KR100668177B1 - Hand dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter includes a main body having an air flow passage having an air inlet and an air outlet; Heating means installed on an air flow passage of the main body to heat air; A blowing fan for discharging air heated by the heating means to the outlet; A photocatalyst filter installed in an air flow passage of the main body, and purifying means having a lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the photocatalyst; a public toilet and other indoor spaces in which a function of drying hands and a hand dryer are installed Can purify the indoor air.

Hand Dryer, Photocatalyst, Electrostatic Precipitation, Anion, Air Purification

Description

Hand dryer using photocatalyst coating filter

1 is a perspective view of a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter having an air purifying function according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a hand dryer using the photocatalyst coating filter shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a cross-sectional view of a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter,

Figure 4 is a photograph of the sterilization state of the air purified by a hand dryer with a photocatalyst filter and the bacteria propagation state of the unpurified air,

Figure 5 is a graph showing the organic matter removal performance when purifying air by a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

10: hand dryer 11; Inlet

12; Outlet 13: Air flow passage

14: main body,

21; Heating means 22; Blower fan

30; purifying means 31, 32, 33; Photocatalyst filter.

34,35; lamp

41; A dust collecting filter 45; Negative ion generator

50; Sensor

The present invention relates to a hand dryer having an air purifying function, and more particularly, to a hand dryer having an improved filter for removing foreign substances, bacteria, and organic matter from the introduced air.

In general, a hand dryer, a hair dryer, and a hot air fan installed in a hot air blower for drying has a circulation structure in which ambient air is sucked in and heated and blown, and these devices are mostly used in a closed space. In particular, hand dryers are installed in toilets, washrooms, etc. These spaces are easy to breed bacteria and tend to cause odors. On the other hand, they are also the most problematic spaces for cleanliness and hygiene.

In view of this, it is common to clean toilets or washrooms with a disinfectant detergent and to use a deodorant or air freshener to remove odors. However, these methods can not fundamentally solve the effect of removing the bacteria floating in the indoor space or remove the odor, and has a degree of effect to suppress the growth of bacteria or to feel bad smell.

On the other hand, bacterial diseases caused by various viruses are infected with food, but most of them are spread and infected by hands that have been exposed to the outside for a long time. Therefore, in order to maintain the cleanliness of hands, hands are often washed. In this case, the hand of the washed hand is wiped with a towel or toilet paper or dried using a hand dryer.

Since the hand dryer is installed in a relatively humid space such as a public restroom or washroom, there is a high possibility of germs propagating in the passage of bacteria and parts installed therein. Therefore, when washing hands and drying using a hand dryer contaminated with bacteria as described above, there is a problem that the hands washed by the hand dryer are contaminated again.

In order to solve this problem, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 0348688 discloses a hand dryer equipped with a sterilizer.

The disclosed hand dryer has an ultraviolet lamp installed in the outlet housing of the discharge duct to irradiate ultraviolet rays to the outside, a reflecting plate installed in the housing to reflect the ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet lamp, and coated on an outer circumferential surface of the reflecting plate. And a photocatalyst for causing the catalytic reaction to sterilize the bacteria.

The hand dryer configured as described above is capable of sterilizing germs that contaminate the hand by directly irradiating ultraviolet rays on the hand in the process of drying the hand. In such a hand dryer, since the discharged air does not pass through the reflective film coated with the photocatalyst, a substantial effect of sterilizing air by the photocatalyst function cannot be expected, and the air circulated by the hand dryer cannot be purified.

Patent Utility Model No. 0333379 discloses a hand cleaning apparatus capable of washing and sterilizing drying, and Patent Publication No. 2003-0048989 discloses an air purifier for purifying air using a photocatalyst.

An object of the present invention is to provide a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter which can obtain sterilization and organic substance decomposition effects by using the oxidizing power of a strong photocatalyst which is exposed to ultraviolet rays.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter which can prevent the hand from being contaminated by bacteria, organic matters, etc. in the process of drying the washed hands, and can remove and purify the odor of air.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter capable of circulating and purifying ambient air.

Hand dryer using the photocatalyst coating filter of the present invention to achieve the above object

A main body provided with an air flow passage having an air inlet and an air outlet;

Heating means installed on an air flow passage of the main body to heat air; A blowing fan for discharging air heated by the heating means to the discharge port;

And a purifying means having a photocatalyst filter installed in the air flow passage of the main body, and a lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the photocatalyst.

In the present invention, the inlet side of the air flow passage may further include a dust collecting filter and an electric dust collector for removing dust, and may further include an anion generator installed in the air flow passage adjacent to the photocatalyst filter. .

The photocatalyst filter includes at least one of a ceramic filter, a zeolite honeycomb filter, a ceramic ball, a metal filter, and a paper filter having a photocatalyst coating layer.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The hand dryer using the photocatalyst coating filter according to the present invention may be installed in a bathroom, a washroom, etc., to dry the washed hands, and to purify the air in the bathroom or the washroom, and an embodiment thereof is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. .

Referring to the drawings, the hand dryer 10 using the photocatalyst coating filter includes a main body 14 having an air flow passage 13 having an inlet 11 and an outlet 12 of air, and the main body 14. It is provided on the air flow passage 13 of the heating means 21 for heating the air, and a blowing fan 22 for discharging the air heated by the heating means 21 to the discharge port 12 do. And the air flow passage 13 of the main body 14 is provided with a purifying means 30 for removing the bacteria and organic matter in the air passing therethrough.

The air flow passage 13 formed in the main body 14 is vertically installed to penetrate the upper and lower portions, and a grill may be formed at the discharge port 12 side of the inlet 11 of the air flow passage 13. The air flow passage 13 is not limited to the above embodiment and can be any structure as long as it is easy to circulate and discharge the air. In addition, the heating means 21 preferably uses an electric heater, and the blowing fan 22 preferably uses a sirocco fan.

The purifying means 30 is installed in the air flow passage 13 to remove germs or organic substances piggybacked in the air, the air flow passage 13 is maintained at a predetermined interval from each other and the air flow passage A lamp 34 disposed between the photocatalyst filters 31, 32, 33 and the photocatalyst filters 31, 32, 33 to irradiate ultraviolet light to the photocatalyst filters. And (35).

The photocatalyst filters 31, 32, 33 may be formed of at least one of a ceramic catalyst coated with a photocatalyst, a zeolite honeycomb filter, a ceramic ball filter, a metal filter or a paper filter, a stainless wool filter, and a metal mesh filter. The photocatalyst filters 31-33 are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and any of the photocatalyst filters 31-33 may be used as long as the air flowing through the air flow path by the blower fan 22 has the effect of sterilizing and decomposing organic matter using the oxidation power of the photocatalyst. Do.

In addition, the lamp is for activating the photocatalyst coated on the photocatalyst filters 31, 32, 33, and UV C (UV-C (short wave)) having a wavelength band of 100 nm-280 nm, and UV A (UV) having 315 nm-400 nm. It is preferable to use an ultraviolet lamp that emits -A (long wave). In particular, the lamp may be easy to install and use a light emitting diode (LED) that can reduce the occupied space, a fluorescent lamp (cold cathode lamp) for emitting ultraviolet light may be used. When the ultraviolet C is used, an ozone removal functional filter may be additionally used, and the ozone removal functional filter may be used by using activated carbon or manganese dioxide or by mixing them.

Meanwhile, in the air flow passage 13 adjacent to the grille formed at the suction port 11, a dust collecting filter 41 and an electric dust collector 42 for removing dust may be sequentially installed. The dust collecting filter 41 installed at the suction port 11 side filters dust that is piggybacked in the air flowing through the suction port 11, that is, a relatively large dust, and the electric dust collector 42 filters the dust collecting filter. The fine dust which is not filtered by 41 is collected. The dust collecting filter 41 and the electrostatic precipitator 42 are preferably installed in the air flow passage 13 between the suction port 11 and the photocatalyst filter 31. The negative ion generator 45 may be further provided between the photocatalyst filter 33 and the blowing fan 22. The negative ion generator 45 has corresponding and high pressure electrodes, and the negative ion generator can secondaryly sterilize bacteria that are not sterilized by the photocatalyst filter. In addition, the discharge port 13 is provided with a detection sensor 50 for operating the hand dryer by detecting a hand for drying. The sensor may be a proximity sensor or a light emitting sensor.

On the other hand, the hand dryer operates the heating means when the hand for drying is detected by the sensor, and if the hand is not detected by the sensor, in the toilet or washroom in the state that does not operate the heating means 21 Control means (not shown) for circulating and purifying the air is provided. The control means may be provided with a timer for purifying the air for a certain time.

Reference numerals 15 and 16 are operation panels for operating the viewing window and the hand-drier, which are installed on the front surface of the main body 14, respectively.

Referring to the operation of the hand dryer according to the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

The hand dryer 10 according to the present invention may perform an air purifying function for purifying air at an installed place, and a drying function for drying washed hands.

When the hand is close to the discharge port 12 side to dry the washed hands, the hand is detected by the sensor 50, the signal detected by the sensor is transmitted to the controller. And the heat transfer fan which is the blowing fan 22 and the heating means 21 is operated by the said control part. Therefore, the air flows through the suction port and passes through the dust collecting filter 41, the electron dust collector 42, the photocatalyst filters 31-33, and the negative ion generator 45. The air is heated by a heating heater, and then the discharge port 12 is opened. By discharging through, the hand is dried. In this process, the electrostatic precipitator 42 and the negative ion generator may be selectively operated.

In order to purify the air in the space where the hand dryer is installed, the lamps 34 and 35 are turned on by the operation of the control unit, and the electrostatic precipitator 42, the negative ion generator 45, and the blower fan 22 are driven. . At this time, power is not applied to the electric heater. Therefore, the air in the toilet or washroom is circulated through the air flow passage 13. In this process, the air sucked through the suction port 11 is filtered while the dust is relatively large while passing through the dust collecting filter 41, and fine dust is removed while passing through the electric dust collector 42. And while passing through the photocatalyst filter (31-33) and the negative ion generator (45), the sterilization of bacteria piggybacked in the air and decomposes and cleans the organic matter and removes the odor. Here, it is natural that the blowing fan 22 may control the air volume by controlling the rotation speed by the controller.

On the other hand, since the transparent window 15 is installed on the front of the main body 14, it is possible to check the light of the lamps 34 and 35 installed for photocatalytic activity from the outside, and indoor lighting using ultraviolet light emitted from the lamp The effect can be obtained.

The present inventors experimented with air sterilization, purification, and deodorization performance of the photocatalyst filters 31-33 to obtain the results as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

4 is a photograph showing the airborne bactericidal effect in the air by using the photocatalyst filter (10). The left container in the picture shows the photocatalyst filters 31-33 installed in a predetermined space to purify the air, and then detects and orients the bacteria in the air. The right container picture shows the air in the place where the photocatalyst filter 10 is not installed. Bacteria were detected and cultured. The detection space of the two containers is the same space, and the result of the test is to detect the hand dryer before installation and purify and detect the air after installation.

As a result of the test, bacteria and blue mold, including general bacteria, were detected in the space not cleaned by the hand dryer equipped with the photocatalyst filter.The air after purifying the air by installing the hand dryer is completely sterilized. It was confirmed that it was not detected.

FIG. 5 shows experimental results of organic matter removal performance of the photocatalyst filters 31-33. Referring to the drawings, once passing through the photocatalyst filter, most of the organic matter showed an average of 80% or more purification rate, and in the case of ammonia, which is the main cause of the odor, it can be seen that the purification rate of about 99%. This shows that the deodorizing effect is excellent.

As described above, the hand dryer using the photocatalyst coating filter according to the present invention may perform a drying function of drying the washed hands and an air purification function of sterilizing, deodorizing, and removing dust in the air in which the hand dryer is installed. have. In addition, excellent sterilization performance can be obtained by using the strong oxidative power generated by UV irradiation on the photocatalyst coated on the photocatalyst filter.Additional pollutants due to air purification since only water and trace carbon dioxide are discharged during sterilization and decomposition of organic matter. The occurrence of is prevented. In addition, by using the negative ion generating device to obtain the performance of the photocatalyst and the additional air purification effect can maximize the air purification efficiency can keep the indoor space in a comfortable state.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

Claims (6)

A main body provided with an air flow passage having an air inlet and an air outlet; Heating means installed on an air flow passage of the main body to heat air; A blowing fan for discharging air heated by the heating means to the outlet; A dust collecting filter and an electrostatic precipitator installed at an inlet side of the air flow passage to remove dust; A photocatalyst filter installed in an air flow passage of the main body and having at least one of a ceramic filter, a zeolite honeycomb filter, a ceramic ball, a metal mash filter, a paper filter, and a stainless wool filter having a photocatalyst coating layer, and UV-A, UV to the photocatalyst filter Purifying means having a lamp for irradiating the ultraviolet light of the selected one of -C; And a negative ion generator installed in an air flow passage on the side adjacent to the photocatalyst filter. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, The lamp is a hand dryer using a photocatalyst coating filter, characterized in that the light emitting diode or fluorescent lamp for emitting ultraviolet light. delete

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