JPH11344239A - Dehumidifier and vehicle air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten regeneration time in a dehumidifier using a desiccant. SOLUTION: A dehumidifying side desiccant 18b of a desiccant unit 18 is located on a dehumidifying side passage 11 serving to dehumidify indoor air, and a regenerating side desiccant 18c of the desiccant unit 18 is located on a regenerating side passage 13 serving to release water from the regenerating side desiccant 18c, and further air fan means 17 and heating means are disposed on the regenerating side passage 13. The heating means is constructed with an electric heater 19 having positive resistance temperature characteristics where electric resistance is rapidly increased at a predetermined temperature, and the regenerating side desiccant 18c is regenerated with warm air heated by the electric heater 19, whereby the amount of fan air from the air fan means 17 in an initial stage of starting of the regeneration of the regenerating side desiccant 18c is increased, and the amount of fan air is reduced following the elapse of regeneration time of the regenerating side desiccant 18c.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a dehumidifier for dehumidifying indoor air in a field of air conditioning using a desiccant, and a vehicle air conditioner using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle air conditioner, the interior of a passenger compartment is heated by using hot water (engine cooling water) from an engine as a heat source. This causes an increase in vehicles with insufficient heating capacity due to this.

[0003] As a countermeasure to solve the heating capacity shortage,
2. Description of the Related Art It has been practiced to increase the inside air rate (intake ratio of inside air in all intake air) of intake air of a vehicle air conditioner to reduce a heating heat load. Specifically, an auxiliary door for mixing the inside air into the outside air is added to the inside / outside air switching box of the vehicle air conditioner, or the outside air is supplied to the defroster outlet side, and the inside air is supplied to the foot outlet side. An inside / outside air two-layer mode is set to partition and flow.

[0004]

However, even in the two-layer inside / outside air mode, if the inside air rate becomes 50% or more, the window glass becomes cloudy due to an increase in vehicle interior humidity, which is dangerous for driving the vehicle. Occurs. Therefore, in order to achieve both a reduction in heating heat load due to an increase in the inside air rate and prevention of fogging of the window glass, it is necessary to dehumidify the atmosphere in the vehicle compartment.

Therefore, the present applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
156349 proposes to dehumidify the atmosphere in the vehicle interior by a dehumidifier using a desiccant.
In the dehumidifier using the desiccant, it is necessary to regenerate the desiccant (that is, desorb moisture from the desiccant) in order to continuously dehumidify (adsorb moisture). The regeneration of the desiccant is usually performed by heating the desiccant,
When the regeneration time of the desiccant is long, the cycle switching time of dehumidification and regeneration of the desiccant becomes long. The prolonged cycle switching time requires an increase in the amount of desiccant required to maintain the dehumidifying action during this period.

[0006] Due to the increase in the amount of the desiccant, the ventilation resistance as a dehumidifying device is increased, and the size of the blower is increased. As a result, the physical size of the dehumidifying device becomes large, and it becomes difficult to mount the dehumidifying device in a narrow space such as a vehicle interior. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, in a dehumidifier using a desiccant,
It is intended to shorten the regeneration time of the desiccant.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a desiccant unit (18).
Of the desiccants, the dehumidifying desiccant (18b) is located,
The dehumidification-side passageway (11) for dehumidifying the indoor air with the dehumidification-side desiccant (18b), and the regeneration-side desiccant (18c) among the desiccants in the desiccant unit (18) are located. Regeneration side passage (13) for removing moisture from 18c)
And a blowing means (1) for blowing air to the regeneration-side passage (13).
7) and the regeneration side desiccant (1) in the regeneration side passageway (13).
8c), and a heating means disposed on the upstream side of 8c), the heating means being constituted by an electric heating element (19) having a positive resistance-temperature characteristic whose electric resistance value rapidly increases at a predetermined temperature, and a blowing means ( 17), the air blown by the electric heating element (1).
9) heating and spraying on the regeneration-side desiccant (18c) to remove moisture from the regeneration-side desiccant (18c) to regenerate the regeneration-side desiccant (18c);
The amount of air blown by the blowing means (17) in the early stage of the regeneration start of the regeneration side desiccant (18c) is increased, and the regeneration side desiccant (18c) is increased.
The amount of air blown by the air blowing means (17) is reduced in accordance with the progress of the regeneration of c).

According to this, since the electric heating element (19) constituting the heating means has a positive resistance-temperature characteristic in which the electric resistance value rapidly increases at a predetermined temperature, the blowing means (17) at the beginning of the reproduction start. When the airflow of the air is increased, the electric heating element (1
The temperature of 9) decreases, and the resistance value of the electric heating element (19) decreases → current amount increases → power consumption increases. In addition, since the temperature of the regenerating desiccant (18c) is as low as room temperature in the early stage of the regeneration, even if the temperature of the electric heating element (19) is lowered, the air (temperature) after passing through the electric heating element (19) is reduced. (Wind) temperature can be set to a temperature sufficiently higher than the temperature of the regeneration side desiccant (18c).

As a result, the amount of heat applied to the regeneration side desiccant (18c) at the beginning of regeneration can be effectively increased, and regeneration (desorption of water) of the regeneration side desiccant (18c) can be rapidly performed. Moreover, since the amount of air blown by the air blowing means (17) is reduced in accordance with the progress of the regeneration of the regenerating side desiccant (18c), even if the temperature of the regenerating side desiccant (18c) gradually increases after the start of regeneration, the air blowing means ( The temperature of the electric heating element (19) rises due to the decrease in the amount of air blow of (17), and the electric heating element (19)
The state in which the temperature of the air (warm air) after passing is higher than the temperature of the regeneration-side desiccant (18c) can be maintained. Then, since the temperature of the electric heating element (19) rises, the resistance value increases, the current amount decreases, and the power consumption decreases, the state of high regeneration efficiency can be maintained.

As described above, the state of high regeneration efficiency can be maintained over the entire period from the initial stage of regeneration to the regeneration period, the power consumption of the electric heating element (19) is effectively utilized, and the regeneration time of the regeneration side desiccant (18c) is reduced. Can be shortened. Since the required amount of the desiccant is reduced and the size of the desiccant unit can be reduced due to the shortening of the regeneration time, the ventilation resistance as the dehumidifier is reduced, and the size of the blowing means (17) can be reduced. . As a result, the entire dehumidifier can be reduced in size, and can be easily mounted in a narrow space such as a vehicle interior.

[0011] As described in claim 2, the regeneration side desiccant (1)
Timer means (3) for measuring the time after the start of reproduction in 8c)
2d), and based on a signal from the timer means (32d), the amount of air blown by the blower means (17) may be reduced as time elapses after the start of regeneration of the regenerating desiccant (18c). Since the temperature of the regenerating side desiccant (18c) rises as time elapses after the start of regeneration, paying attention to this relationship, the air volume control of the air blowing means (17) is performed based on the signal of the timer means (32d). Is performed, the air volume control can be easily performed without adding special sensors.

[0012] As described in claim 3, there is provided temperature detecting means (18d, 18e) for detecting information relating to a temperature change after the regeneration of the regeneration side desiccant (18c) is started. Based on the detection signals 18d and 18e), the amount of air blown by the air blowing means (17) may be reduced in accordance with the temperature rise after the start of the regeneration of the regeneration side desiccant (18c).

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner for a vehicle including the dehumidifying device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the heating heat exchanger (123) heats conditioned air. ) And an air conditioning air passage (108, 10) for blowing air heated by the heating heat exchanger (123) into the vehicle interior.
9) and an air-conditioning air blower (111) for blowing air to the air-conditioning air passages (108, 109), and the outlet side of the dehumidifying-side passage (11) is connected to the suction side of the air-conditioning air blower (111). And air is dehumidified in the dehumidification side passageway (11) and then blown out into the vehicle interior through the air conditioning air passageways (108, 109).

According to this, the air blowing means (111)
After dehumidifying the inside air of the vehicle that is blown by the dehumidification side passage (11), the air can be blown into the vehicle interior through the air conditioning air passages (108, 109). Therefore, the dehumidifying side passage (11)
The air-conditioning air-blowing means (111) can be used as it is as the air-blowing means for blowing the vehicle interior air, and the configuration of the dehumidifying device can be simplified.

Further, in the invention according to claim 5, a foot opening (124) is provided at an outlet of the air conditioning air passage (108, 109) and blows air toward the occupant's feet.
A defroster opening (125) that is provided at an outlet of the air conditioning air passage (108, 109) and blows out air to the vehicle window glass, wherein both the foot opening (124) and the defroster opening (125) are simultaneously opened. In the open blowing mode, a two-layer internal / external air flow mode in which vehicle interior air flows through the foot opening (124) and air outside the vehicle interior flows through the defroster opening (125) is set. At this time, the vehicle exterior air is mixed with the vehicle interior air dehumidified in the dehumidification side passageway (11), and the defroster opening (12)
It is characterized by blowing out from 5).

According to this, in the inside / outside air two laminar flow mode,
The mixed air of the vehicle interior air and the vehicle exterior air is blown out to the defroster opening (125) side. However, since the vehicle interior air is low-humidity air after dehumidification, the antifogging property of the window glass can be secured. Therefore, it is possible to increase the ratio (inside air rate) of the vehicle interior air to the total air flow of the air-conditioning ventilation means (111), thereby reducing the heating heat load and increasing the vehicle interior air temperature. , Can improve the heating effect in winter.

The reference numerals in parentheses of the above means indicate the correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiment described later.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a dehumidifier of a vehicle air conditioner.
In this example, is integrally connected to the ventilation system suction side of the front air conditioning unit 100 arranged on the instrument panel in front of the vehicle cabin.

In the dehumidifier 10, the first passage 11 on the dehumidification side is formed by a case 12, and the second passage 13 on the regeneration side is formed by a case 14. The two passages 11, 13 are formed in parallel. I have. The upstream end of the first passage 11 on the dehumidifying side is opened around the instrument panel in the vehicle cabin through a suction port 15 for room air. The downstream end of the first passage 11 on the dehumidification side communicates with the dehumidification inside air suction port 101 of the front air conditioning unit 100.

On the other hand, the upstream end of the second passage 13 on the regeneration side is also opened around the instrument panel in the vehicle cabin through the suction port 16 for room air. The regeneration blower 1
7 are arranged. The blower 17 has a well-known centrifugal multi-blade fan (sirocco fan) 17a and a scroll case 17b that rotatably houses the fan 17a. The fan 17a is driven to rotate by a motor 17c.
The room air is blown radially outward of the fan 17a.

Then, in the second passage 13 on the reproduction side,
An electric heating element 19 is provided immediately after the air outlet of the scroll case 17b, that is, upstream of the desiccant unit 18. The electric heating element 19 serves as a heating means for heating the air in the second passage 13 on the reproducing side, and has a positive temperature coefficient of resistance at which the electric resistance value rapidly increases at a predetermined Curie point. (PTC heater)
Consists of

The desiccant unit 18 is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-1563.
The same type as described in JP-A-49-49 may be used, and a granular desiccant such as silica gel or zeolite is stored in a breathable bag member, and this bag member is held in a disk-shaped case body 18a. It is like that. Both end surfaces in the axial direction of the case body 18a are fully opened except for the partition for holding the bag member, so that the ventilation resistance of the desiccant unit 18 is minimized.

The desiccant unit 18 is provided from the first passage 11 on the lower dehumidifying side to the second passage 13 on the upper regeneration side.
The motor 20 (FIG. 2) is installed in a freely rotatable manner in 2, 14.
The case body 18a is rotationally driven by driving means such as. In the drawing, reference numeral 18b denotes a desiccant on the dehumidification side located in the first passage 11 on the dehumidification side, and reference numeral 18c denotes a desiccant on the regeneration side located in the second passage 13 on the regeneration side.

The desiccant unit 18 is rotated by 180 ° at predetermined time intervals by a motor 20 so that the desiccant 18b on the dehumidification side and the desiccant 18c on the regeneration side are alternately inverted. On the other hand, the outside air inlet 102 of the air conditioning unit 100 is for introducing outside air (outside air) from the vehicle interior, and this outside air inlet 102 is connected to the outside air switching door 1.
03 branches into two outside air passages 104 and 105. The outside air introduced into one of the outside air passages 105 is heated by the heat exchanger 21 for regenerating heat recovery and then supplied to the downstream side of the desiccant unit 18 in the first passage 11 on the dehumidification side. .

That is, the heat exchanger 21 is disposed downstream of the desiccant unit 18 in the second passage 13 on the regeneration side, and exchanges heat between the high-temperature air heated by the electric heating element 19 and the low-temperature outside air. Sensible heat exchange) to recover heat from the regeneration side, thereby contributing to an increase in room temperature. The downstream side of the heat exchanger 21 of the regeneration-side second passage 13 is connected to the connection duct 2.
2, the condensed water discharge pipe 106 of the air conditioning unit 100
The air whose temperature has been reduced by heat exchange in the heat exchanger 21 is discharged to the outside of the passenger compartment through the connection duct 22 and the condensed water discharge pipe 106.

A part of the outside air introduced into the outside air passage 105 is blown to the dehumidifying desiccant 18b in the dehumidifying first passage 11 by the connecting duct 23, and the dehumidifying desiccant 18
By cooling b, the room air passing through the dehumidifying-side desiccant 18b is cooled to increase the relative humidity of the room air, thereby increasing the amount of moisture adsorbed per unit of desiccant.

Next, the outline of the front air-conditioning unit 100 will be described. In this example, the inside / outside air two-layer flow mode can be set.
The inside of the case 107 is located on the lower side of the first air passage 1 on the inside air side.
08 and a second air passage 109 on the outside air side on the upper side. These two air passages 108, 109
Is partitioned by a partition member 110.

The air-conditioning blower 111 disposed upstream of the case 107 has a first fan 112 for blowing air to the first air passage 108 and a second fan 113 for blowing air to the second air passage 109 independently. The two fans 112 and 113 are driven to rotate by a common motor 115.
The fans 112 and 113 are each a well-known centrifugal multi-blade fan (sirocco fan) similarly to the fan 17a of the regenerative blower 17.

Inlet 112a of lower first fan 112
The inside air or outside air suction port 1 from the inside air suction port 116
The outside air from 17 is sucked. The inside air suction port 116 and the outside air suction port 117 are selectively opened and closed by a first inside / outside air switching door 118. The outside air flows into the outside air intake port 117 from the outside air passage 104 via the communication passage 119.

The suction port 1 of the upper second fan 113
13a, inside air from outside air suction port 120, outside air passage 1
The outside air from the outside air suction port 104a provided in the outside air or the dehumidified inside air from the dehumidification inside air suction port 101 is sucked.
The inside / outside air suction port 120 and the outside air suction port 104a are switched by a second inside / outside air switching door 121 to be opened and closed. Note that the operation positions of the doors 103, 118, and 121 in FIG. 1 indicate the state of the inside / outside air two-layer flow mode.

In the case 107, a heat exchanger 122 for cooling is arranged on the upstream side, and a heat exchanger 123 for heating is arranged on the downstream side.
3 are arranged over both the first air passage 108 on the inside air side and the second air passage 109 on the outside air side.
The heat exchanger 122 for cooling is an evaporator of a refrigerating cycle, and the heat exchanger 123 for heating is a hot water heater core using hot water (engine cooling water) of a water-cooled vehicle engine as a heat source.

At the downstream end of the first air passage 108 on the inside air side, a foot opening 124 is arranged.
The air is blown out to the foot side of the passenger in the vehicle cabin through 24. A defroster opening 125 is disposed at a downstream end of the second air passage 109 on the outside air side.
Air is blown through 25 to the inner surface side of the vehicle window glass.

In the whole outside air mode other than the inside / outside air two-layer flow mode or the whole inside air mode, air from both the first and second air passages 108 and 109 is blown out from the foot opening 124 or the defroster opening 125. A communication means (not shown) for connecting the two air passages 108 and 109 is actually provided in order to enable the air passage. Similarly, a face opening (not shown) for blowing air from both air passages 108 and 109 to the head side of the passenger in the vehicle compartment is actually provided.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram, in which reference numeral 30 denotes a vehicle-mounted power supply battery, 31 denotes an auto switch for setting an automatic control state of air conditioning, and 32 denotes a control device of a vehicle air conditioner, using a microcomputer or the like. Is composed of
Electric equipment of the above dehumidifier (17c, 19, 20, etc.)
Is controlled according to a preset program. Signals from a group of switches on an operation panel of a vehicle air conditioner and various groups of sensors for air conditioning control are input to the control device 32. FIG. 2 shows a dehumidifying operation directly related to the description of the operation of the present embodiment. Only the switch 33 is shown.

The dehumidification operation switch 33 is turned on in conjunction with the setting of the maximum heating state of the air conditioning unit 100. Here, the maximum heating state of the air conditioning unit 100 means that, when the air temperature control system of the air conditioning unit 100 is an air mixing system, the air mixing door (not shown) completely closes the cold air bypass passage (not shown). Close it,
This refers to a state in which the warm air passage passing through the heating heat exchanger 123 is fully opened. Further, when the blow-out temperature control method of the air conditioning unit 100 is the hot water flow rate control method, this means a state in which a hot water valve (not shown) for adjusting the flow rate of the hot water circulating through the heating heat exchanger 123 is fully opened.

The blower controller 34 adjusts the voltage applied to the fan motor 17c of the blower 17 for reproduction based on the output signal of the blower controller 32a of the controller 32. The rotation speed of the fan motor 17c is adjusted by adjusting the applied voltage, whereby the amount of air blown to the second passage 13 on the reproduction side is adjusted. The heating element relay 35 is turned on and off based on an output signal of the heating element control section 32b of the control device 32. The rotation of the desiccant driving motor 20 is controlled based on an output signal of the motor control unit 32 c of the control device 32. Further, the control device 32 has a timer unit 32 that is activated by turning on the dehumidification operation switch 33.
d, and the signal of the timer unit 32 d
2a and the motor control unit 32c.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment in the above configuration will be described. During heating in winter, the air conditioning unit 1
00 is in the maximum heating state, the door 10
3, 118 and 121 are operated to the solid line positions in FIG. 1 to set the inside / outside air two-layer flow mode. That is, the first fan 112 of the air-conditioning blower 111 sucks the inside air from the inside air suction port 116 and blows the inside air into the first air passage 108, and opens the warm air of the inside air heated by the heating heat exchanger 123 into the foot opening. It blows out to the occupant's foot through the part 124.

The second fan 1 of the air-conditioning blower 111
Reference numeral 13 denotes a desiccant unit 18 from the dehumidifying inside air suction port 101.
Dehumidified inside air, outside air introduced into the dehumidification side first passage 11 from the outside air introduction port 102 through the outside air passage 105 and the connection duct 23, and dehumidification side first passage 11 through the heat exchanger 21. The air mixed with the outside air introduced into the air is sucked. Then, the mixed air of inside and outside air blown by the second fan 113 is heated by the heating heat exchanger 123 in the second air passage 109 to become low-humidity hot air, and this low-humidity hot air is supplied to the defroster opening. It is blown out toward the vehicle window glass through 125 to prevent fogging of the window glass.

Next, the operation of the dehumidifier 10 will be described in detail. By turning on the auto switch 31, the operation of the air conditioning unit 100 is automatically controlled by the control device 32. When the air conditioning unit 100 is in the maximum heating state, the dehumidification operation switch 33 is turned on. As a result, the timer unit 32d in the control device 32 is started, and the blower control device 34 is driven via the blower controller 32a based on the signal of the timer unit 32d. A voltage is applied from 30.
Therefore, the fan motor 17c operates, and the regenerative blower 17 operates. Blow control unit 32a and blow control unit 34
Will be described later.

When the dehumidifying operation switch 33 is turned on, the heating element relay 35 is closed by the heating element control section 32b of the control device 32.
A voltage is applied to the electric heating element 19 from the vehicle-mounted battery 30 through the electric heating element 19 to generate heat. The control device 3
The second motor control unit 32c controls the energization of the desiccant motor 20 based on the output signal of the timer unit 32d. Specifically, the motor 20 is energized at predetermined time intervals to rotate the desiccant unit 18 at a fixed angle (for example, 180 °), and to change the rotation position of the desiccant unit 18 with respect to the two passages 11 and 13. Invert at predetermined time intervals.

When the first fan 112 of the air-conditioning blower 111 is operated, the air in the passenger compartment is sucked into the first passage 11 on the dehumidifying side from the suction port 15 of the dehumidifier 10, and the desiccant 18b of the desiccant unit 18 is dehumidified. Pass through. As a result, the moisture in the vehicle interior air is adsorbed by the dehumidifying side desiccant 18b, and after being dehumidified, the dehumidified inside air is sucked into the second fan 113 through the dehumidified inside air suction port 101.

Further, by the operation of the regenerative blower 17, the air in the passenger compartment is sucked into the second regeneration passage 13 from the suction port 16, and the air in the passenger compartment is heated by the electric heating element 19 to become hot air. This warm air is blown against the regeneration-side desiccant 18c of the desiccant unit 18, and the regeneration-side desiccant 18c
Perform playback. Here, the regeneration of the desiccant 18c is to release the water adsorption state (hydration state) of the desiccant 18c by heating the desiccant 18c, and to release moisture from the desiccant 18c in the state of steam.

The regeneration efficiency of the desiccant 18c, that is, the ratio of the temperature rise of the desiccant 18c to the amount of heat generated by the electric heating element 19 and the amount of heat of evaporation of the adsorbed moisture is maintained at a high level during the regeneration. It is essential for shortening the regeneration time of the agent 18c. FIG. 3 illustrates a characteristic of the desiccant regeneration operation according to the present embodiment.
3A shows a schematic configuration of the regeneration-side second passage 13, and as shown in FIG. 3B, the air temperature after passing through the electric heating element 19 (the air temperature flowing into the desiccant 18c) after the start of the regeneration. ) Temperature difference T ₀ between T ₁ and temperature T _{2 of} desiccant 18c (T
By maintaining _1- T ₂ ) at or above a predetermined value, the regeneration efficiency of the desiccant 18c can be favorably maintained.

The temperature T of the drying agent 18c on the regeneration side is
₂ is at a low temperature near room temperature at the beginning of the regeneration (immediately after switching from the dehumidifying side), but as shown in FIG.
The influence of the heating action by 9, are in a relationship temperature T ₂ is increased desiccant 18c. Therefore, the temperature T _{2 of the} desiccant 18c
Can be estimated based on the elapsed time τ after the start of reproduction.

In this embodiment, focusing on the above points, instead of directly detecting the temperature T ₂ of the desiccant 18c, the elapsed time τ after the start of regeneration is used as shown in FIG. Control is performed such that the regeneration-side air volume V by the regeneration blower 17 decreases as the regeneration elapsed time τ increases. Specifically, based on the output signal of the timer unit 32d of the control device 32, the blower control unit 32a and the blower control device 34 reduce the voltage applied to the motor 17c of the blower 17 for reproduction as the reproduction elapsed time τ increases. Thus, the regeneration side air volume V is reduced.

Next, a technique based on the control of the regeneration side air volume V will be described.
Explaining the significance, at the beginning of regeneration (switching from the dehumidification side)
Immediately after), the temperature T of the drying agent 18c on the regeneration side_TwoNear room temperature
Because the temperature is low, the air volume V on the regeneration side is increased to generate electricity.
Air temperature T after passing through heating element 19 ₁Lower this air temperature
Degree T₁The desiccant temperature T on the regeneration side_TwoPredetermined value T₀Less than
Can be higher.

That is, since the electric heating element 19 is a resistor (PTC heater) having a positive temperature coefficient of resistance at which the electric resistance rapidly increases at a predetermined Curie point (for example, 150 ° C.), the electric heating element 19 When the air volume V of the electric heating element 19 is increased, the heat radiation amount of the electric heating element 19 to the air increases, and the electric heating element 19
Of the temperature drops below the Curie point, since the playback start initial time temperature T ₂ of the drying agent 18c is at a low temperature of the first place around room temperature, drying agents the temperature T of the air temperature T ₁ of the reproducing side
₂ can be set to a predetermined value T ₀ or more. Then, the temperature of the electric heating element 19 decreases, the resistance decreases, the current increases, and the power consumption increases. As described above, when the regeneration-side air volume V is increased at the beginning of the regeneration, the temperature of the electric heating element 19 decreases, and the amount of heat transfer to the regeneration-side desiccant 18c can be effectively increased by increasing the power consumption of the electric heating element 19. Therefore, the regeneration of the regeneration-side drying agent 18c can be rapidly performed at the beginning of the regeneration.

Since the temperature T _{2 of the} desiccant 18c increases as the elapsed regeneration time τ increases, the temperature of the electric heating element 19 can be increased by correspondingly decreasing the air flow V on the regeneration side. Therefore, the temperature difference T ₀ (T ₁ −
T ₂ ) can be continuously maintained at or above a predetermined value during the regeneration, whereby the regeneration efficiency of the desiccant 18c can be favorably maintained.

Moreover, the power consumption can be reduced by increasing the resistance value of the electric heating element 19, and the power consumption of the electric heating element 19 can be efficiently controlled only by a simple operation of decreasing the air volume V on the reproduction side. Note that a specific design example of the inside / outside air two-layer flow mode will be described. Now, the combination of the dehumidifier 10 having the desiccant unit 18 and the inside / outside air two-layer type air conditioning unit 100 makes the air conditioner blower 112 have the third configuration. The amount of inside air suctioned by one fan 112: 70 m ³ / h, the amount of inside air suctioned from the suction port 15 by the second fan 113 of the air conditioning blower 112: 50 m ³ / h, the outside air by the second fan 113 of the air conditioning blower 112 Inlet 102
Assuming the outside air intake volume from the air: 30 m ³ / h, the inside air rate is 80
%, The antifogging property of the window glass could be secured.

In this design example, the desiccant unit 18 includes a desiccant 18b, 18c made of a material mainly composed of silica gel in a disk-shaped (rotor-shaped) case body 18a having a diameter of 240 mm and a thickness of 30 mm. And the total weight was 500 g. (Other embodiments) The embodiments described above, after the temperature T ₂ is the reproduction start of the reproduction side of the desiccant 18c, by paying attention to a relationship that increases as the elapsed time τ becomes longer, playback start after As shown in FIG. 2 (c), as the reproduction elapsed time τ becomes longer, the regeneration blower 1 is used.
Although it controlled so as to reduce the reproduction side air volume V by 7, for example, a temperature sensor of non-contact type (e.g., an infrared temperature sensor) detects the temperature T ₂ of the drying agent 18c directly with, the drying it may be to reduce the reproduction side air volume V in response to an increase in the temperature T ₂ of the agent 18c.

[0051] Also, the outlet air temperature T of the reproduction side of the second air temperature (inlet air temperature to the drying agent 18c) after the electrical heating element 19 passes through the passage 13 T ₁ and the reproducing side desiccant 18c
₃ (see FIG. 3 (a)) is the difference between the drying agent 1 on the regeneration side.
Since the decrease is related As the rise in the temperature T ₂ of 8c (increase in the elapsed time after the reproduction start tau), temperature respectively to the inlet side and the outlet side of the reproduction side desiccant 18c sensors 18
d and 18e (see FIG. 3 (a)), and based on the detection signals of the two temperature sensors 18d and 18e, the temperature rise after the start of the regeneration of the regeneration side desiccant 18c is estimated. The air volume V may be controlled.

FIG. 3C shows a control characteristic for continuously reducing the reproduction-side air volume V.
Of course, may be reduced stepwise instead of continuously. In addition, the control of the motor speed of the regenerative blower 17 is performed not by controlling the applied voltage but by applying a pulse voltage to the motor 17c and adjusting the pulse width of the pulse voltage to control the motor speed. (PW
M method).

In the above embodiment, the desiccant is regenerated by rotating the desiccant unit 18, but the desiccant is divided into two groups as described in JP-A-9-156349. Alternatively, dehumidification may be performed by one desiccant group and regeneration may be performed by the other desiccant group, and dehumidification and regeneration of the two groups of desiccants may be alternately performed by switching the ventilation path.

In the above embodiment, the dehumidifier 10
Has been described with respect to a type in which the dehumidifier 10 is connected to the ventilation system of the air conditioning unit 100 in a trunk room or the like at the rear of the vehicle interior, in which the dehumidifier 10 is connected to the ventilation system suction side of the front air conditioning unit 100 arranged on the instrument panel in front of the vehicle interior. They may be provided independently. The present invention is also applicable to uses other than those for vehicles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electric control block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a regenerating operation of a desiccant in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: dehumidifying side passage, 13: regeneration side passage, 17: regeneration blower, 18: desiccant unit, 18b: dehumidification side desiccant,
18c: regeneration side desiccant, 19: electric heating element, 32: control device.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A desiccant unit (18) having a desiccant.
In the dehumidifying device for dehumidifying indoor air by using the dehumidifying-side desiccant (18b), the desiccant-side desiccant (18b) is located among the desiccants of the desiccant unit (18).
b) a dehumidifying-side passageway (11) for dehumidifying indoor air; and a regenerating-side desiccant (18c) among the desiccants of the desiccant unit (18).
c) a regeneration side passage (13) for desorbing moisture from the water; and a blowing means (1) for blowing air to the regeneration side passage (13).
7), and the regeneration-side desiccant (1) in the regeneration-side passage (13).
8c) a heating means disposed on the upstream side of the heating means, wherein the heating means comprises an electric heating element (19) having a positive resistance temperature characteristic in which an electric resistance value increases rapidly at a predetermined temperature; The air blown by (17) is heated by the electric heating element (19) and the regeneration side desiccant (18) is heated.
c) to regenerate the regeneration-side desiccant (18c) by desorbing moisture from the regeneration-side desiccant (18c). A dehumidifier, wherein the amount of air blown by the air blowing means (17) is increased, and the amount of air blown by the air blowing means (17) is reduced in accordance with the progress of the regeneration of the regeneration-side desiccant (18c). 2. A timer means (32d) for measuring a time after the start of regeneration of the regeneration side desiccant (18c), and based on a signal from the timer means (32d), the regeneration side desiccant (18c). 2. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the amount of air blown by the air blowing means (17) is reduced as time elapses after the start of the regeneration of (1). 3. A temperature detecting means (18d, 18e) for detecting information relating to a temperature change after the regeneration of the regeneration side desiccant (18c) is started, wherein the temperature detecting means (18d, 18e) detects the information. 2. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the amount of air blown by the air blowing unit (17) is reduced in accordance with a temperature rise after the start of regeneration of the regeneration side desiccant (18 c) based on the signal. 3. 4. A vehicle air conditioner comprising the dehumidifying device according to claim 1, wherein the heating heat exchanger (123) heats conditioned air; and the heating heat exchange. An air-conditioning air passage (108, 109) for blowing air heated by the air heater (123) into the vehicle cabin; and an air-conditioning blower (111) for blowing air to the air-conditioning air passage (108, 109). An outlet side of the dehumidification-side passage (11) is connected to a suction side of the air-conditioning blower (111) to dehumidify vehicle interior air in the dehumidification-side passage (11), and thereafter, the air-conditioning air passage (11). 1
08, 109), and blows out into the vehicle interior. 5. The air passage for air conditioning (108, 109).
And a defroster opening provided at the outlet of the air-conditioning air passages (108, 109) and blowing air to the vehicle window glass. (125), in a blowing mode in which both the foot opening (124) and the defroster opening (125) are simultaneously opened, vehicle interior air flows through the foot opening (124), and the defroster opening In the section (125), an inside / outside air two-layer flow mode in which air outside the vehicle compartment flows is set, and in the inside / outside air two-layer flow mode, the dehumidification-side passage (1) is set.
The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the air outside the vehicle interior is mixed with the air inside the vehicle interior dehumidified in (1), and is blown out from the defroster opening (125).