JPH10113305A - Hand drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent malfunction of a hand detection device to enable correct detection of the hands in an appropriate drying area in a hand drier used for drying wet hands sanitarily after washing. SOLUTION: A hot air blow-off port 4 is provided at a base part of a main body 1, and an infrared radiation element 5 and a photo receiving element 6 are obliquely fixed on left and right of the hot air blow-off port 4. When the hands are inserted into the area below the hot air blow-off port 4, if the hands are within a detection area M, it is detected and a blowing device and a heater 3 are driven. When the hands are outside of the detection area M, since the direction of the reflected light is differed from the position of the photo receiving element 6 and the light receiving intensity is weakened, the hands are not detected to prevent a malfunction. Furthermore, a malfunction due to an object placed in a position below the hot air blow-off port 4 is also prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hand dryer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, hand dryers have been widely used for hygienically drying wet hands after washing.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a blower 102 for generating warm air and a heater 103 are provided inside a main body 101.
The warm air outlet 104 and the hand detection device 107 are provided at the lower part of the main body 101. The hand detection device 107 includes an infrared light emitting element 105 and a light receiving element 106. A control unit 109 having a microcomputer 108 is provided inside the main body 101. The control unit 109 drives the blowing circuit 110 according to a detection signal of the hand detection device 107. In addition to driving the blower 102, the heater driving unit 111 is driven to energize the heater 103.

In the above configuration, when the hand detecting device 107 detects the presence of the hand inserted under the outlet 104, the microcomputer 108 of the control unit 109 drives the blower 102 and the heater 103,
Hot air blows out from the outlet 104 to dry wet hands.

At this time, the function of the hand detection device 107 is that infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting element 105 is reflected on the hand, and the reflected light is detected by the infrared light receiving element 106 and transmitted to the microcomputer 108. The microcomputer 108 compares the detected value with a predetermined reference value, and starts the operation of the blower 103 and the heater 102 when the detected value increases. When the detected value is smaller than the reference value,
Stop operation.

The sensitivity setting of the hand detection device 107 is to prevent malfunction due to reflection on the floor surface by adjusting the light emission intensity of the infrared light receiving element 105 by a variable resistor at the time of shipment from the factory.

[0007]

In such a conventional hand dryer, since the infrared light emitting element and the light receiving element are installed in the same direction as the hot air outlet, articles are placed on the floor below. There is a problem that there is a possibility of malfunction due to reflection when placed, and even if you put your hand near or slightly away from the outlet, it will drive,
There are issues such as hot air blowing and insufficient drying for the user, so prevent malfunctions due to reflections of articles placed on the floor and start operation only when the hand to be dried is in the proper position. Is required.

When a water tray is provided below the outlet to prevent water droplets separated from wet hands from scattering, the intensity of the infrared light emitting element is adjusted to prevent malfunction due to reflection of the water tray. There is a problem that it is necessary to perform the operation, and there is a demand for a hand-drying device capable of mounting a water receiving tray and requiring no adjustment at the time of mounting.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and even if there is an article on the floor below the outlet, the operation can be started only when the hand to be dried is within an appropriate range without malfunction. It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand dryer in which a water receiving tray can be attached and the sensitivity of the hand detecting device is not required to be adjusted when the water receiving tray is installed.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a hand dryer according to the present invention has a heater and a blower incorporated in a main body, a hot air outlet provided at a lower portion of the main body, And a hand detection device including an infrared light emitting element and a light receiving element separately disposed below the device, and when the hand detection device detects a hand inserted below the outlet, drives and controls the heater and the blower. It has a control device, and the infrared light emitting element and the light receiving element are attached to the lower part of the outlet at an angle.

According to the present invention, there is provided a hand drying apparatus capable of starting operation only when the hand to be dried is within an appropriate range without malfunction even if there is an article on the floor below the outlet. .

Another means is that a water receiving tray is detachably provided below the outlet.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a hand drying apparatus which can eliminate the need for adjusting the sensitivity of the drying apparatus when attaching and detaching the water receiving tray.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention relates to a heater and a blower incorporated in a main body, a hot air outlet provided in a lower part of the main body, an infrared light emitting element and a light receiving element separately arranged in a lower part of the main body. A hand detection device comprising an element, and a control device for driving and controlling the heater and the blower when the hand detection device detects a hand inserted below the outlet, the infrared light emitting device and the light receiving device The infrared light is emitted from the infrared light emitting element at the incident angle θ1 to the hand inserted below the outlet and reflected at the same angle reflection angle θ1 as the incident angle. Light is received by the light receiving element,
When the hand is out of the appropriate range M, the incident angle θ2
The infrared light incident at the point has a reduced light intensity and a reflection angle θ2
Since only the infrared light reflected at a larger angle is detected by the light receiving element, its intensity is lower than the reference value, and even if there is an object on the floor below the outlet, it deviates from the light emitting direction of the light emitting element. Has the effect of not producing reflected light.

[0015] Further, a detachable water receiving tray is provided below the outlet, and the water receiving tray is mounted below an appropriate range, so that the light reflected by the water receiving tray is transmitted to the light receiving element. It has the effect that it can only move in the direction in which it deviates.

[0016]

Embodiment 1 The present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in the figure, a blower 2 for generating warm air and a heater 3 are provided inside the main body 1, and a warm air outlet 4 and a hand detecting device 7 are provided at a lower portion of the main body 1.
The hand detection device 7 has an infrared light emitting element 5 and a light receiving element 6 separately arranged on both sides of the hot air outlet 4, and the light emitting surface of the infrared light emitting element 5 and the light receiving surface of the light receiving element 6 are respectively hot air outlets. 4
Is mounted so that it can be aimed at below, forming an appropriate range M that can be detected when the outlet 4 has a hand. The infrared light emitting element 5 is provided with a cover 5a, and the light receiving element 6 is provided with a cover 6a. Further, a control device 9 having a microcomputer 8 mounted inside the main body 1 is provided.
The blower 2 is driven via a blower circuit 10 by a detection signal of the hand detector 7, and the heater 3 is energized via a heater driver 11.

In the above configuration, the infrared light emitting element 5 emits infrared light having a high light emission intensity at the incident angle θ1 toward the hand held to the point A in the appropriate range M.
Most of the emitted infrared light is reflected at the reflection angle θ1, the reflected light is received by the light receiving element 6, the detection signal is processed by the microcomputer 8, and the energization control of the blower 2 and the heater 3 is performed. .

However, when the hand is put out at a point B near the outlet other than the appropriate range M or at a point C away from the outlet where the drying ability decreases, the hand is shifted from the light emission center axis of the infrared light emitting element 5. Therefore, the intensity of the infrared light incident on the point B or the point C is reduced, and the intensity of the reflected light received by the light receiving element 6 is lower than the reference value. In the case of point B,
Since the outstretched hand is at a position where the infrared rays are blocked, the infrared rays hardly reach the light receiving element 6. When the hand is located at a point D relatively close to the light receiving element 6, the intensity of the reflected light is close to the reference value, but the incident angle θ2 indicates that the infrared light emitting element 5
Most of the infrared light is reflected at a reflection angle θ2 and is reflected in a direction different from that of the light receiving element, and the light intensity of the infrared light received by the light receiving element 6 is extremely small and becomes equal to or less than a reference value. Like that.

[0019]

Embodiment 2 In FIGS. 1 to 3, a water receiving tray 13 is attached below the main body 1 to form a drying chamber 12 with the main body 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a water receiving tray 13 is provided so as to be movable downward, so that the drying chamber 12 can be used in an enlarged state.

In the above configuration, when the user puts his hand in the drying chamber 12, the hand is detected by the hand detection device 7, the blower 2 and the heater 3 are driven by the operation of the microcomputer 8, and warm air is blown from the outlet 4. Be blown out. At this time, the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting element 5 reaches the point E of the water receiving tray 11 at the incident angle θ3, but most of the light is reflected at the reflection angle θ3, so that the light receiving element 6 cannot receive the light. Even when the light is received, the light intensity is small and equal to or less than the reference value because the light is scattered light, and the blower 2 and the heater 3 are not driven in the determination process by the microcomputer. Therefore, it is not necessary to adjust the sensitivity of the hand detection device even when the water receiving tray is attached or detached or moved downward, and normal operation can be performed without malfunction.

[0021]

As is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the hand detecting device of the hand drying device is separated into an infrared light emitting element and a light receiving element and is arranged to be inclined toward the outlet. Therefore, when the hand is out of the detection range, the direction of the reflected light is different from the light receiving element, and the received light intensity is weak, so that the hand is not detected, and the operation is surely performed when the hand is in the appropriate range. Therefore, it is possible to provide a hand drying device that is effective in preventing malfunction due to an article placed below the hand detection device and exhibiting a good drying function.

Further, even when the water receiving tray is installed below the hand detecting device, since the infrared receiving element and the light receiving element are separated from each other and are inclined toward the outlet, the reflected light from the water receiving tray can be used. It is possible to provide a hand drying device that is effective in preventing a malfunction and maintaining a normal operation state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional front view of a main part of a hand drying device according to a first embodiment and a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the same.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional front view of the main part.

FIG. 4 is a sectional front view of a main part of a conventional hand drying device.

FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Blower 3 Heater 4 Outlet 5 Infrared light emitting element 6 Light receiving element 7 Hand detecting device 9 Control device 13 Water tray

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hand detecting device comprising a heater and a blower incorporated in a main body, a hot air outlet provided in a lower part of the main body, and an infrared light emitting element and a light receiving element separately arranged in a lower part of the main body. And when the hand detection device detects a hand inserted below the outlet, the controller has a control device for driving and controlling the heater and the blower, and the infrared light emitting element and the light receiving element are disposed below the outlet. A hand drying device that is attached to and tilted. 2. The hand drying device according to claim 1, wherein a water receiving tray is detachably provided below the outlet.