KR102739038B1 - Air Cleaner Having Humidifying Function - Google Patents

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a humidifier purifier comprises: a housing having an intake port and an exhaust port; an air purification filter provided inside the housing to filter air flowing in from the intake port; a blower for causing air flowing in from the intake port to flow to the exhaust port; a humidifier having a humidifying member provided at a rear end of the blower for humidifying air discharged from the blower; and a humidifying adjustment member for rotating the humidifier member around an axis parallel to the exhaust port so that the humidifying member opens or blocks at least a portion of a discharge port, which is a flow space of air discharged from the blower toward the exhaust port; wherein whether or not air filtered through the air purification filter is humidified can be determined depending on whether the humidifying member blocks the discharge port.

Description

Air Cleaner Having Humidifying Function

The present invention relates to a humidifier having an air purifying function and a humidifying function, and more particularly, to a humidifier having a humidifying function and a humidifying amount that can be controlled.

An air purifier is a device that purifies polluted air and turns it into fresh air. It passes the incoming air through an air purification filter to remove dust and bacteria and eliminate odors.

As air pollution becomes more serious due to the increase in yellow dust and harmful dust, the need for and demand for air purifiers is increasing significantly due to the social atmosphere of increased respiratory diseases and heightened public interest in health.

A typical air purifier includes a blower fan that draws in the air to be purified and a filter assembly that purifies the air.

Meanwhile, in addition to the air purifying filter, the air purifier may include a humidifying filter to supply humidified air, and a humidifying purifier with a humidifying function like this discharges air containing moisture to control indoor humidity.

These humidifiers install a humidifying filter at the rear end of the air purifying filter, and a blower fan for air intake is installed at the rear end of the humidifying filter. At this time, some of the air that has passed through the air purifying filter passes through the humidifying filter and into the blower fan, but the remaining air passes directly into the blower fan without passing through the humidifying filter.

Therefore, since conventional humidifiers do not have a structure in which all air that passes through the air purification filter passes through the humidifying filter, the humidifying efficiency decreases when the humidifying mode is selected.

To solve these problems, a flow change means is sometimes used to increase the air flow rate supplied to the humidifying filter in the humidifying mode. However, even if a flow change means is used, not all air passing through the air purification filter is supplied to the humidifying filter, so there is a limit to the improvement in humidifying efficiency.

In addition, conventional humidifiers have a problem in that the air purification efficiency is reduced in air purification-only mode that does not perform humidification because some of the air filtered through the air purification filter is supplied to the humidification filter.

In addition, since conventional humidifiers have a structure in which an air purification filter, humidifier filter, and blower fan are installed in that order from the intake port, there is a problem in that the installation area of the humidifier increases due to the installation of the humidifier filter.

KR 10-2018-0016090 A (Published on 2018.02.14.) KR 10-2018-0047974 A (Published on 2018.05.10.) KR 10-2017-0086435 A (Published on 2017.07.26.)

The present invention has been made to solve at least some of the problems of the prior art as described above, and aims to provide a humidifier/purifier capable of maximizing both humidifying efficiency and air purifying efficiency.

In addition, the present invention, as one aspect, aims to provide a humidifier/purifier that does not require a separate flow path changing means to be installed between an air purification filter and a humidifying member in order to change between a humidification mode and a purification mode.

And, as one aspect, the present invention aims to provide a humidifier/purifier capable of changing the humidification mode or purification mode through a simple structure.

In addition, as one aspect, the present invention aims to provide a humidifier/purifier in which the amount of humidification can be easily controlled.

And, as one aspect, the present invention aims to provide a humidifier/purifier capable of reducing the installation area.

In addition, as one aspect, the present invention aims to provide a humidifier purifier that can easily check whether a humidifier filter is contaminated.

In one aspect to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a humidifier including: a housing having an intake port and an exhaust port; an air purification filter provided inside the housing to filter air flowing in from the intake port; a blower for causing air flowing in from the intake port to flow to the exhaust port; a humidifier including a humidifying member provided at a rear end of the blower for humidifying air discharged from the blower; and a humidifying adjustment member for rotating the humidifying member around an axis parallel to the exhaust port so that the humidifying member opens or blocks at least a portion of a discharge port, which is a flow space of air discharged from the blower toward the exhaust port; wherein whether or not air filtered through the air purification filter is humidified is determined depending on whether or not the humidifying member blocks the discharge port.

At this time, the amount of humidification of air filtered through the air purification filter can be adjusted depending on the degree of opening of the discharge passage of the humidifying member.

In addition, the humidifying unit has a tank that contains humidifying water and has an open upper side, and the humidifying member that is immersed in the tank to absorb the water, and the tank has a ring shape with an opening formed in the center through which air flows, and the humidifying member may have a shape that partially covers the opening. At this time, the humidifying member has a humidifying filter that has a shape formed by a hollow truncated cone or a portion of a cone, and may be placed on the upper side of the blower unit so that the lower side of the humidifying filter is wide and the upper side is narrow. In addition, the humidifying filter may be formed by cutting half of a hollow truncated cone or a cone in the vertical direction.

In addition, the humidifying member may be provided with a humidifying filter that absorbs water contained in the tank and a frame that maintains the shape of the humidifying filter. At this time, the frame has a lattice structure on the upper side, and the humidifying adjustment unit is connected to the upper side of the frame and can rotate the frame and the humidifying filter.

In addition, the humidifying member may be provided with a flow-restricting film that restricts the flow of air in the upper region of the frame corresponding to the humidifying filter. In addition, the humidifying member may be provided with a blocking film that forms a closed space together with the humidifying filter in the side portion of the frame to restrict the flow of air to the side.

And, the humidifying member may be configured to be rotatable between a first position that opens the discharge path and a second position that blocks at least a portion of the discharge path. At this time, the humidifying member may be positioned at a third position between the first position and the second position, and an area where the humidifying member blocks the discharge path at the third position may be smaller than an area where it blocks it at the second position.

In addition, the blower unit has a blower fan that circulates air, and a fan casing that surrounds the blower fan and has an inlet and an outlet, and the discharge path can correspond to a space in which air flows from the outlet of the fan casing toward the outlet. At this time, depending on the position of the humidifying unit moved by the humidification adjustment unit, when the humidifying member is projected onto the outlet of the fan casing, the area that the humidifying member covers the outlet can change.

Meanwhile, the suction port may be installed on at least a portion of the front, back, left, and right sides of the housing, the discharge port may be installed on the upper surface of the housing, and the humidifying unit may be placed above the blowing unit.

According to one embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the effect of maximizing both humidifying efficiency and air purifying efficiency.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to implement a structure that does not require a separate flow path changing means to be installed between the air purification filter and the humidifying member in order to change the humidification mode or the cleaning mode. In particular, since the discharge flow path used in the cleaning mode is used as is in the humidification mode, there is no need to install a dedicated flow path for humidification, so the structure is simple.

And, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the effect of easy control of the humidification amount can be obtained.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of reducing the installation area of the humidifier/purifier.

And, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the humidifying filter is positioned adjacent to the discharge port of the humidifying purifier, it is possible to easily check whether the humidifying filter is contaminated, and thus, it is possible to easily determine the timing of cleaning the humidifying filter.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a cleaning-only mode of a humidifier purifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, and (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between a water tank, a humidifying member, and a discharge path.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the humidifying unit illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the humidifier shown in Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the rear side of the humidifying member illustrated in Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the high-humidification cleaning mode of the humidifier/purifier shown in Figure 1, where (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, and (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between the water tank, humidifier, and discharge path.
Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the low-humidification cleaning mode of the humidifier/purifier shown in Fig. 1, where (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, and (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between the water tank, humidifier, and discharge path.
Figure 7 is a perspective view showing a humidifying unit provided in a modified example of the first embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the operating state of the humidifier in the cleaning-only mode shown in Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the operating state of the humidifying unit illustrated in Figure 7 in the high-humidification cleaning mode.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a high-humidification cleaning mode of a humidifier purifier according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, and (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between a water tank, a humidifier filter, and a discharge path.
Figure 11 is a rear schematic diagram of the humidifier/purifier shown in Figure 10.
Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the humidifier shown in Figs. 10 and 11.
Figure 13 is a schematic diagram showing the cleaning-only mode of the humidifier/purifier shown in Figure 10, where (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, and (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between the water tank, humidifier filter, and discharge path.
Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the low-humidification cleaning mode of the humidifier/purifier shown in Fig. 10, where (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, and (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between the water tank, humidifier filter, and discharge path.
Fig. 15 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the humidifying member shown in Fig. 12.
Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing another modified example of the humidifying member shown in Fig. 12.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. However, the embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those with average knowledge in the relevant technical field. The shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for a clearer explanation.

Additionally, in this specification, singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, and the same reference signs throughout the specification are intended to refer to the same component or corresponding components.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, a humidifier/purifier (100) according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a cleaning-only mode of a humidifier/purifier (100) according to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between a water tank (151), a humidifier (160), and a discharge path (AF)/outlet (142), FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a humidifier (150) shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a humidifier (150) shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the rear side of the humidifier (160) shown in FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams showing a high humidification cleaning mode and a low humidification cleaning mode of the humidifier/purifier (100) shown in FIG. 1, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, the humidifying device (100) according to the first embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a housing (110), an air purifying filter (120), a blower (130), a humidifying unit (150), and a humidifying adjustment unit (170).

The housing (110) constitutes the exterior of the humidifier (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention, and may be provided with an intake port (111) through which outside air is sucked into the interior of the housing (110), and an outlet port (112) through which air inside the housing (110) is discharged to the exterior. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the intake port (111) may be installed on the front of the housing (110), and the outlet port (112) may be installed on the upper surface of the housing (110), but the installation positions and numbers of the intake ports (111) and the outlet ports (112) may be variously changed. For example, the intake ports (111) may be installed on at least a portion of the front, rear, left, and right sides of the housing (110) so as to suck in air from various directions, and a plurality of outlet ports (112) may also be installed.

In addition, the air purification filter (120) may be installed in front of the blower (130) so that air drawn in from the intake port (111) is filtered by the air purification filter (120) and then drawn into the blower (130), but the installation location is not limited.

The above air purification filter (120) may be provided inside the housing (110) and configured to filter air flowing in from the intake port (111).

For example, the air purification filter (120) may be placed in the air path at the rear end of the intake port (111). This air purification filter (120) may be configured in a square shape corresponding to the shape and cross-sectional area of the air path, and through this, air drawn in through the intake port (111) of the housing (110) may pass through the air purification filter (120) in its entirety. However, the shape of the air purification filter (120) is not limited thereto, and various known filters may be used. For example, the air purification filter (120) may be configured as a three-dimensional filter having a circular or square cross-section and a space formed inside.

In addition, these air purification filters (120) can be selected from filters having various shapes and functions, and the type, number, shape, etc. of the filters are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1 and can be changed in various ways.

And, the blower (130) provides blowing power to cause air drawn in from the intake port (111) to flow to the discharge port (112). An air flow path is formed between the intake port (111) and the discharge port (112) through which air flows by the operation of the blower (130), and this air flow path can be changed in various ways depending on the positions of the intake port (111) and the discharge port (112) and the suction/discharge position and direction of the blower (130).

In addition, the blower (130) is equipped with a blower fan (131) that circulates air. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the blower fan (131) may be arranged at the rear of the air purification filter (120) based on the air flow path and may have a structure in which air is sucked in from one side. However, the installation location and suction structure are not limited to those illustrated in FIG. 1 and may be variously changed. For example, the blower fan (131) may have a double suction structure.

In addition, the blower (130) may be provided with a fan casing (140) that surrounds the blower fan (131) and has an inlet (141) and an outlet (142) (see FIG. 11 for the specific shape of the fan casing).

In this way, when the fan casing (140) is provided, air can be efficiently flowed to correspond to the air flow path. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the fan casing (140) may have a structure in which air flowing in from the inlet (141) on the front of the fan casing (140) flows to the outlet (142) on the upper surface of the fan casing (140). However, the fan casing (140) is not limited to the shape illustrated in FIG. 1, and the direction and number of the inlet (141) and outlet (142) may be variously changed. Meanwhile, the humidifier (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention may not have the fan casing (140) on the blower (130), and may be provided with a separate airflow guide means for guiding the air flow from the intake (111) to the discharge port (112).

In addition, the humidifying unit (150) may be provided at the rear end of the blower unit (130) and configured to humidify air discharged from the blower unit (130). That is, the humidifying unit (150) may be installed in the space between the blower unit (130) and the discharge port (112) and may humidify air that has been filtered by the air purification filter (120) and then passed through the blower unit (130).

In this way, when the humidifying unit (150) is provided at the rear end (i.e., upper end) of the blower unit (130), all air that has passed through the air purifying filter (120) flows into the blower unit (130) and then into the humidifying unit (150), so that the humidifying performance can be improved.

This humidifying unit (150) may include a humidifying member (160) made of a hygroscopic material to perform humidification through vaporization of absorbed water, and a water tank (151) in which humidifying water is accommodated. That is, the humidifying member (160) may be configured to be immersed in the water tank to absorb water, and to vaporize the absorbed water when air flows through the blower (130) to perform humidification.

In addition, the humidifier (150) may additionally be equipped with a water tank (155) that supplies water to the water tank (151). The water supply structure between the water tank (151) and the water tank (155) is a technology widely used in humidifiers, so a detailed description will be omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a water receiving space (152) is formed in the water tank (151) to receive water so that the humidifying member (160) can be immersed therein. For reference, FIG. 2 illustrates the external shape of the humidifying adjustment unit (170) and the humidifying member (160) on a cross-section of the water tank (151) to easily confirm the relationship between the humidifying member (160) and the water tank (151).

The above tank (151) is configured so that the humidifying member (160) can rotate as described below, and is configured so that even when the humidifying member (160) rotates, the lower end (167) of the humidifying member (160) is immersed in the water accommodated in the tank (151). At this time, an extension (151a) protruding downwards may be formed at the lower end of the receiving space (152) to prevent interference with the lower end (167) of the humidifying member (160) when the humidifying member (160) rotates. However, the extension (151a) is not necessarily required, and may have a structure in which the lower surface of the receiving space (152) of the tank (151) is configured to have a depth corresponding to the bottom surface of the extension (151a) so as to prevent interference with the lower end (167) of the humidifying member (160) when the humidifying member (160) rotates.

In addition, a shaft support member (151b) may be formed in the water tank (151) so that the rotation axis of the humidifying member (160) can be installed in the water tank (151). In Fig. 3, the shaft support member (151b) is configured to have a groove shape, but it may also be formed in the form of a hole through which the rotation axis passes.

In addition, the water tank (151) may have an interference avoidance groove (151c) formed on the side to avoid interference with the body of the water tank (151) when the humidifying member (160) rotates. In this case, the receiving space (152) of the water tank (151) may receive water to a level lower than the height of the interference avoidance groove (151c).

In addition, a stopper (151d) may be provided on the inner wall of the water tank (151) to which the lower part (167) of the humidifying member (160) is caught so as to limit the maximum rotational position of the humidifying member (160).

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the humidifying member (160) may be provided with a humidifying filter (161) that absorbs water contained in a water tank (151) and a frame (165) installed on the outside of the humidifying filter (161) to maintain the shape of the humidifying filter (161).

The above humidifying filter (161) is made of a hygroscopic material, and the frame (165) can be made of a material having strength that can maintain the outer shape of the humidifying filter (161), such as synthetic resin.

In addition, the humidifying filter (161) may have a plate-shaped structure, and the frame (165) has a structure that supports the perimeter of the plate-shaped humidifying filter (161).

At this time, the frame (165) may have a grid (165) structure so that the air being blown may pass through the humidifying filter (161). Referring to FIG. 3, in order to prevent the end portion of the humidifying filter (161) from being deformed by wind pressure when blowing, the grid (166) may be configured to have a dense structure in a portion located far from the rotational axis of the humidifying member (160). In addition, referring to FIG. 4, the frame (165) may not have a grid formed in some areas so that the humidifying filter (161) can be separated and mounted.

Meanwhile, a discharge path (AF), which is a space for air to flow from the blower (130) to the discharge port (112) is formed inside the housing (110), and the humidification adjustment unit (170) is configured to move the humidification member (160) so that the humidification member (160) opens or blocks at least a portion of the discharge path (AF). At this time, when the blower (130) is provided with a fan casing (140), the discharge path (AF) corresponds to a space in which air flows from the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140) to the discharge port of the housing (110).

This humidifying unit (170) may be configured to include a motor driven by a control unit (C) to rotate the humidifying member (160). At this time, the humidifying unit (170) may be installed in a water tank (151), as shown in FIG. 3.

In this way, the humidifying member (160) is rotated by the humidifying adjustment member (170), and depending on the position of the humidifying member (160), whether the air filtered through the air purifying filter (120) is humidified can be determined.

For example, in the case where the humidifying element (160) rotated by the humidifying adjustment unit (170) of the humidifying purifier (100) is in the position shown in FIG. 1, a cleaning-only mode is performed in which only air purification is performed without humidification, and in the case where the humidifying element (160) is in the position shown in FIG. 5, a high-humidification cleaning mode in which air purification and maximum humidification are performed is performed, and in the case where the humidifying element (160) is in the position shown in FIG. 6, a low-humidification cleaning mode in which air purification and partial humidification are performed can be performed.

That is, the degree of opening of the discharge path (AF) changes depending on the position of the humidifying member (160) moved by the humidifying adjustment unit (170), and the amount of humidification of air that has been filtered through the air purification filter (120) and then passed through the blower unit (130) can be adjusted depending on the position of the humidifying member (160).

Referring to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the cleaning-only mode, low-humidification cleaning mode, and high-humidification cleaning mode are described in more detail.

As shown in Fig. 1, when the humidifying member (160) is in the first position arranged in the vertical direction, the humidifying member (160) completely opens the discharge path (AF). That is, in the first position, the humidifying member (160) is positioned parallel to the direction of air flow in the discharge path (AF) so that the discharge path (AF) can be completely opened. Accordingly, the air coming out of the outlet (142) after being filtered through the air purifying filter (120) is discharged through the discharge port (112) without passing through the humidifying member (160), so that a clean-only mode in which no humidification is performed is performed.

As shown in Fig. 5, when the humidifying member (160) is in the second position where it is arranged in an inclined direction close to horizontal, the humidifying member (160) completely blocks the discharge path (AF). That is, in the second position, the humidifying member (160) is arranged at an inclined angle of approximately 90 degrees to the direction of air flow in the discharge path (AF) so as to completely block the discharge path (AF). Accordingly, the air coming out of the outlet (142) after being filtered through the air purification filter (120) passes through the humidifying member (160) and is then discharged through the discharge port (112), so that a high-humidification cleaning mode in which a large amount of humidification is performed is performed.

Meanwhile, in Fig. 5, the humidifying member (160) is configured to have a slight incline, but by changing the position of the rotation axis of the humidifying member (160) and the structure of the water tank (151), the humidifying member (160) can be configured to be completely horizontal in the high-humidification cleaning mode.

In this way, the humidifying member (160) can be configured to be rotatable between a first position that opens the discharge path (AF) and a second position that blocks the discharge path (AF), thereby determining whether humidification is performed.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the humidifying member (160) may have a third position in which it is arranged to have a slight incline. That is, in the third position, the humidifying member (160) is positioned to be inclined with respect to the direction of air flow in the discharge passage (AF), but since the angle of incline formed with respect to the direction of air flow is smaller than that in the second position, the humidifying member (160) opens (blocks) part of the discharge passage (AF). That is, the area where the humidifying member (160) blocks the discharge passage (AF) in the third position is smaller than the area where it blocks the discharge passage (AF) in the second position. Accordingly, some of the air coming out of the outlet (142) after being filtered through the air purification filter (120) passes through the humidifying member (160) and is discharged through the discharge port (112), and the remaining air is discharged directly through the discharge port (112) without passing through the humidifying member (160), so a low-humidification cleaning mode with a lower humidification amount is performed compared to the case illustrated in FIG. 5.

At this time, the control unit (C) can drive the humidification adjustment unit (170) to rotate the humidification unit (160) so that the humidification unit (160) is positioned at an arbitrary third position between the first position shown in FIG. 1 and the second position shown in FIG. 5.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1(b), FIG. 5(b), and FIG. 6(b), when the humidifying member (160) is projected onto the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140), the area where the humidifying member (160) covers the discharge path (AF) and the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140) changes depending on the position of the humidifying member (160), and through this, whether or not humidification occurs and the amount of humidification can be controlled.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 1(a), FIG. 5(a), and FIG. 6(a), the humidifying member (160) is depicted as being positioned at a distance from the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140). However, in order to minimize the phenomenon in which air discharged from the outlet (142) bypasses the humidifying filter (160) and is discharged, it is also possible to position the water tank (151) in which the humidifying member (160) is installed at a lower position than the water tank (151) in FIG. 5(a) so that the humidifying member (160) is positioned adjacent to the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140) in the state of FIG. 5(a).

In this way, the humidifier (100) according to the first embodiment of the present invention can implement a cleaning-only mode, a high-humidification cleaning mode, and a low-humidification cleaning mode through the rotation of the humidifying member (160), so not only can it determine whether to humidify based on the amount of dust and humidity, but also, when humidification is performed, the humidification amount can be adjusted. In particular, the low-humidification cleaning mode illustrated in FIG. 6 can adjust the humidification amount in several stages by adjusting the rotational position of the humidifying member (160), so it has the advantage of allowing fine adjustment of the humidification amount.

In addition, since the humidifying member (160) is installed at the rear end (i.e., the upper part of the housing) of the air purifying filter (120) and the blower (130), in the case of the high-humidification cleaning mode, all air that has passed through the air purifying filter (120) is introduced into the humidifying unit (150) through the blower (130), so that the humidifying performance can be improved. In addition, in the case of the cleaning-only mode, all air that has passed through the air purifying filter (120) is discharged through the discharge port (112) without passing through the humidifying unit (150) through the blower (130), so that the air purifying efficiency can be maximized. In particular, since the discharge path (AF) used in the cleaning-only mode is used as is in the humidifying cleaning mode, there is no need to install a dedicated path for humidification, so there is an advantage of a simple structure.

In addition, since a structure that directly rotates the humidifying member (160) is used to implement the high-humidification cleaning mode, low-humidification cleaning mode, and cleaning-only mode, a separate flow path changing means required in the prior art is not required.

In addition, since the humidifying unit (150) is positioned above the blower unit (130), the installation area can be reduced compared to the conventional structure in which the air purifying filter, humidifying unit, and blower unit are arranged in a straight line. In addition, since the humidifying filter (161) is positioned adjacent to the discharge port (112), it is easy to check for contamination of the humidifying filter (161) and clean it, which has the advantage of improving hygiene.

Next, a modified example of the humidifier/purifier (100) according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be examined with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a humidifying unit provided in a modified example of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the operating state of the humidifying unit shown in FIG. 7 in a cleaning-only mode, and FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the operating state of the humidifying unit shown in FIG. 7 in a high-humidification cleaning mode??.

In the case of the modified examples illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9, the remaining configuration except for the shape and operating structure of the humidifying unit (150) is the same as the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, so a detailed description of the same configuration will be omitted and only the configuration of the humidifying unit (150) will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the humidifying unit (150) according to the modified example may be equipped with a pair of humidifying members (160) that are installed facing each other. At this time, the water tank (151) is configured so that the pair of humidifying members (160) are immersed in it, and water can be supplied to the water tank (151) from the water tank (155).

In addition, the two water tanks (151) may have a structure that is connected to each other so that water supplied from the water tank (155) can be simultaneously supplied to the water tank (151) in which a pair of humidifying elements (160) are installed. For example, as shown in Fig. 7, the water tank (151) may have a 'ㄷ' shape.

And, the water tank (151) may have an opening (153) formed in the space between the pair of humidifying members (160) corresponding to the discharge path (AF). At this time, the opening (153) may have a shape corresponding to the rectangular shape of the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140) illustrated in Fig. 1. At this time, the humidifying member (150) may be arranged above the blower (130) so that the long side of the opening (153) in which the humidifying member (160) is installed corresponds to the long side of the outlet (142).

Additionally, the pair of humidifying elements (160) may be configured to rotate by the humidifying adjustment unit (170) to open or block at least a portion of the discharge path (AF).

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the pair of humidifying elements (160) are in the first position parallel to the discharge path (AF), i.e., standing vertically, the air discharged through the discharge path (AF) does not pass through the humidifying elements (160). Accordingly, when the humidifying elements (160) are in the first position shown in FIG. 8, a clean-only mode in which no humidification is performed can be performed.

And, as shown in Fig. 9, when the pair of humidifying members (160) are arranged obliquely in the discharge path (AF) so that the upper ends of the humidifying members (160) are in contact with each other (when in the second position), the air discharged through the discharge path (AF) passes through the humidifying members (160). Therefore, when the humidifying members (160) are in the second position shown in Fig. 9, a high-humidification cleaning mode in which humidification is performed at a high level can be performed.

In addition, although not shown, when the pair of humidifying elements (160) are arranged so that they are inclined to the discharge path (AF) but the upper ends of the humidifying elements (160) do not touch each other (in the case of the third position), some of the air discharged through the discharge path (AF) passes through the humidifying elements (160), and the remaining air does not pass through the humidifying elements (160). In this case, a low-humidification cleaning mode can be performed in which the humidification is performed at a lower level than in the case shown in FIG. 9.

Meanwhile, the humidification adjustment unit (170) may be configured to be provided on each of the pair of humidification members (160) and to independently rotate the pair of humidification members (160). Accordingly, the humidification adjustment unit (170) may perform the control of the humidification amount by rotating the humidification member (160) so that the humidification member (160) is positioned at an arbitrary third position between the first position illustrated in FIG. 8 and the second position illustrated in FIG. 9. In addition, since it is possible to independently drive the pair of humidification members (160), it is also possible to simultaneously rotate the pair of humidification members (160) or to rotate only one of the humidification members (160) so that the humidification member (160) is positioned at the third position.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 10 to 16, a humidifier (100) according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a high-humidification cleaning mode of a humidifier/purifier (100) according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a right-side longitudinal cross-sectional view, (b) is a plan view showing the relationship between a water tank (151), a humidifier filter (161), and a discharge path (AF)/outlet (142), FIG. 11 is a rear-side schematic diagram of the humidifier/purifier (100) shown in FIG. 10, FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the humidifier (150) shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, FIGS. 13 and 14 are schematic diagrams showing a cleaning-only mode and a low-humidification cleaning mode of the humidifier/purifier (100), respectively, and FIGS. 15 and 16 are perspective views showing various modified examples of the humidifier member (160) shown in FIG. 12.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, a humidifier (100) according to a second embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing (100) having an inlet (111) and an outlet (112), an air purification filter (120) provided inside the housing (110) to filter air flowing in from the inlet (111), a blower (130) that causes air flowing in from the inlet (111) to flow to the outlet (112), a humidifying unit (150) provided at the rear end of the blower (130) to humidify air discharged from the blower (130), and a humidifying adjustment unit (170) that rotates the humidifying unit (150), and according to the position of the humidifying unit (160) moved by the humidifying adjustment unit (170), Whether or not the air filtered through the air purification filter (120) is humidified is determined.

The configuration of the housing (110), air purification filter (120), and blower (130) provided in the humidifier (100) according to the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, so the detailed description will be replaced with the above-described content, and the configuration of the humidifier (150) and humidification adjustment unit (170), which have differences, will be mainly described.

The humidifying member (160) provided in the humidifier (100) according to the second embodiment of the present invention has a structure that rotates around an axis (Y) parallel to the discharge path (AF) so as to open or block at least a portion of the discharge path (AF), which is a flow space of air discharged from the blower (130) toward the discharge port (112). In addition, the humidifying adjustment unit (170) rotates the humidifying member (160) around an axis (Y) parallel to the discharge path (AF), and whether or not air filtered through the air purification filter (120) is humidified is determined depending on the position of the humidifying member (160).

And, depending on the position of the humidifying member (150) moved by the humidifying adjustment unit (170), the degree of opening of the discharge path (AF) changes, and the amount of humidification of air filtered through the air purification filter (120) can be adjusted.

Referring to FIGS. 10 to 12, the humidifying unit (150) may be provided at the rear end of the blower unit (130) and configured to humidify air discharged from the blower unit (130). That is, the humidifying unit (150) may be installed in the space between the blower unit (130) and the discharge port (112) and may humidify air that has been filtered by the air purification filter (120) and then passed through the blower unit (130).

In this way, when the humidifying unit (150) is provided at the rear end (i.e., upper end) of the blower unit (130), all air that has passed through the air purifying filter (120) flows into the blower unit (130) and then into the humidifying unit (150), so that the humidifying performance can be improved.

This humidifying unit (150) may include a humidifying member (160) made of a hygroscopic material to perform humidification through vaporization of the absorbed water, and a water tank (151) having a receiving space (152) in which humidifying water is received. That is, the humidifying member (160) may be configured to be immersed in the water tank to absorb water, and to vaporize the absorbed water when air flows through the blower (130) to perform humidification.

In addition, the humidifier (150) may additionally be equipped with a water tank (155) that supplies water to the water tank (151). The water supply structure between the water tank (151) and the water tank (155) is a technology widely used in humidifiers, so a detailed description will be omitted.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 12, the tank (151) may have a ring shape with an opening (153) formed in the center through which air flows, and the humidifying member (160) may have a shape that partially covers the opening (153).

Referring to Fig. 12, the humidifying member (160) may be equipped with a humidifying filter (161) made of a hygroscopic material that absorbs water contained in a water tank (151), and a frame (165) installed on the outside of the humidifying filter (161) to maintain the shape of the humidifying filter (161). At this time, the frame (165) may be made of a material having strength capable of maintaining the outer shape of the humidifying filter (161), such as synthetic resin.

And, the humidifying filter (161) may have a shape formed by a hollow truncated cone or a portion of a cone as illustrated in FIG. 12. For example, the humidifying filter (161) may have a shape formed by cutting half of a hollow truncated cone or a cone in the vertical direction. Accordingly, as described below, when the humidifying filter (161) rotates around the rotation axis (Y), the discharge path (AF) or the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140) can be opened or closed entirely or only partially opened.

In addition, the humidifying member (160) may be placed on top of the blower (130) so that the lower side of the humidifying filter (161) is wide and the upper side is narrow, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

In addition, the frame (165) has a structure that supports the periphery of the plate-shaped humidifying filter (161) and may have a grid (166) structure on the upper side. In addition, a humidifying adjustment unit (170) may be installed on the upper side of the frame (165) so that the frame (165) and the humidifying filter (161) can be rotated.

However, the shape of the humidifying filter (161) is not limited to the form illustrated in FIG. 12, and various changes are possible if the humidifying filter (161) has a shape in which one end is immersed in the water tank (151) to absorb water and partially covers the opening (153) and the humidifying filter (161) can rotate around the rotation axis (Y). For example, the humidifying filter (161) may have a structure in which the upper part is inclined relative to the rotation axis (Y) and the lower part is vertically parallel to the rotation axis (Y). As another example, the humidifying filter (161) may have a structure in which the upper part is perpendicular to the rotation axis (Y) and the lower part is parallel to the rotation axis (Y), i.e., an 'ㄱ'-shaped structure.

Meanwhile, the humidification adjustment unit (170) is configured to rotate the humidification unit (160) around an axis (Y) parallel to the discharge path (AF) so that the humidification unit (160) opens or blocks at least a portion of the discharge path (AF). At this time, when the blower unit (130) is provided with a fan casing (140), the discharge path (AF) corresponds to a space in which air flows from the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140) to the discharge port of the housing (110).

This humidifying unit (170) may be configured to include a motor driven by a control unit (C) to rotate the humidifying member (160) around an axis (Y) parallel to the discharge path (AF), and depending on the position of the humidifying member (160), whether or not the air filtered through the air purification filter (120) is humidified may be determined.

For example, when the humidifying member (160) rotated by the humidifying adjustment unit (170) of the humidifying purifier (100) is in the position shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, a high-humidification cleaning mode in which air purification and maximum humidification are performed is performed, when the humidifying member (160) is in the position shown in FIG. 13, a cleaning-only mode in which only air purification is performed without humidification is performed, and when the humidifying member (160) is in the position shown in FIG. 14, a low-humidification cleaning mode in which air purification and partial humidification are performed can be performed.

That is, the degree of opening of the discharge path (AF) changes depending on the position of the humidifying member (160) moved by the humidifying adjustment unit (170), and the amount of humidification of air that has been filtered through the air purification filter (120) and then passed through the blower unit (130) can be adjusted depending on the position of the humidifying member (160).

Referring to FIGS. 13, 10, and 14, the high-humidification cleaning mode, the cleaning-only mode, and the low-humidification cleaning mode are described in more detail.

As shown in Fig. 13, when the humidifying member (160) rotates around the axis (Y) and is in the first position, the humidifying member (160) completely opens the discharge path (AF). Accordingly, the air coming out of the outlet (142) after being filtered through the air purifying filter (120) is discharged through the discharge port (112) without passing through the humidifying member (160), so a clean-only mode in which no humidification is performed is performed.

As shown in Fig. 10, when the humidifying member (160) is rotated around the axis (Y) and is in the second position, the humidifying member (160) blocks at least a portion of the discharge path (AF). Accordingly, most of the air coming out of the outlet (142) after being filtered through the air cleaning filter (120) passes through the humidifying member (160) and is discharged through the discharge port (112), so a high-humidification cleaning mode in which a large amount of humidification is performed is performed.

In this way, the humidifying member (160) can be configured to be rotatable between a first position that opens the discharge path (AF) and a second position that blocks at least a portion of the discharge path (AF), thereby determining whether humidification is performed.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the humidifying member (160) may have a third position between the first position and the second position. That is, the area where the humidifying member (160) blocks the discharge path (AF) at the third position is smaller than the area where the humidifying member (160) blocks the discharge path (AF) at the second position. Accordingly, some of the air coming out of the outlet (142) after being filtered through the air purifying filter (120) passes through the humidifying member (160) and is discharged through the discharge port (112), and the remaining air is discharged directly through the discharge port (112) without passing through the humidifying member (160), so that a low-humidification cleaning mode with a smaller humidification amount is performed compared to the case illustrated in FIG. 13.

At this time, the control unit (C) can drive the humidification adjustment unit (170) to rotate the humidification unit (160) so that the humidification unit (160) is positioned at an arbitrary third position between the first position shown in FIG. 13 and the second position shown in FIG. 10. Accordingly, the control unit (C) can perform humidification according to the humidity in the air, and can also control the amount of humidification by controlling the amount of rotation (rotation angle) of the humidification unit (160).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 10(b), FIG. 13(b), and FIG. 14(b), when the humidifying filter (161) of the humidifying member (160) is projected onto the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140), the area that the humidifying member (160) covers the discharge path (AF) and the outlet (142) of the fan casing (140) changes depending on the position of the humidifying member (160). For example, when the humidifying member (160) is in the third position and the humidifying filter (161) is projected onto the outlet (142), the area that the humidifying filter (161) covers the outlet (142) has a value between the area when the humidifying member (160) is in the first position and the area when the humidifying member (160) is in the second position. Accordingly, since the degree of opening of the discharge path (AF) or the outlet (142) changes depending on the position of the humidifying member (150) moved by the humidifying adjustment unit (170), whether or not the air filtered through the air purifying filter (120) is humidified and the amount of humidification can be adjusted by adjusting the rotational position of the humidifying member (160).

Meanwhile, since the humidifying member (160) illustrated in Fig. 12 has a grid space (166a) formed between the grids (166) provided on the upper side of the frame (165), if the air flowing out of the blower (130) is discharged through the grid space (166a), a loss of humidification amount may occur.

Taking these points into consideration, as illustrated in FIG. 15, the humidifying member (160) may install a flow restriction film (164) that restricts the flow of air in the upper region of the frame (165) corresponding to the portion where the humidifying filter (161) is installed.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 16, in order to prevent the air flowing out of the blower (130) from being discharged through the side of the frame (165) where the humidifying filter (161) is not installed, thereby causing a loss of humidification, the humidifying member (160) may be provided with a blocking film (163) that forms a closed space together with the humidifying filter (161) on the side portion of the frame (165) to restrict the air flow to the side. At this time, the lower portion of the blocking film (163) may have a height that does not interfere with the water tank (151).

In this way, the humidifier (100) according to the second embodiment of the present invention can implement a cleaning-only mode, a high-humidification cleaning mode, and a low-humidification cleaning mode through the rotation of the humidifying member (160), so not only can it determine whether to humidify based on the amount of dust and humidity, but also, when humidification is performed, it is possible to adjust the humidification amount. In particular, the low-humidification cleaning mode illustrated in FIG. 14 has the advantage of allowing fine adjustment of the humidification amount since the humidification amount can be adjusted in several stages by adjusting the rotational position of the humidifying member (160).

In addition, since the humidifying member (160) is installed at the rear end (i.e., the upper part of the housing) of the air purifying filter (120) and the blower (130), in the case of the high-humidification cleaning mode, most of the air that has passed through the air purifying filter (120) is introduced into the humidifying unit (150) through the blower (130), so that the humidifying performance can be improved. In addition, in the case of the cleaning-only mode, all the air that has passed through the air purifying filter (120) is discharged through the discharge port (112) without passing through the humidifying unit (150) through the blower (130), so that the air purifying efficiency can be maximized. In particular, since the discharge path (AF) used in the cleaning-only mode is used as is in the humidifying cleaning mode, there is an advantage of a simple structure because there is no need to install a dedicated path for humidification.

In addition, since a structure that directly rotates the humidifying member (160) is used to implement the high-humidification cleaning mode, low-humidification cleaning mode, and cleaning-only mode, a separate flow path changing means required in the prior art is not required.

In addition, since the humidifying unit (150) is positioned above the blower unit (130), the installation area can be reduced compared to the conventional structure in which the air purifying filter, humidifying unit, and blower unit are arranged in a straight line. In addition, since the humidifying filter (161) is positioned adjacent to the discharge port (112), it is easy to check for contamination of the humidifying filter (161) and clean it, which has the advantage of improving hygiene.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations are possible within a scope that does not depart from the technical idea of the present invention described in the claims.

100... Humidifier 110... Housing
111... Inlet 112... Outlet
120... Air purification filter 130... Blower
131... Blower fan 132... Fan motor
140... Pancasing 141... Inlet
142... outlet
150... Humidifier 151... Tank
151a... Extension part 151b... Axial support part
151c... Interference avoidance home 151d... Stopper
152... Accommodation space 153... Opening
155... Water tank 160... Humidifier
161... Humidifier filter 163... Barrier
164... Fluid Restriction Film 165... Frame
166... grid 166a... grid space
167... lower part 170... humidification control unit
AF... Discharge path C... Control unit
Y... axis

Claims (14)

A housing having an inlet and an outlet;
An air purification filter provided inside the housing to filter air flowing in from the intake port;
A blower that flows air drawn in from the above intake port to the above exhaust port;
A humidifying unit having a humidifying member provided at the rear end of the blower and humidifying the air discharged from the blower; and
A humidifying adjustment unit that rotates the humidifying unit around an axis parallel to the discharge path so as to open or block at least a portion of the discharge path, which is a flow space of air discharged from the blower toward the discharge port;
Including,
Whether the air filtered through the air purification filter is humidified is determined depending on whether the discharge path of the humidifying member is blocked.
The above humidifying unit comprises a water tank containing humidifying water and having an open upper side, and a humidifying member immersed in the water tank to absorb water.
The above tank has a ring shape with an opening formed in the center through which air flows,
The above humidifying member has a shape that partially covers the opening,
A humidifying purifier having a humidifying filter having a shape formed by a hollow cone or a portion of a cone, and wherein the humidifying filter is positioned above the blower so that the lower side is wide and the upper side is narrow. In the first paragraph,
A humidifier and purifier in which the amount of humidification of air filtered through the air purification filter is adjusted according to the degree of opening of the discharge passage of the humidifying member. delete delete In the first paragraph,
The above humidifying filter is a humidifying purifier having a hollow cone shape or a cone cut in half in the vertical direction. In the first paragraph,
The above humidifying member is a humidifying purifier having a humidifying filter that absorbs water contained in the water tank and a frame that maintains the shape of the humidifying filter. In Article 6,
The above frame has a lattice structure on the upper side,
A humidifying purifier in which the above humidifying adjustment unit is connected to the upper side of the frame and rotates the frame and humidifying filter. In Article 6,
A humidifying purifier having a flow-restricting film that restricts the flow of air in the upper region of the frame corresponding to the humidifying filter. In Article 6,
A humidifying purifier having a humidifying member having a barrier that forms a closed space together with the humidifying filter on the side portion of the frame to restrict air flow to the side. In any one of paragraphs 1, 2, and 5 to 9,
A humidifier-purifier, wherein the humidifying member is configured to be rotatable between a first position that opens the discharge path and a second position that blocks at least a portion of the discharge path. In Article 10,
The above humidifying member can be positioned at a third position between the first position and the second position,
A humidifier-purifier wherein the area where the humidifying member blocks the discharge path at the third position is smaller than the area where the humidifying member blocks the discharge path at the second position. In any one of paragraphs 1, 2, and 5 to 9,
The above blower unit has a blower fan that circulates air, and a fan casing that surrounds the blower fan and has an inlet and an outlet.
The above discharge path is a humidifier-purifier corresponding to a space in which air flows from the outlet of the fan casing toward the discharge port. In Article 12,
A humidifier purifier in which the area covered by the outlet by the humidifier member changes depending on the position of the humidifier member moved by the humidification adjustment member when the humidifier member is projected onto the outlet of the fan casing. In any one of paragraphs 1, 2, and 5 to 9,
The above suction port is installed on at least a part of the front, back, left, and right sides of the housing,
The above discharge port is installed on the upper surface of the housing,
A humidifier purifier in which the above humidifying unit is placed above the above blower unit.

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