by the heat generated by the motor coil of the high-pressure airflow generator, and at the same time as the opening operation of the electric damper, It is blown out from the airflow generator and is blown out from the nozzle as a working airflow in a heated state. When the high-pressure airflow generator stops, the electric damper also closes and waits for the next operation.

In the means according to claim 3, in addition to the operation according to claim 1 or 2,
When the intake air temperature and the outside air temperature to the high-pressure airflow generator detected by the temperature detection means are higher than the set temperature, the electric damper is opened, and the working airflow is blown out from the nozzle almost at the same time as the operation of the high-pressure airflow generator. .

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Example 1. As shown in FIG. 1 as a whole, the hand dryer according to the first embodiment incorporates a high-pressure airflow generator 3 in a box 2 forming an outer shell having a hand insertion part 1 as a processing part at the front upper part. The high-pressure air generated by the high-pressure airflow generator 3 is supplied to the hand insertion part 1 to form a working air flow having sufficient kinetic energy to blow off water in the hand insertion part 1. It is installed on the floor of a room or on the wall surface.

The front surface of the box body 2 forming the outer shell of the hand dryer is composed of a front panel and an insertion portion panel forming the hand insertion portion 1, and the rear surface thereof is composed of a back plate. Both side surfaces of the box body 2 are composed of left and right side plates, an upper surface thereof is an upper panel, and a bottom portion thereof is composed of a gate-shaped frame 4.

Hand insertion part 1 formed by insertion part panel
Is open on the front side and both side sides at the upper front of the box 2.
It is configured as a slanted U-shaped recess that tilts downward toward the back side, and you can freely remove and insert your hands in a visible state without feeling discomfort or anxiety when both hands are naturally aligned and extended. Has a height and a depth, and a drain port is formed near the side of the bottom on the back side. The inner part of the hand insertion part 1 is configured to be wider than the entrance part. In addition, the opening edge of the hand insertion part 1 has a smooth R to improve the touch.
It is formed in a shape, and the inner surface of the hand insertion portion 1 is subjected to a water repellent treatment by applying a water repellent paint to prevent the attachment of water droplets and the attachment of dirt.

The hand insertion portion 1 is provided on the entrance side and the back side of the hand insertion portion 1.
A sensor 5 for detecting the entry and exit of the hand is attached. This sensor 5 has a plurality of photo Ls arranged side by side.
It is composed of an infrared ray emitting element such as ED and an infrared ray receiving element such as a plurality of phototransistors arranged side by side. The light emitting side is attached to the lower side wall surface, and the light receiving side is attached to the upper side wall surface which is less affected by external light. Has been. Sensor 5
When the insertion of the hand is detected, the high-pressure airflow generator 3 is energized, and when the removal of the hand is detected, the high-pressure airflow generator 3 is deenergized.

As shown in FIG. 2, the high-pressure airflow generator 3 is constructed as a unit consisting of a DC brushless motor (which may be a normal commutator motor) 6 and a turbofan 7 rotated by the DC brushless motor 6. In this embodiment, the two machines are mounted side by side on the base 8 which is the upper surface of the frame 4 constituting the bottom of the box 2 with the air inlets 9 facing downward. A plurality of air outlets 10 are opened on the outer periphery of the outer shell of the DC brushless motor 6 that constitutes the outlet side of each high-pressure airflow generator 3, and the air sucked from the air inlet 9 is It is blown out from the turbo fan 7 through the DC brushless motor 6 to the outside through the air discharge port 10. Cylindrical packing 11 is sandwiched between each high-pressure airflow generator 3 and the base 8 so as to surround the air suction port 9. A blower cover 12 with open ends is formed on the outer circumference of each high-pressure airflow generator 3 to form a gap around the high-pressure airflow generator 3.
Are fixed to the base 8, respectively. The gap between each blower cover 12 and each high-pressure airflow generator 3 is
The packing 11 and the base 8 are separated from the suction side in an airtight state.

The air suction port 9 of the high pressure air flow generator 3 is
The opening is formed so as to face the end structure of the suction path formed in the frame 4. The suction path has a series of air passages whose inlet end is a suction port that opens downward to the outside of the machine at the bottom of the box body 2 and whose end structure is an intake box 13 facing the air suction port 9 of each high-pressure airflow generator 3. The space between the suction port and the intake box 13 is formed by a duct arranged in the up-down direction.

The intake box 13 on the suction path is a frame 4
It is attached to the lower surface of the base 8 from below, and together with the base 8 forms a chamber as an air introduction portion to each high-pressure airflow generator 3. An electric damper 14 that opens and closes an air suction port 9 of each high-pressure airflow generator 3 is attached to a base 8 in the intake box 13. The electric damper 14 is normally maintained in a closed state in which each air suction port 9 is closed by urging a spring or the like. Each electric damper 1
4, a damper control unit 15 including a drive motor is attached,
The damper control unit 15 energizes the drive motor with a delay of about 2 seconds after the sensor 5 detects the insertion of the hand, and cuts off the energization of the drive motor when the sensor 5 detects the withdrawal of the hand. The electric damper 14 itself opens by energizing the drive motor, is maintained in an open state that allows the intake air to flow, and is closed when the drive motor is cut off. The electric damper 14 in the open state has a free end in contact with the bottom portion of the intake box 13 and functions as an air guide member for guiding the airflow flowing from the duct to the air suction port 9. The electrical control process is performed by the control circuit 16 incorporated in the frame 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an upper air duct 17 and a lower air duct 18 are provided at the open ends of the blower covers 12 provided outside the high-pressure airflow generators 3 on the air discharge port 10 side. One end of each is connected. The other ends of the upper air duct 17 and the lower air duct 18 expand into a flat trumpet shape, and an upper blowing nozzle 19 and a lower blowing nozzle 20 are attached to the horizontally long slit-shaped opening ends, respectively. A plurality of nozzle holes are formed in rows in the horizontal direction in the upper blowing nozzle 19 and the lower blowing nozzle 20 at equal intervals, and the high-pressure air sent from the high-pressure air flow generator 3 is turned into a high-speed working air stream. It can be converted and blown out.

The upper blow-out nozzle 19 is inclined downward to the upper part of the inlet of the manual insertion part 1 and the lower blow-out nozzle 20 is inclined downward to form a pressure gradient from the inlet to the back of the lower part of the inlet of the manual insertion part 1. It is attached laterally with a hand, and the working airflow is applied to both the back side and the palm side of the hand at the same time so that water drops on the hand can be removed from the front and back of the hand without rubbing the hands put in the hand insertion section 1. You can

In the hand dryer having the above-mentioned structure, by inserting a wet hand into the hand insertion part 1, the moisture of the hand is manually inserted by the kinetic energy of the high-speed working air flow formed in the hand insertion part 1. The part 1 can be blown away to the back side, and the drying process can be quickly performed in a state where the hand can be visually recognized without anxiety. At this time, when the sensor 5 detects that the hand has been inserted into the hand insertion portion 1, the high-pressure airflow generator 3 is operated, but the air suction port 9 is closed by the electric damper 14 to prevent the suction of air. Therefore, there is almost no air flow in the high-pressure air flow generator 3, and the air in the high-pressure air flow generator 3 is quickly heated by the heat generated by the motor coil of the high-pressure air flow generator 3. To be done. The electric damper 14 opens with a delay of about 2 seconds from the operation of the high-pressure airflow generator 3 to open the air suction port 9. The air heated after a heating time of about 2 seconds is blown out from the high-pressure airflow generator 3 at the same time as the opening operation of the electric damper 14, and is turned into a heated working airflow from the upper blowing nozzle 19 and the lower blowing nozzle 20. Blown out. FIG. 3 shows the timing of the above operation and the temperature rise value of air.

The temperature of the working air flow for drying the hands is raised by
This is to improve the comfort by eliminating the feeling of cold wind at the beginning of use, not to supplement the drying function. Therefore,
The temperature of the working air flow itself does not need to be so high, and it is important to raise the temperature quickly. In other words, how to eliminate the feeling of cold air at the beginning of use is the key to improving the feeling of use, and in order to realize this, the electric damper 14 is used to heat for a short time. FIG. 4 shows the temperature increasing function of the electric damper 14 in comparison with the case where the electric damper 14 is not provided, and shows that the electric damper 14 makes the rising of the temperature rise remarkable.

When the sensor 5 detects the removal of the hand and the high-pressure airflow generator 3 is stopped, the electric damper 14 is also brought into the initial closed state and waits for the next operation. That is, it becomes a hand dryer that is comfortable to use without feeling cold.
It consumes less power to heat the air. The high-pressure airflow generator 3 may also be configured as a single unit that is vertically divided by a branch duct.

Example 2. The hand dryer of Example 2 is
The electric damper 14 of the first embodiment described above is provided on the air discharge port 10 side of the high-pressure airflow generator 3, and the other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment. Therefore, some explanation will be given with reference to the drawings according to the first embodiment. That is, the electric damper 14 is provided near the connection position between the blower cover 12 and the upper air duct 17 or the lower air duct 18 shown by the broken line in FIG. This electric damper 1
4 is normally maintained in a closed state for blocking the air blown out from the air discharge port 10, and is opened with a delay of about 2 seconds from the start of operation of the high-pressure airflow generator 3 to allow the flow of blown air. Maintained at. Further, the closed state is returned by stopping the high-pressure air flow generator 3, and is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, and its function is not changed.

Example 3. The hand dryer of Example 3 is
The electric damper 14 shown in the above-described first and second embodiments
Is configured to function conditionally by the temperature detecting means 21 for detecting the outside air temperature outside the apparatus or the intake side temperature of the suction side of the high-pressure air flow generating apparatus 3 as shown in FIG. The function is the same as that of the first and second embodiments. Therefore, as for the drawings, those according to the first and second embodiments are also used as they are.

The temperature detecting means 21 is attached to the box body 2 forming an outer shell so as to face the outside, or is attached to the inlet of the intake box 13 as shown in FIG. This temperature detecting means 21 is set temperature or higher (for example, 25 degrees to 28 degrees).
When a temperature such as a degree that does not give a cold sensation) is detected, the electric damper 14 is always opened regardless of other conditions. In other words, when the temperature environment is not such that cold air is felt, it is not necessary to warm up the air, so that the working airflow is blown out more quickly, which improves usability. The operational relationship between the temperature detecting means 21 and the electric damper 14 is processed and executed by the control circuit 16. The temperature detecting means 21 does not depend on the electric sensing element as described above,
For example, a spring formed of a shape memory alloy may be used. That is, the spring whose shape is memorized so that the electric damper 14 is opened when the temperature becomes equal to or higher than the set temperature is set in the electric damper 1.
It may be attached to No. 4. The other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first and second embodiments, and therefore their explanations are omitted.

Example 4. The fourth embodiment relates to the electric damper 14 shown in the above-described first embodiment, and is intended to reduce the power during the opening operation. The other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment, the drawings are also used as they are, and the duplicated description will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 6, the electric damper 14 of the fourth embodiment is provided with an opening 23 that is normally closed by a closing member 22 on a part of the working surface of the electric damper 14, and is closed by the opening operation. The member 22 is configured to open the opening 23. The closing member 22 is a guide member 2 provided on the back surface of the electric damper 14.
Spring slidably mounted between 4 and usually weak spring 2
In FIG. 5, the electric damper 14 is held in a closed position that closes the opening 23. On the side of the closing member 22 opposite to the spring 25, the non-stretchable rope 2 which is turned by the guides 26 at two places.
One end of 7 is connected. The other end of the rope 27 is wound around the rotary shaft 28 of the drive motor.

When the electric damper 14 is opened, since the suction force of the high-pressure airflow generator 3 acts on the electric damper 14, a considerably strong force is required and a large amount of power is consumed. Therefore, if the closing member 22 is slid by winding the rope 27 and the opening 23 is opened by the rotation of the drive motor to reduce the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the working surface of the electric damper 14, the opening operation of the electric damper 14 is performed. Will be easier and the power of the opening operation will be reduced.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description of the embodiments, according to the invention of claim 1, a high-speed air flow is promptly blown out without adding a special heating means such as an electric heater which consumes a large amount of power. It can be warmed up, especially the feeling of cold wind at the beginning of use.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a high-speed airflow can be quickly warmed up when it is blown out without adding a special heating means such as an electric heater that consumes a large amount of power, and the feeling of cold air at the beginning of use can be eliminated. it can.

According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect according to the invention of claim 1 or 2, when it is not necessary to heat, the working airflow can be swiftly blown out without being heated and is easy to use. Is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a hand dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the hand dryer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation timing of each operation part and the temperature rise of air in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a graph of temperature rise of the working air flow of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part of a hand dryer according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an electric damper of a hand dryer according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional hand dryer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hand Insertion Part 3 High Pressure Air Flow Generator 6 DC Brushless Motor 7 Turbo Fan 9 Air Suction Port 10 Air Discharge Port 14 Electric Damper 19 Upper Blowing Nozzle 20 Lower Blowing Nozzle 21 Temperature Detection Means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Yasumoto 1-3 Komabacho, Nakatsugawa-shi, Gifu Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Nakatsugawa Works

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A hand-drying process in which a high-pressure airflow generated by a high-pressure airflow generator is ejected as a high-speed working airflow by a nozzle over a hand held over the processing unit, and the kinetic energy of the working airflow blows away water from the hand to dry the hand. The device is provided with an electric damper that opens and closes in the vicinity of the air suction port of the high-pressure air flow generator, and the electric damper is normally maintained in a closed state that blocks suction air to the air suction port. It is characterized in that the flow generator is opened with a small time lag from the start of the operation to maintain the open state that allows the flow of suction air, and is closed by stopping the high-pressure air generator. Hand dryer. 2. A hand-drying process in which a high-pressure air flow generated by a high-pressure air flow generator is ejected as a high-speed working air flow by a nozzle over a hand held over the processing unit, and the kinetic energy of the working air flow blows away moisture from the hand to dry the hand. The device is provided with an electric damper that opens and closes on the side of the air discharge port of the high-pressure air flow generator, and normally maintains the electric damper in a closed state that blocks air blown out from the air discharge port. It is characterized in that the flow generating device is opened with a small time delay from the start of operation to maintain the open state allowing the flow of blown air, and is closed by stopping the high pressure air flow generating device. Hand dryer. 3. The hand dryer according to claim 1, further comprising temperature detecting means for detecting an intake air temperature and an outside air temperature to the high-pressure airflow generator, and the temperature detecting means. The hand dryer is characterized in that, when detects a temperature equal to or higher than a set temperature, the electric damper is always opened regardless of other conditions.