JPH10296040A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sense and-inform accurately of the life of an deodorizing filter. SOLUTION: A first deodorizing sensor 46 is disposed on the upstream side of a filter cartridge 13 having a dust collecting filter and a temporarily deodorizing filter, and a second deodorizing sensor 47 is disposed on the downstream side. The output levels of both deodorizing filters 46 and 47 are monitored, and when the output level of the second deodorizing sensor 47 is higher, it is considered as the limit of life of the deodorizing filter, and a light-emitting diode 52 is turned on to demand the replacement of the filter cartridge 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of an air purifier typified by one for home use or business use, and more particularly, to an air purifier capable of accurately detecting the deterioration of the function of a filter, that is, the life thereof. It relates to the structure of a purifier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a so-called forced air suction type air purifier using a fan, a contaminated air in a room is sucked into an air purifier body, and then a deodorizing function or a degassing function also serving as a dust collecting filter. Through a filter having
Basically, the air purified by passing through the filter is blown out again from the purifier body into the room.

[0003] Since the above-mentioned deodorizing filter naturally has a service life, the cumulative operation time of the air purifier itself is monitored by a timer, and the decrease in air volume due to clogging of the deodorizing filter is increased by increasing the fan motor current. From the
When the accumulated operation time reaches a predetermined set time or when the fan motor current increases, this is regarded as the life of the filter, and for example, an indicator lamp or the like is turned on to prompt the replacement of the filter. I have to.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional life determination technique, since the deterioration (deterioration) of the deodorizing function or the degassing function of the filter itself is not detected, the filter is actually already used. Even if the deodorizing function is saturated and the life has been reached, the operation may continue as it is until the cumulative operation time reaches the set time or until an increase in the fan motor current is detected. , It is not always true.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is capable of detecting the deterioration of the deodorizing function of a filter itself and accurately notifying the life of the filter. It seeks to provide structure.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an external contaminated air is sucked into the purifier body by rotation of a fan and is passed through a filter provided in the purifier body. In an air purifier in which air purified by passing therethrough is blown out of a purifier main body, an odor sensor is provided at least at a downstream side of a filter having a deodorizing function to detect an odor that the filter is intended to deodorize. In addition, an alarm means for issuing an alarm based on the output of the odor sensor is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an odor sensor is provided on each of the upstream and downstream sides of the filter according to the first aspect of the present invention, and an alarm means outputs the output of the two odor sensors. It is characterized by issuing an alarm on the basis of this.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the alarm means in the second aspect of the present invention issues an alarm based on a difference between the outputs of the two odor sensors.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
If the air after passing through the filter still has an odor, the odor of the air after passing through the filter is detected by the odor sensor. If the output level of the odor sensor is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, the alarm means is activated to generate an alarm, which means that the original deodorizing function of the deodorizing filter has been notified and the result has been reduced. As a result, the life of the deodorizing filter can be accurately detected and notified.

In particular, according to the second and third aspects of the present invention, the odor sensors are provided not only on the downstream side but also on the upstream side of the filter for the purpose of deodorization, and the difference between the outputs of the two odor sensors is provided. An alarm is issued when the level exceeds a predetermined level. As a result, even if each odor sensor is affected by external environmental conditions such as temperature or humidity, as long as the output difference between the two odor sensors is observed, the influence of the external environmental conditions is offset and the alarm result is adversely affected. Does not affect.

[0011]

1 to 8 are views showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and show an example of a stationary air purifier having a front suction and a top blowing type. .

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the air purifier 1 is roughly divided into a substantially rectangular purifier main body (hereinafter simply referred to as a main body) 2 composed of a housing 3 and a back cover 4, and a main body 2 thereof. And an operation / display panel 6 including various switches and the like is provided above the cover 5 of the main body 2. Note that the air purifier 1 of the present embodiment is also operated by a remote control unit (not shown).

A pair of left and right legs 7 are provided on the lower surface of the main body 2, while the cover 5 can be opened and closed with respect to the main body 2 via a horizontal hinge pin 8 provided at the lower part. In other words, the cover 5, as an open position before tilting position P ₂ inclined from erecting position P ₁ forward by a predetermined angle with the erecting position P ₁ in close joined with the main body 2 in the closed position, they both positions P It can be opened and closed between _1, P _2. The opening angle of the cover 5 is regulated by a chain 9 stretched between the cover 5 and the main body 2.

At the center of the cover 5, a suction louver 10 is provided.
Are formed integrally, whereby an air inlet 11 is formed in the cover 5, and a slide type pre-filter 12 as well as a slide type filter cartridge 13 are provided inside the cover 5. Are removably inserted as the upstream side. In addition,
While the pre-filter 12 is formed as a net for the purpose of collecting relatively large dust,
The filter cartridge 13 has a function of collecting and deodorizing dust that has passed through the pre-filter 12, as described later.

A sirocco fan type fan unit 14 is provided at the center of the main body 2. The fan unit 14 has an impeller 17 driven by a motor 16 housed in a flat and spiral casing 15 formed in the housing 3, and a discharge side opening of the casing 15 has an air outlet 18. And is opened on the upper surface of the housing 3.

More specifically, the housing 3 is provided with a cover 5
It is formed as a flat box having a bottom wall surface 19 on the side thereof. The bottom wall surface 19 is formed with a circular suction hole 20 opening toward the cover 5 (the filter cartridge 13), and a suction hole. A spiral peripheral wall portion 21 is integrally formed upright so as to surround the casing 20, and the bottom spiral wall portion 21, the peripheral wall portion 21, and the back cover 4 form the flat spiral spiral casing 15 described above. As a result, the fan unit 14 sucks external air through the inlet louver 10, the pre-filter 12, and the filter cartridge 13 on the cover 5 side and then blows out the air from the air outlet 18 at the upper end of the casing 15.

At the upper end of the peripheral wall 21 forming the casing 15, a filter holder 22 is mounted from the rear side as a filter receiving member. As shown in FIG. 5, the filter holder 22 includes a guide wall portion 24 that forms a duct portion 23 that covers the rear side of the peripheral wall portion 21 and forms an air passage, and is integrated with an upper side of the guide wall portion 24. And a lattice-shaped receiving portion 25 covering substantially the entire effective area of the air passage, and a claw portion 26 protruding from the receiving portion 25 is engaged with a projection 27 on the housing 3 side. The bottom wall 19 of the housing 3 is screwed with the screw 30 while engaging the leg 28 extending from the guide wall 24 with the notch 29.
, The filter holder 22 is positioned and fixed.

A secondary deodorizing filter 31 in the form of a sheet is removably mounted on the receiving portion 25 of the filter holder 22. A grid-shaped outlet louver is provided from the upper surface side of the secondary deodorizing filter 31. 32 are detachably mounted. The above-mentioned secondary deodorizing filter 31 is made by impregnating a relatively thick base material having a honeycomb structure with a deodorizing agent such as activated carbon and solidifying it, and orients the axis of the pores in the honeycomb structure in the vertical direction. Thus, the ventilation resistance is made as small as possible.

The above-described filter cartridge 13 includes:
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the dust collecting filter 33 and the primary deodorizing filter 34 are housed in a single resin case 35 so as to be overlapped with each other to form a cassette. Is held by the cover 35 so as to be on the upstream side.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, guide claws 36 and 37 are formed in two steps inside the cover 5, and the pre-filter 12 is slidably supported by one of the guide claws 36. The filter cartridge 13 is slidably supported by the other guide claw 37, so that the air suction port 11
In the vicinity, the pre-filter 11, the dust collecting filter 33 and the primary deodorizing filter 34 are located in this order from the upstream side.

As shown in FIG. 7, the dust collecting filter 33 forming the filter cartridge 13 is flat with a cushioning non-woven fabric 39 sandwiched between two skin layers 37 and 38 made of non-woven fabric. The primary deodorizing filter 3 is formed by packing in a bag shape.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a dust collecting filter 33 which is formed by sandwiching a deodorizing agent 44 such as granular activated carbon between each layer of the nonwoven fabrics 40 to 43 having a four-layer structure and packing the same in a flat bag shape. The primary deodorizing filter 34 is housed in a case 35 so as to overlap with each other together with a pair of electrodes 45 formed by a copper wire netting.

A first odor sensor 46 is provided inside the operation / display panel 6 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and another second odor sensor 47 is provided in the housing 3. . The first odor sensor 46 faces from the grill portion 48 of the operation / display panel 6 to the outside, that is, the indoor space where the air purifier 1 is installed.
Is configured to detect the odor of the contaminated air upstream of the pre-filter 12 and the filter cartridge 13, and the second odor sensor 47 detects the odor of the clean air immediately after passing through the filter cartridge 13. Is detected.

These first and second odor sensors 46, 4
7 is a semiconductor type gas sensor for detecting the same odor as the odor that the primary deodorizing filter 34 is intended to deodorize, for example, an alkaline odor gas or an acidic odor gas. Has a characteristic that the resistance value of the sensitive part itself is reduced, and the change in the resistance value is converted into an output voltage to detect the gas (odor) concentration.

The first and second odor sensors 4
6,47, as shown in FIG. 9, the operational amplifier 49 or 50 and 51, and the switching element is a transistor Tr ₁ through a filter replacement warning lamp (warning means)
Is connected to the light emitting diode 52. In addition, the light emitting diode 52 is provided at a position on the operation / display panel 6 where visible display is possible, as shown in FIGS.

Therefore, according to the structure of the air purifier 1 configured as described above, the air is passed through the air suction port 11, the pre-filter 12, and the filter cartridge 13 on the front surface of the cover 5 by the activation of the motor 16 during operation. The air after being cleaned is blown from the air outlet 18 on the upper surface while being sucked into the inside 2.

At this time, dust and the like contained in the air sucked into the main body 2 are removed by the pre-filter 12 and the dust collecting filter 33.
Collected by At the same time, FIGS.
As shown in (1), when the filter cartridge 13 is correctly set, a high voltage is applied between the pair of electrodes 45, 45, and the high voltage causes the electrostatic attraction to also cause the air to enter the air. Dust and the like contained therein are positively collected by the dust collecting filter 33. Further, when the air after passing through the dust collection filter 33 passes through the primary deodorizing filter 34, the air is subjected to the primary deodorizing treatment, and when the air is blown out from the air outlet 18 on the downstream side of the fan unit 14. Is also subjected to the secondary deodorizing treatment by the secondary deodorizing filter 31.

When the operation of the air purifier 1 is stopped, the main body 2 is turned off.
Even if the air staying in the inside has an odor, at the time of restart, the air is removed by the secondary deodorizing filter 31.
, A secondary deodorization treatment is performed. Therefore, at the time of restart, air with a bad smell is not blown out at a stretch, and discomfort immediately after restart can be eliminated.

Here, the first and second odor sensors 4
To explain the functions of the air purifiers 6 and 47, as shown in FIG. 9, the first condition is that the air in the indoor space where the air purifier 1 is installed is dirty and the air contains a specific odor gas. When the odor sensor 46 detects, are previously adjusted by the resistor R _1, R _2, R ₃ so that the output voltage of the operational amplifier 49 connected to the output side is high (high level).

Similarly, the deodorizing function of the primary deodorizing filter 34 in the filter cartridge 13 is reduced, and the air immediately after passing through the primary deodorizing filter 34 still contains a specific odor gas. When the second odor sensor 47 on the downstream side of the primary deodorizing filter 34 detects, the output voltage of the operational amplifier 50 connected to its output side is higher than the output voltage of the operational amplifier 49 on the first odor sensor 46 side (high level). ), The resistances R ₄ , R ₅ , R
Pre-adjusted by ₆ .

When the primary deodorizing filter 34 is functioning normally, the output voltage of the operational amplifier 49 is higher than the output voltage of the operational amplifier 50, so that the output voltage of the operational amplifier 51 is low (low). Level or ground level), resulting in the transistor Tr
_Since the base current of _{No. 1} does not flow, the transistor Tr ₁
The light-emitting diode 52 does not light up while the FF remains.

On the other hand, when the function of the primary deodorizing filter 34 decreases due to saturation of the deodorizing ability, that is, when the primary deodorizing filter 34 reaches the end of its life, the air immediately after passing through the primary deodorizing filter 34 still contains a specific odorous gas component. That is, the second odor sensor 47 detects this. Then, the output voltage of the operational amplifier 50 increases, and the output voltage of the operational amplifier 50 becomes higher than the output voltage of the operational amplifier 49 on the first odor sensor 46 side. Therefore, the output voltage of the operational amplifier 51 increases and the transistor Tr ₁ turns ON, and the light emitting diode 52 lights up.

The lighting of the light emitting diode 52 is performed under the condition that the second odor sensor 47 on the downstream side of the primary deodorizing filter 34 detects a specific odor gas component as described above. Means that the life of the filter has reached the end of its life.
Will prompt early replacement.

As described above, the light emitting diode 52 may be turned on almost simultaneously with the restart due to the odor gas remaining in the main body 2 during the suspension of the operation. For this reason, it is desirable to prohibit the function of the circuit in FIG. 9 until a predetermined time elapses after the restart is started.

In the case of an air purifier having an automatic operation function, that is, when the built-in odor sensor detects a specific odor gas component, the operation is automatically started to detect the specific odor gas component. In the type in which the operation is stopped when the operation is stopped, the above-mentioned automatic odor sensor may be used as the first odor sensor 46.

Further, when it is clear that the air in the indoor space where the air purifier 1 is installed contains a plurality of specific odor gas components, a circuit as shown in FIG. It is desirable to provide them independently.

Here, the secondary deodorizing filter 31 needs to be periodically cleaned or replaced, and these operations are performed by removing the outlet louver 32 shown in FIGS.

Similarly, the pre-filter 12 requires periodic cleaning, and the dust collecting filter 33 and the primary deodorizing filter 34 need to be replaced together with the filter cartridge 13 when their functions are deteriorated. These operations are performed by opening the cover 5 as shown in FIG.

[0038] That is, open to the open position is pitching forward position P ₂ showing the cover 5 in FIG. 3, also with inclined forward pre-filter 12 and filter cartridge 13 which is guided and supported on the cover 5 itself . In this state, for example, when taking out the pre-filter 12, the pre-filter 12 can be easily removed from the cover 5 by pulling the pre-filter 12 upward as it is. At this time, since the guide claws 36 are interposed between the pre-filter 12 and the filter cartridge 13 to partition the two filters 12 and 13, the filter cartridge 13 is pulled out when the pre-filter 12 is pulled out.
It is not even pulled out.

Similarly, when replacing the filter cartridge 13, only the filter cartridge 13 needs to be pulled upward.

FIG. 10 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention, in which the odor sensor 53 is arranged only on the downstream side of the primary deodorizing filter 34. In this case, when the odor sensor 53 detects a specific odor gas component, the resistance of each of the resistors R ₉ , R ₁₀ , and R ₁₁ is adjusted in advance so that the output of the operational amplifier 54 becomes high (high level). Accordingly, the light emitting diode 55 is a filter replacement warning lamp (warning means) is the output of the operational amplifier 54 is high the transistor Tr ₂ is turned ON is turned.

In this embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained, but the reliability of the above embodiment is more advantageous. The reason is,
In the case of the circuit shown in FIG. 9, the first and second odor sensors 4
6 and 47 are compared and a warning is issued in accordance with the difference.
Even if 47 is affected by the external environment conditions such as temperature and humidity, it is eventually canceled out and the light emitting diode 55
This does not affect the warning result by the lighting of.

[0042]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the alarm is issued based on the output of the odor sensor provided at least downstream of the filter for the purpose of deodorization. The service life can be detected directly and accurately by announcing this, and the situation in which operation continues with a filter that has reached the end of its life as in the past can be eliminated, and the air purifier is installed. There is an effect that the comfort of the indoor space can be further improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since an alarm is issued based on the outputs of the odor sensors provided on the upstream and downstream sides of the filter, one odor sensor is provided. As compared to the case, the reliability of the filter life notification result is improved.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the present invention, by issuing an alarm in accordance with the output difference between the two odor sensors, even if the odor sensor itself is affected by external environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. By obtaining the above output difference, the effect of the external environmental condition is offset, and as a result, the reliability of the life notification result of the filter is further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a typical embodiment of the present invention, and is an exploded perspective view of an air purifier.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the air purifier shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which a cover of the air purifier is opened.

FIG. 4 is a cutaway rear view of a main part of the air purifier.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the interrelationship between a cover, a pre-filter, and a filter cartridge shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the filter cartridge.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of a filter replacement warning system in the air purifier shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of a filter replacement warning system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air purifier 2 ... Purifier main body 3 ... Housing 4 ... Back cover 5 ... Cover 11 ... Air inlet 13 ... Filter cartridge 18 ... Air outlet 31 ... Secondary deodorizing filter 33 ... Dust collecting filter 34 ... Primary deodorizing filter 46 first odor sensor 47 second odor sensor 52 light emitting diode (warning means) 53 odor sensor 55 light emitting diode (warning means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] An air contaminated outside is sucked into a purifier main body by rotation of a fan and is passed through a filter provided in the purifier main body, and the air purified by passing through the filter is passed through the purifier main body. In an air purifier that blows out to the outside, an odor sensor is provided at least downstream of a filter having a deodorizing function to detect an odor intended by the filter, and an alarm is issued based on the output of the odor sensor. An air purifier comprising an alarm means. 2. An odor sensor is provided on each of an upstream side and a downstream side of a filter, and an alarm means issues an alarm based on outputs of the two odor sensors. 1. The air purifier according to 1. 3. The air purifier according to claim 2, wherein the alarm means issues an alarm based on a difference between the outputs of the two odor sensors.