JPH105519A - Air cleaner with air state indicating function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To indicate the correct soiling degree of air when stoppage is switched to operation. SOLUTION: The soiling degree of air detected by a dust detecting sensor is indicated on an air state indicating area 33 by the turn-on of an indicating lamp 41 irrespective of turn-on and -off of an operation/stoppage changeover switch 47. When the operation/stoppage changeover switch 47 is switched to stoppage, it is decide whether or not to indicate the air state indicating area 33. An air state indicating selector switch 49 is installed. During shutdown such as during the night, and when the illumination of the indicating lamp 41 is an eyesore, the indicating lamp 41 is put out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air purifier with an air condition display function capable of removing dust and the like in the air and displaying the degree of air contamination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an air cleaner is capable of automatic operation. During the automatic operation, the degree of air contamination is detected by a dirt detection sensor, and the detected air is detected. The dust collecting ability is adjusted by switching the air volume tap (including stopping the air blowing fan) of the air blowing fan according to the degree of contamination of the air blower.

Further, the air purifier has a display unit for displaying the degree of contamination of the air (that is, the degree of cleanliness) in a stepwise manner by turning on an indicator lamp. The degree of dirt can be visually recognized. For example, it is possible to visually sense that the air in the room is being cleaned by the dust collection operation by the display unit.

By the way, until the dirt detection sensor which starts detection at the same time as the operation switch which has been turned off is turned on until it outputs a stable signal, it depends on the type and circuit of the sensor, but it takes several seconds to about 5 minutes. Cost. Therefore, immediately after switching to the operation state, the degree of air contamination cannot be accurately grasped, and therefore, the degree of air contamination cannot be displayed accurately.

[0005] Therefore, there has been a device in which the dirt detection sensor is energized even when the operation of the air purifier is stopped and the degree of dirt of the air detected by the dirt detection sensor is displayed by a lamp or the like. However, it becomes annoying when trying to go to bed at night. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air condition display function which can immediately display the correct degree of air contamination when switching from stop to operation, and which does not obstruct the display of the degree of air contamination at night or the like. It is to provide an air purifier.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a dirt degree of air detected by a dirt detecting sensor is displayed on an air state display section by turning on an indicator lamp. Regarding air purifier with air condition display function,
Control means for detecting the degree of air contamination by a dirt detection sensor and displaying the detected degree of air contamination on an air status display section by turning on the indicator light; and An air state display selection switch for giving a signal as to whether or not to display on the state display section to the control means is provided.

In this configuration, when the power supply is connected, the air condition can be displayed regardless of the operation / stop of the air purifier. Further, even during the stoppage of the operation, the degree of air contamination is monitored, so that when the operation switch is turned on, an accurate display of the contamination can be performed immediately. Also, if the user feels that the lighting of the indicator light is obstructive at night or the like, the indicator light can be turned off by the air state display selection switch.

As the dirt detection sensor, there are a gas sensor and a photoelectric type dust detection sensor. Claim 2
According to the invention described in claim 1, in the first aspect, the control means can set an automatic operation for adjusting an air volume of a blower fan according to a degree of air contamination detected by the dirt detection sensor. In this case, when a signal related to the start of operation is input, automatic operation is started in response to the input.

In this configuration, when a signal related to the start of operation is input in the state in which the automatic operation mode is set, the airflow of the blower fan based on the accurate dirt detection is immediately adjusted in response to the input. Then, the dust collection operation can be started. Here, the signal related to the start of operation may be output when an operation switch provided on the air purifier main body is turned on, or may be output when an operation switch on the remote control is turned on. Or a signal from a control unit of another device.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an air purifier 1 (hereinafter, referred to as an air purifier) with an air status display function according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an air purifier 1). Referring to FIG. 1, in the present air purifier 1, a suction grill 3 is disposed at the forefront of an air purifier main body 2, and the suction grill 3 is provided. Air is sucked into the air purifier main body 2 through the air purifier 3.

The front surface 2a of the air purifier body 2 has a recess 2
In the recess 2b, a pre-filter 4 for removing relatively large dirt and dust, an ionizing section 5 for discharging to charge dirt particles, and a dust collecting section The filter case 6 accommodating the roll filter 6a is accommodated therein. Recess 2b
An opening is formed at a substantially central portion of the opening, from which the blower fan 7 attached to the base panel 13 and circulating the room air to the roll filter 6a is exposed. The room air sucked from the suction grill 3 is purified through the pre-filter 4, the ionization unit 5, the roll filter 6a and the blower fan 7, and then purified.
Is blown out from a blowout louver 8 provided at the upper part of the airbag. M is a fan motor for driving the sending fan 7 to rotate. P is a power plug. In the present embodiment, the roll filter 6a is used as the dust collecting unit, but instead, an electric dust collecting unit in which the dust collecting electrode plate and the ground electrode plate are opposed to each other can be used.

The front surface 2a of the air purifier main body 2 is constituted by a front panel 9, in which the recess 2b is formed. The lower part of the front panel 9 constitutes an operation display panel 10 provided with various operation switches and various display units. The air purifier main body 2 is configured by combining the front panel 9 with a base panel 13.

An air supply port 11 is opened at one end of the operation display panel 10, and room air is supplied to a dust detection sensor 12 as a dirt detection sensor through the air supply port 11. I have. The air passing through the dust detection sensor 12 is supplied to the blower fan 7 while the blower fan 7 is operating.
Is discharged from the blow-out louver 8 via a first path R1 passing through the air passage, and while the blower fan 7 is stopped, air is purified via a second path R2 passing through a P-plate housing chamber (not shown). Exhaust port 14 provided at the top of the machine body 2
From the aircraft.

FIG. 2 shows a remote controller 60 for remotely controlling the operation of the air purifier 1. The remote control 60 includes a run / stop switch 61, an automatic operation
A dust collecting force setting switch 62, a timer setting button 63, a display switching lamp 64, a cigarette mode setting button 65, and a pollen mode setting button 66 are provided. By pressing each switch or button, a signal corresponding to this is transmitted and received by the receiving unit 46 of the air purifier main body 2.

Each time the operation / stop switch 61 is pressed, the operation / stop switch 61 is alternately switched between operation and stop. Each time the dust collection force setting switch 62 is pressed, the switch automatically operates, and sequentially changes to a dust collection force 1, a dust collection force 2, a dust collection force 3, and a dust collection force 4 (the larger the number, the larger the dust collection force). Can be switched. The display switching lamp 64 is turned on when a later-described air state display selection switch 49 is turned on. Each time the timer setting button 64 is pressed, the timer time is set from 1, 2, 3,.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the operation display panel 10. Referring to FIG. 3, the operation display panel 10 has a mode setting display area 31 and an automatic operation / dust collection force display area 32.
And an air state display area 3 as an air state display section
3, off timer / filter area 34, and operation area 3
5 are classified. Mode setting display area 31
Is provided with a character-configured tobacco turbo mode indicator light 36 and a pollen mode indicator light 37 which are turned on in response to a mode setting by transmission from a remote controller (not shown).

The automatic operation / dust collecting force display area 32 includes a character-shaped operation indicator light 38 illuminated during dust collection operation, an automatic operation indicator light 39 illuminated during automatic operation, and a dust collection force display. The strength is, for example, dust collection force 1, dust collection force 2,
There are provided a plurality of dust collecting force indicating lamps 40 for displaying in a plurality of stages such as five stages of the dust collecting force 3, the dust collecting force 4 and the turbo.

In the air state display area 33, the degree of dirt of the air detected by the dust detection sensor 12 is displayed in a plurality of steps such as four steps from dirty to clean. An indicator light 41 is provided.
The cut-off timer / filter area 34 includes a liquid crystal display section 42 for displaying a timer time set on the remote controller side and the number of roll filters 6a held therein, and an ionization section cleaning which blinks when the ionization section 5 becomes very dirty. A sign indicator lamp 43, a filter cut indicator lamp 44 which lights up when the roll filter 6a is to be replaced, and a reset button 45 for pressing with a thin stick when the roll filter 6a is cut are provided.

The operation area 35 includes a receiving section 46 for receiving a signal from a remote controller, an operation / stop changeover switch 47, a power supply operation / normal operation selection switch 48, and an air state display selection switch 49. Have been. Each time the operation / stop switch 47 is pressed, the operation / stop switch 47 is sequentially switched to stop, automatic operation, dust collecting force 1, dust collecting force 2, dust collecting force 3, dust collecting force 4, and turbo. I have.

When the automatic operation is set by the operation / stop changeover switch 47 on the air purifier main body 2 side or the automatic operation / dust collection force setting switch 62 on the remote controller 60 side,
The dust collecting ability is adjusted by adjusting the air volume of the blower fan 7 in accordance with the degree of contamination of the air detected by the dust detection sensor 12 (the adjustment of the air volume includes stopping the blower fan 7). That is, in this automatic operation, when the air is dirty, the dust collection capacity is increased with a large air flow, and the less the air is dirty, the lower the air volume is gradually reduced to reduce the dust collection capacity. The fan 7 is stopped to stop dust collection.

When the automatic operation is started, the automatic operation is started only by switching to the automatic operation with the operation / stop changeover switch 47 on the air purifier main body 2 side. Since the force setting switch 62 sets the automatic operation mode, the operation is switched to the automatic operation by the automatic operation / dust collection force setting switch 62 during the operation, or the automatic operation / dust collection force setting switch during the operation stop. After switching to automatic operation by 62, the operation must be switched to operation by the run / stop switch 61. However, when the run / stop switch 61 is pressed, the operation starts in the previously set operation state, so that if the previous operation state was the automatic operation, it is not necessary to set the automatic operation again.

The above-mentioned power supply operation / normal operation selection switch 48
If this is switched to "power supply operation", the device can be operated / stopped only by turning on / off the power supply to the air purifier 1 in addition to the operation on the remote controller side. . As shown in FIG. 4, when the air state display selection switch 49 is set to “OFF” as shown in FIG. 4, when the operation is stopped by the operation / stop changeover switches 47 and 61, the dust detection sensor 12 The detected degree of air contamination is not displayed in the air state display area 33. That is,
All the air status indicators 41 are turned off. On the other hand, in the case of “ON”, the indicator lamp 41 in the air status display area 33 is not turned off even if the operation is stopped by the operation / stop switches 47 and 61 on the remote controller 60 or the air purifier main body 2 side.

The air state display selection switch 49
Is a switch that is effective only when the operation is stopped by the operation / stop changeover switches 47 and 61.
Is "off", the air condition display area 33
Is not turned off. Referring to FIG. 5 which is a block diagram showing a main electric configuration of the present air cleaner 1, the operation of the air cleaner 1 is controlled by a microcomputer 50. The microcomputer 50 includes a signal indicating the degree of contamination of the air detected by the dust detection sensor 12, the switching signal from the operation / stop switch 47,
A selection signal from the power supply operation / normal operation selection switch 48,
A selection signal from the air state display selection switch 49, a switching signal from the operation / stop switching switch 61 of the remote controller 60, a switching signal from the automatic operation / dust collection force setting switch 62, and a timer setting from the timer setting button 63 A signal and a mode switching signal from each mode setting button 65, 66 are provided. The signal from the remote control 60 is
Through the microcomputer 50.

The microcomputer 50 drives the dust detection sensor 12 via a sensor driving circuit 54, and adjusts the fan motor in accordance with the degree of air contamination detected by the dust detection sensor 12, the operation mode, and the set air volume. The drive circuit 42 is controlled to rotate the fan motor M at a desired rotation speed. By the rotation of the fan motor M, the blower fan 7 is rotated, and air is sucked in from the suction grill 3 with a set air volume, purified and discharged outside the machine.

The microcomputer 50 also provides a control signal to the display control circuit 53. In the display control circuit 53, each of the indicator lights 36 to 41, 43, 43,
44 is turned on / off to perform a necessary display. In addition,
Each of the display lamps 36 to 41, 43, and 44 is an operation display panel 1
0, and an LED disposed on the back side of the window.
41, 43, and 44 are turned on / off. In the drawings, for the sake of simplicity, each LED is given the same reference numeral as the corresponding indicator light.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the air cleaner body 2 showing a state in which a part of the front panel 9 is cut away and the front surface of the base panel 13 is exposed. Referring to the figure, at the left end in the drawing of base panel 13, a P-plate housing chamber 15 is formed by partitioning. The P-plate housing chamber 15 has a P-plate 1 on which a control circuit for controlling the operation of the air cleaner 1 is mounted.
6, a high-voltage power supply unit 18 for supplying a high voltage to the power supply transformer 17 and the ionization unit 5, and the like are accommodated.

The P plate 16 is provided with a heat-generating portion of the mounted component, for example, a radiating fin 16b for cooling the regulator 16a. The regulator 16a exemplified as generating a large amount of heat converts the AC voltage dropped from 100V to 16V by the power transformer 17 into DC and further drops the voltage from 16V to 12V. This voltage of 12 V is applied to the ionization unit 5. Further, adjacent to the lower part of the P-plate housing chamber 15, a sensor housing recess 20 is defined by a rib 19, and the sensor housing recess 20 is formed.
The dust detection sensor 12 is housed therein.

In the air purifier 1, as described above, an automatic operation mode in which the air volume of the blower fan 7 is adjusted according to the degree of contamination of the air detected by the dust detection sensor 12 can be set. In the air purifier 1, in the automatic operation mode, the dust collection operation is not performed and the ionization unit 5 and the blowing fan 7 are not operated.
Even if the power supply to the fan motor M is stopped, the contamination of the air is monitored by the dust detection sensor 12, and therefore, the power is supplied to the power transformer 17 and the P plate 16. Therefore, in this state, the temperature in the P-plate housing chamber 15 rises due to heat radiation from each component.

In the air purifier 1, the power plug P
While connected to an outlet (not shown)
When the stop switch 31 is switched to stop, power supply to the fan motor M of the ionization unit 5 and the blower fan 7 is stopped, but the dust detection sensor 12 is driven to monitor the state of air, and Accordingly, the degree of air contamination is determined by the air state display area 3 of the operation display panel 10 described above.
3 is displayed. Therefore, as described above, power is supplied to the power transformer 17 and the P plate 16 even when the run / stop switches 47 and 61 are switched to stop. Therefore, in this state, the temperature in the P-plate housing chamber 15 rises due to heat radiation from each component.

Referring to FIG. 7, which is an exploded perspective view of the vicinity of the dust sensor 12 and the sensor accommodating recess 20, the dust detection sensor 12 has a box shape, and air introduced from the front inlet 12a. From the outlet 12b of the rear surface 12c. The dust detection sensor 12 is of a known photoelectric type, and contains a light emitting element and a light receiving element (not shown) therein, and outputs a signal based on the amount of light received by the light receiving element. ing.

The sensor housing recess 20 is open forward, and the dust detection sensor 12 is detachably mounted from the front. An elastic hook 20a that elastically engages the lower end of the front surface of the attached dust detection sensor 12 is provided below the sensor housing recess 20. A communication groove 21 that connects the P-plate housing chamber 15 and the blower fan 7 is formed in the bottom surface 20b of the sensor housing recess 20 that is in contact with the rear surface 12c of the dust detection sensor 12 in the mounted state. This communication groove 21 has an opening 2 communicating with the blower fan 7 at one end.
2 and an opening 23 at the other end as a second opening communicating with the P-plate housing chamber 15 side. Further, the discharge port 12b of the dust detection sensor 12 faces substantially the center of the communication groove 21.

Next, how the room air is circulated to the dust detection sensor 12 will be described. First,
When the air purifier 1 is performing the dust collection operation and the blower fan 7 is being driven to rotate, the room air introduced from the air supply port 11 refers to the dust detection sensor 1 with reference to FIGS.
2. The air is discharged to the outside of the machine via the first path R1 passing through the communication groove 21, the opening 22, the blower fan 7, and the blowout louver 8, whereby the indoor air is circulated to the dust detection sensor 12. ing. At this time, the communication groove 2
1 has a negative pressure, the exhaust port 14, the P-plate housing chamber 1
Room air is also sucked in from the third path R3, which merges with the first path R1 in the communication groove 21 via the opening 5 and the opening 23. Accordingly, the room air is also ventilated in the P-plate housing chamber 15, so that the temperature rise in the P-plate housing chamber 15 is suppressed during the dust collection operation.

On the other hand, referring to FIG. 8, when the air is not contaminated and the blower fan 7 is stopped during automatic operation, or when the power supply is connected, the power supply operation / normal operation selection switch 48 is normally turned on. When the operation is switched to the operation and the operation / stop switches 47 and 61 are switched to the stop state, the regulator 16a, the radiation fin 16b and the power transformer 17
As a result of the rise in the ambient temperature caused by the heat radiating source such as the above, a rising air current is generated that discharges the internal air from the upper exhaust port 14, and the rising air flow causes the dust detection sensor 12 to pass through the opening 23 through the P plate housing chamber. Air is introduced into 15. That is, while the blower fan 7 is stopped, the room air introduced from the air supply port 11 refers to the dust detection sensor 12, the communication groove 21, the opening 23, and the P-plate housing chamber 1 with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
The air is circulated to the dust detection sensor 12 through the second passage R2 passing through the exhaust port 14 and the exhaust port 14. Where P
The inflow and outflow of air into and out of the plate accommodating chamber 15 are caused by the exhaust port 14 and the opening 2.
3 only.

According to the present embodiment, when the power supply is connected, the air condition can be displayed regardless of the operation / stop of the air purifier 1, and the air contamination during operation at night or the like is stopped. If the indicator light 41 in the display area 33 is obstructive, it may not be displayed. Moreover,
Since the degree of air contamination is monitored even during operation stoppage, if the operation state is set by the operation / stop changeover switches 47 and 61 in this state, accurate dirt display can be immediately performed.

Further, in the present air purifier 1, the display is avoided by the air state display selection switch 49 while the operation is stopped, and the operation is started by switching the operation / stop changeover switches 47 and 61 to the operation. In this case, an accurate dirt display can be immediately performed, and the automatic operation can be started with an appropriate air volume of the blower fan 7 based on the accurate dirt detection.

In particular, even when the air is not contaminated during automatic operation, or when the operation is stopped at night or the like, and the blower fan 7 is completely stopped, the temperature rise in the P plate housing chamber 15 is utilized. Therefore, the room air can be constantly circulated to the dust detection sensor 12, so that the dust in the room can always be detected accurately. Therefore, even when the operation is restarted at any time, an accurate air condition can be immediately displayed, and the operation can be started with an appropriate air volume of the blower fan 7 based on accurate dirt detection.

Further, since the blowing fan 7 can be stopped when it is not necessary, the running cost can be reduced and noise can be prevented. In addition, on the downstream side of the one dust detection sensor 12, the first
Since the path is branched into the path R1 and the second path R2 extending to the outside through the P-plate accommodating chamber 15, the blower fan 7 is used during the operation of the blower fan 7, and the blower fan 7 is stopped. By using the temperature rise in the P-plate housing chamber 15, the room air can be circulated to one dust detection sensor 12. As described above, since the single dust detection sensor can cope with both the operating state and the stopped state of the blower fan 7, the structure can be simplified as compared with the case where individual dust detection sensors are used in each state. Can be.

Further, since the opening 23 is located below the regulator 16a, which is a portion mainly generating heat in the P-plate accommodating chamber 15, the effect of cooling the regulator 16a is increased, and As a result of an increase in the amount of air that the room air passes through the dust detection sensor 12 due to the rising airflow in the storage chamber 15, the sensor accuracy can be improved.

Since the flow of air into and out of the P-plate housing chamber 15 is determined through the exhaust port 14 and the opening 23, all air flowing into the P-plate housing chamber 15 when the blower fan 7 is stopped is dusty. This is the air that has passed through the detection sensor 12. Therefore, as compared with the case where air flows in from a portion other than the opening 23, a larger amount of air can pass through the dust detection sensor 12, so that high sensor accuracy can be ensured.

With the blower fan 7 stopped in the actual machine, the temperature of the surface of each part in the P-plate housing chamber 16 was measured and compared with the room temperature. The results were as follows. That is, room temperature: 18 ° C. Power transformer 17: 38 ° C. (20 ° C. lower than room temperature)
Regulator 16a: 73 ° C (55 ° above room temperature)
C high) Atmospheric temperature in the P-plate storage chamber 15: 26 ° C. (8 ° C. higher than room temperature) As described above, the atmospheric temperature in the P-plate storage chamber 15 causes the rising airflow in the P-plate storage chamber 15 It has been demonstrated that there is a sufficient temperature difference to cause it to occur.

In the above-mentioned state, the output value of the dust detection sensor 12 mounted on the actual machine and the same dust detection sensor 1
No. 2 was provided outside the machine, and a comparison was made with an output value obtained by giving a sufficient amount of ventilation, and there was almost no difference between the two. Thus, it has been found that correct detection by the dust detection sensor 12 can be performed by using the temperature rise of the P plate storage chamber 15.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the first and second paths R1 and R2 pass through one dust detection sensor 12. The two paths R1 and R2 may be configured independently of each other, and a dust detection sensor may be disposed on each path. In the above embodiment, the dust detection sensor is used as the dirt detection sensor, but a gas sensor may be used. In addition, various changes can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[0043]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the state of the air can be displayed regardless of the operation / stop of the air purifier, and is not displayed when the operation lamp is obstructive during operation stop at night or the like. You can also do so. In addition, since the degree of air contamination is monitored even while the operation is stopped, when the operation switch is turned on in this state, an accurate display of the contamination can be immediately performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when an operation start signal is input in a state where the automatic operation is set, the automatic start is automatically performed in response to the input at an appropriate air volume of the blower fan based on accurate dirt detection. You can start driving.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an air purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a remote controller.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the operation display panel, showing a state in which an indicator lamp for air status display is turned on.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the operation display panel, showing a state in which a display lamp for displaying an air state is turned off.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic electrical configuration of the air purifier.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the main body of the air purifier in which a part of a front panel is cut away, and shows a state in which a blower fan is rotationally driven.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a dust detection sensor and a portion that houses the dust detection sensor.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the main body of the air purifier in which a part of a front panel is cut away, and shows a state in which a blower fan is stopped.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air purifier 7 Blow fan 12 Dust detection sensor (dirt detection sensor) 33 Air status display part 41 Indicator light 47 Run / stop changeover switch 49 Air status display selection switch 50 Microcomputer (control means) 53 Display control part ( Control means) 60 Remote control 61 Run / stop switch 62 Automatic operation / dust collection force setting switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] An air purifier with an air status display function for displaying the degree of air contamination detected by a dirt detection sensor (12) on an air status display section (33) by turning on an indicator lamp (41). Regardless of whether the operation switches (47, 61) are turned on or off, the degree of dirt of the air is detected by the dirt detection sensor (12), and the detected degree of dirt of the air is displayed by turning on the indicator light (41). Control means (50, 53) to be displayed on the section (33)
When the operation switch (47, 61) is turned off, a signal indicating whether or not to display on the air state display section (33) is given to the control means (50, 33). Select switch (49)
An air purifier with an air status display function, comprising: 2. The dirt detection sensor according to claim 2, wherein the control means is a dirt detection sensor.
Automatic operation can be set to adjust the amount of the blower fan (7) according to the degree of air contamination detected by (12) .When this automatic operation is set, a signal related to the start of operation is input. 2. The air purifier with an air status display function according to claim 1, wherein the automatic operation is started in response to this.