JPH08318117A - Air purifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the number of revolution of a fan from being frequently changed or the fan from repeating stoppage/operation even if output voltage of a photoelectric dust detector is varied somewhat. CONSTITUTION: A filter 5 for purifying air is installed in a front grill 6. A photoelectric dust detector 8 is incorporated into a side surface of a main body 4. An indicator part 7 consisting of a two-color LED for indicating dust concentration based on output voltage from the photoelectric dust detector 8 is provided to indicate the dust concentration on the indicator part 7, and also when the dust concentration is increased or decreased, the dust concentration indication and the switching time of the number of revolution of a motor 3 are varied by a control part 14 to perform automatic operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air cleaner provided with a photoelectric dust detector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, air purifiers that purify contaminated air in a room have become popular in order to improve the indoor environment.
There is an increasing demand for an air cleaner that can perform stable automatic operation according to the dust concentration detected by a photoelectric dust detector.

Conventionally, an air cleaner of this type has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 23520. The configuration will be described below with reference to FIG. 7.

As shown in the figure, a fan 102 driven by a motor (not shown) is provided inside the main body 101,
The outlet 103 is provided on the upper surface, and the photoelectric dust detector 104 and the filters 106 and 107 held by the filter holder 105 and the front cover 108 are provided on the front, and the air pollution detected by the photoelectric dust detector 104 is determined. In conjunction with the above, the fan 102 is driven by the output of the photoelectric dust detector 104 to switch the rotation speed of the motor for automatic operation.

[0005]

With the structure of such a conventional air purifier, it is possible to realize an air purifier that can be automatically operated depending on the contamination of the air, but the photoelectric dust detector 104 has Since the output voltage fluctuates greatly, if automatic operation is performed in conjunction with the degree of contamination, the operation will be frequently stopped and started repeatedly, resulting in a large change in the fan rotation speed and the problem of unstable automatic operation in actual use. was there.

Further, although the degree of dirt in the room changes depending on the activity of the person in the room or the operation of the air purifier, there is a problem that the changing process cannot be accurately known.

The present invention solves the above problems, and it is a first object of the present invention to provide an air cleaner capable of preventing a phenomenon in which the number of revolutions of a fan fluctuates frequently and a stop and operation are repeated.
The purpose of.

A second object is to display the degree of soiling and the changing state of the room in a user-friendly manner.

[0009]

A first means for achieving the first object of the present invention is to provide a fan provided inside a main body, a motor for driving the fan, and a windward of the fan. Control unit for switching the speed of the motor by comparing the dust concentration detected by this photoelectric dust detector with the stored reference concentration data This control unit is configured to compare the dust concentration with the first concentration reference data when the dust concentration rises and to compare the dust concentration with the second concentration reference data when the dust concentration falls. .

A second means for achieving the second object is a fan provided inside the main body, a motor for driving the fan, a filter arranged on the windward side of the fan, and a peripheral device. The photoelectric dust detector for detecting the dust concentration and the display unit for displaying the dust concentration detected by the photoelectric dust detector are provided, and the display unit is provided with two-color LEDs arranged in a strip shape. The dust density area can be identified by the lighting color and the number of lighting of the color LEDs.

[0011]

According to the present invention, since the density reference data is different when the dust concentration is increased and when the dust concentration is decreased by the configuration of the above-described first means, for example, when the dust concentration is decreased, the operation of the motor is switched to be lower than when the dust concentration is increased. Since the rotation speed of the motor is not immediately switched even if the output voltage fluctuates to some extent, stable automatic operation can be performed without frequently repeating operation / stop.

Further, the configuration of the second means makes it possible to easily determine the pollution situation in the room by the change in the lighting color and the number of lighting of the two-color LEDs arranged in a strip shape.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in the figure, a main body 4 having an opening on the front surface, a discharge port 1 on the upper surface, and a motor 3 for driving the fan 2 inside, and a filter 5 on the front surface on the windward side of the fan 2 are provided. A front grill 6 serving as a suction port is provided, and a plurality of LEDs are provided on the front surface of the front grill 6 to form a display unit 7.

A photoelectric dust detector 8 is provided on the inner side of the main body 4.
Is provided, the intake ports 9 are provided on the lower left and right sides thereof, the exhaust ports 10 are formed on the upper left and right sides, and the resistor 11 that generates an upward air flow by generating heat is provided near the intake port 9 in the center of the interior. The light emitting diode 12 and the light receiving diode 13 are provided facing each other, the infrared rays from the light emitting diode 12 are applied to the rising air flow containing dust, and the light reflected by the particles of the dust is detected by the light receiving diode 13, and the amount of dust is counted. Is formed.

Further, a control unit 14 is provided in the main body 4 for sequentially switching the motor 3 from weak operation to strong operation when the dust concentration rises and sequentially switching the motor 3 from strong operation to weak operation when the dust concentration falls. The control unit 14 stores the first concentration reference data for comparison with the detected concentration of the photoelectric dust detector 8 when the dust concentration rises, and compares it with the detected concentration of the photoelectric dust detector 8 when the dust concentration falls. The second density reference data for storing is stored. Further, the control unit 14 has a display unit 8
The LED is energized according to the dust concentration.

In the above configuration, assuming that the motor 3 is switched in three stages of strong notch, standard notch, and weak notch,
When the air is getting dirty, the motor 3 becomes dirty 1 (voltage 0..0) according to the first concentration reference data stored in the controller 14.
9V) started operation with a weak notch, and dirt 4 (voltage 2.4
Switch to the standard notch with V) and stain 8 (voltage 3.3
V) switches to a strong notch. On the other hand, when the air becomes clean, according to the second concentration reference data stored in the control unit 14, the operation continues with a strong notch until the dirt 3 (voltage 2.4 V) is reached, and the dirt 1 ( Voltage 1.5
V) and switch to a weak notch, output voltage 0.8V
Stop only after:

To explain the actual operating condition, when smoking is started indoors, the output voltage of the photoelectric dust detector 8 rises as shown in FIG. 4 and the air cleaner is operated. Although the output voltage drops when the cigarette smoke is removed, the voltage waveform often constantly fluctuates up and down.

However, when the rotation of the motor 3 is switched from the strong notch to the standard notch, and from the standard notch to the weak notch, the concentration reference data has a hysteresis of 0.9 V when the concentration is increasing and when the concentration is decreasing. Therefore, even if the output voltage of the photoelectric dust detector 8 fluctuates to some extent, the notch of the motor 3 is not immediately switched, and stable operation can be performed.

As described above, according to the air cleaner of the first embodiment of the present invention, even if the photoelectric dust detector 8 having a large fluctuation in output voltage is used as a sensor for automatic operation, stable automatic operation is performed. be able to.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 6. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, ten two-color LEDs 7a are arranged on the display section 7 in a strip shape, and if the output voltage of the photoelectric dust detector is 0.8 V or less, all the two-color LEDs 7a are arranged.
Lights up in green. When dirt 1 (voltage 0.9V) is reached, the leftmost two-color LED 7a changes from green to red. When dirt 4 (voltage 2.5V) is reached, the two leftmost two-color LEDs 7a change from green to red. In this way, as the dirt level increases, the two-color LE corresponding to the level increases.
D7a gradually changes from green to red, and the final stain 10
When the voltage is over 3.6V, all 2-color LEDs 7a
Is configured to turn red.

With the above structure, when the air is clean, the two-color LEDs 7a are all displayed in green, and the green band is shortened by the density corresponding to the dirt, and the red band is lengthened by the dirt density. It is possible to display the current dirt condition and its changing process in an easy-to-understand manner.

As described above, according to the air purifier of the second embodiment of the present invention, the current degree of air pollution and the change in the pollution status can be recognized at a glance by the lengths and movements of the green band and the red band. Can be determined.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, a fan provided inside the main body, a motor for driving the fan, a filter arranged on the windward side of the fan, and a peripheral A photoelectric dust detector that detects the dust concentration, and a control unit that switches the speed of the motor by comparing the dust concentration detected by this photoelectric dust detector with the stored reference concentration data, and this control unit is provided. Since the dust concentration is compared with the first concentration reference data when the dust concentration rises and the dust concentration is compared with the second concentration reference data when the dust concentration falls, this is a drawback of the photoelectric dust detector. It is possible to provide an air purifier that can perform stable automatic operation with respect to a certain output signal fluctuation.

Further, since the two-color LEDs are arranged in a strip shape on the display unit and the dust concentration area can be identified by the lighting color and the number of lighting of the two-color LEDs, it is possible to know at a glance how air is contaminated. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an air cleaner according to first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the air purifier.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a photoelectric dust detector of the air cleaner of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic graph showing a change in output voltage of the photoelectric dust detector.

FIG. 5 is a driving operation explanatory diagram of the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of the display unit according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional air cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Fan 3 Motor 4 Body 5 Filter 7 Display 7a Two-color LED 8 Photoelectric dust detector 14 Controller

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fan provided inside the main body, a motor for driving the fan, a filter arranged on the windward side of the fan, a photoelectric dust detector for detecting the dust concentration of the surroundings, and this photoelectric device. The control unit switches the speed of the motor by comparing the dust concentration detected by the dust detector with the stored reference concentration data, and the control unit determines the dust concentration based on the first concentration reference data when the dust concentration increases. An air purifier that performs a comparison and compares the dust concentration with the second concentration reference data when the dust concentration decreases. 2. A fan provided inside the main body, a motor for driving the fan, a filter arranged on the windward side of the fan, a photoelectric dust detector for detecting the dust concentration in the surroundings, and this photoelectric device. The dust detector has a display unit for displaying the dust concentration detected by the dust detector, and the display unit is provided by arranging the two-color LEDs in a strip shape, and the dust concentration region can be identified by the lighting color and the number of lighting of the two-color LEDs. An air purifier with a configuration.