KR20130047940A - Apparatus and method for preventing overheat of thermoelectric module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for preventing a thermoelectric element from being overheated and a dehumidifier using the same are provided to prevent the thermoelectric element from being overheated by a proper control and to prevent energy waste caused by the continued on/off repetition of the thermoelectric element. CONSTITUTION: A dehumidifier comprises a cooling plate(10), a thermoelectric element(20), a radiating plate(30), a temperature sensor(40), a blowing fan(50), a control unit(60), and a power supplying unit(70). The cooing plate touches flowing external air, thereby condensing vapor existing in the external air into water. The thermoelectric element cools the cooling plate using a thermoelectric effect. The radiating plate emits heat generated by cooling the cooling plate. The temperature sensor measures the temperature of the radiating plate, thereby generating a temperature value of the radiating plate. The blowing fan forms an air flow by rotating and cools the radiating plate by supplying the air flow to the radiating plate.

Description

Thermoelectric element overheat prevention method and dehumidification apparatus using the same {Apparatus and method for preventing overheat of thermoelectric module}

The present invention relates to a method for preventing overheating of a thermoelectric element and a dehumidifying apparatus using the same, and more particularly, to a method for preventing overheating of a thermoelectric element and a dehumidifying apparatus using the same, which can effectively prevent overheating of a thermoelectric element without additional configuration. It is about.

In relation to the humidity in the air, high humidity causes decay, corrosion, condensation, and odors and bacteria. Therefore, in the hospital, moisture, electrical, communication, and various electronic equipment, a device for removing such moisture is provided. Required.

However, the conventional dehumidifier is mainly composed of a refrigeration cycle using a refrigerant gas such as CFG as well as environmental problems, the complexity of the structure, such as compressor, noise, vibration and power consumption is very large, there is a problem that takes up a lot of installation space.

Recently, a dehumidifying apparatus using a thermoelectric effect has been used. The thermoelectric phenomenon refers to energy conversion between heat and electricity, and refers to a phenomenon in which electromotive force is generated by moving a carrier inside the device when there is a temperature difference between both ends of the conversion device.

The thermoelectric phenomenon has a Seebeck effect of obtaining an electromotive force by using a temperature difference between both ends, a Peltier effect of cooling and heating with electromotive force, and an Thompson of which electromotive force is generated by a temperature difference between conductors. Can be divided into effects. Here, the dehumidifier using the thermoelectric phenomenon, in particular, can control the humidity by cooling the air introduced by using the Peltier effect.

However, since the dehumidifier using the Peltier effect is continuously supplied with power to the thermoelectric element for the dehumidification, the thermoelectric element may be easily overheated and damaged.

The present invention is to provide a method for preventing overheating of a thermoelectric element capable of preventing overheating of a thermoelectric element and a dehumidifying apparatus using the same.

The present invention also provides an air cleaner including a dehumidifying device having a function of preventing overheating of a thermoelectric element.

Dehumidifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cooling plate for condensing water vapor present in the external air in contact with the incoming external air; A thermoelectric element for cooling the cooling plate by using a thermoelectric effect; A heat sink for dissipating heat generated by the thermoelectric element while cooling the cooling plate; A temperature sensor measuring a temperature of the heat sink to generate a heat sink temperature value; A blowing fan which forms a flow of air through rotation and supplies the air flow to the heat sink to cool the heat sink; A controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling power supplied to the thermoelectric element and the blower fan by using the rotational speed of the blower fan and the heat sink temperature value; And a power supply unit supplying power to the blower fan and the thermoelectric device according to the control signal.

The control unit may generate a control signal to cut off power of the thermoelectric element and the blower fan when the heat sink temperature value is equal to or greater than the reference temperature and the rotational speed of the blower fan is lower than the reference rotater speed.

The control unit may generate a control signal to cut off power of the thermoelectric element when the heat sink temperature value is greater than or equal to the reference temperature and the rotation speed of the blower fan is greater than or equal to the reference rotation speed.

The control unit may generate a control signal for supplying power to the thermoelectric element again when the heat sink temperature value drops below the restart temperature after the power of the thermoelectric element is cut off.

The control unit may generate a control signal for shutting off power of the thermoelectric element and the blower fan when a control signal for supplying power to the thermoelectric element is repeatedly generated a predetermined number of times.

An air purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing including an air inlet and an air outlet; A cooling plate contacting the outside air introduced through the air inlet port and condensing water vapor present in the outside air with water; A thermoelectric element for cooling the cooling plate by using a thermoelectric effect; A heat sink for dissipating heat generated by the thermoelectric element while cooling the cooling plate; A temperature sensor measuring a temperature of the heat sink to generate a heat sink temperature value; A blowing fan for introducing the external air into the housing through rotation and supplying the external air to the heat sink to cool the heat sink; A filter unit for removing contaminants in external air introduced by the blower fan; A controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling power supplied to the thermoelectric element and the blower fan by using the rotational speed of the blower fan and the heat sink temperature value; And a power supply unit supplying power to the blower fan and the thermoelectric device according to the control signal.

Thermoelectric element overheat prevention method in the dehumidifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the thermoelectric element operation step of supplying power to the thermoelectric element; If the heat sink of the thermoelectric element is above the reference temperature and the rotational speed of the blower fan cooling the heat sink is less than the reference rotational speed, the blower fan to cut off the power supply of the thermoelectric element and the blower fan and indicate that there is an error in the blower fan Confirmation step; A thermoelectric element blocking step of shutting off power of the thermoelectric element when the temperature of the heat sink is greater than or equal to the reference temperature and the rotation speed of the blowing fan is greater than or equal to the reference rotation speed; Re-supplying power to the thermoelectric element when the temperature of the heat sink decreases below the restart temperature after the power of the thermoelectric element is cut off; And if the thermoelectric element blocking step and the restart step is repeated more than a predetermined number of times, it may include a restart stop step of cutting off and displaying the power of the thermoelectric element and the blowing fan.

According to the method for preventing overheating of a thermoelectric element and a dehumidifying apparatus using the same according to an embodiment of the present invention, not only does a problem occur in the operation of the blower fan for cooling the thermoelectric element, but the blower fan has no problem, but Even if the temperature keeps rising, proper control can be provided to prevent overheating of the thermoelectric element.

In addition, in connection with the overheating prevention of the thermoelectric element, it is possible to prevent the waste of power by the continuous on / off repeat of the thermoelectric element, to inform the user that the abnormality in the dehumidification apparatus to allow the dehumidification apparatus to operate normally. Can be.

1 is a block diagram showing the function of a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for preventing overheating of a thermoelectric device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. In the drawings, like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings.

In addition, in the entire specification, when a part is referred to as being 'connected' to another part, it may be referred to as 'indirectly connected' not only with 'directly connected' . Also, to "include" an element means that it may include other elements, rather than excluding other elements, unless specifically stated otherwise.

1 is a block diagram showing the function of a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the dehumidifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cooling plate 10, the thermoelectric element 20, the heat sink 30, the temperature sensor 40, the blowing fan 50, the control unit 60 ), A power supply unit 70 and a display unit 80.

Hereinafter, a dehumidifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

The cooling plate 10 may be in contact with the introduced external air to condense water vapor present in the external air with water.

Since the cooling plate 40 is cooled by the thermoelectric element 20, the surface of the cooling plate 40 may be lower than the temperature of the introduced external air. Therefore, the cooling plate 40 may absorb the heat energy of the external air, and specifically, may absorb the heat energy of the water vapor contained in the external air. Therefore, the water vapor may condense with water on the surface of the cooling plate 40.

The condensed water may be collected using a separate water tank, and the humidity of the external air may be lowered because water vapor contained in the external air is condensed and removed by water.

The thermoelectric element 20 may cool the cooling plate 10 by using a thermoelectric effect. Specifically, the thermoelectric element 20 may generate heat at one end of the thermoelectric element 20 and generate heat at the other end by using the Peltier effect among the thermoelectric effects. Here, since the endotherms and the exotherms correspond to each other, if the endotherms occur largely, the exotherms also occur largely.

As the high voltage is applied to the thermoelectric element 20, the endothermic and invention may appear larger, and as the low voltage is applied to the thermoelectric element 20, the endothermic and heat generation may appear less. The temperature at both ends of the thermoelectric element 20 may vary according to the amount of heat absorption and heat generation.

As shown in FIG. 1, both ends of the thermoelectric element 20 may be provided with the cooling plate 10 and the heat sink 30, respectively, and the heat sink 30 may absorb heat from the cooling plate 40. Fever may occur.

The heat sink 30 may release heat generated by the thermoelectric element 20 while cooling the cooling plate. As described above, the thermoelectric element 20 simultaneously exhibits endothermic and exothermic phenomena. Therefore, in order to effectively implement a dehumidification function in the dehumidification apparatus using the thermoelectric element 20, it is necessary to induce the heat generation phenomenon to actively occur together with the endothermic phenomenon. Therefore, the heat dissipation plate 30 may be provided at one end of the thermoelectric element 20 so that the heat generation phenomenon may actively occur in the heat dissipation plate 30. Furthermore, the heat dissipation plate 30 may be used by the blower fan 50. By cooling the heat generating phenomenon in the heat sink 30 can be better.

If the heat dissipation plate 30 and the heat dissipation plate 30 are not properly cooled, the thermoelectric element 20 may be damaged by causing overheating of the thermoelectric element 20. Therefore, cooling of the heat sink 30 and the heat sink 30 is important in the dehumidification apparatus using the thermoelectric element 20.

The temperature sensor 40 may generate a heat sink temperature value by measuring the temperature of the heat sink 30. The temperature sensor 40 may be located at the heat sink 30 or its periphery to measure temperature, and transmit the measured temperature value to the controller 60 as a heat sink temperature value.

Here, the temperature sensor 40 may be used as long as it measures the temperature of the dehumidifier in general.

The blowing fan 50 may form a flow of air through rotation, and supply the flow of air to the heat sink 30 to cool the heat sink 30. The blower fan 50 may include a motor for rotating the blower fan 50, and the blower fan 50 may supply air to the heat sink 300 according to the rotational speed of the blower fan 50. That is, the flow, that is, the strength of the wind may vary The degree of cooling of the heat sink 30 may vary according to the strength of the wind supplied by the blowing fan 50.

The blowing fan 50 may transmit the rotational speed of the motor or the rotational speed of the blowing fan 50 to the controller 60. The controller 60 may determine whether the blower fan 50 can properly cool the heat sink 30 using the rotational speed of the blower fan 50.

The controller 60 may generate a control signal for controlling power supplied to the thermoelectric element 20 and the blower fan 50 by using the rotational speed of the blower fan 50 and the heat sink temperature value. .

The controller 60 first determines whether the thermoelectric element 20 is overheated by comparing the heat sink temperature value with a reference temperature. If the heat sink temperature is greater than or equal to the reference temperature, the thermoelectric element 20 may be determined to be overheated.

If it is determined that the thermoelectric element 20 is overheated, it may be determined whether the blower fan 50 is operating properly. This is because the blower fan 50 performs the function of cooling the heat sink 30, so that the thermoelectric element 20 may be overheated when the blower fan 50 does not operate properly.

The normal operation of the blower fan 50 may be determined by comparing the rotational speed of the blower fan 50 received from the blower fan 50 with a reference rotational speed. If the rotational speed of the blowing fan 50 is less than the reference rotational speed, it may be determined that there is an abnormality in the blowing fan 50. The rotation speed of the blowing fan 50 is lower than the reference rotation speed, which means that the rotation of the blowing fan 50 is too slow to properly cool the heat sink 30.

Therefore, in this case, in order to prevent overheating of the thermoelectric element 20 and damage of the thermoelectric element 20, the control unit 60 stops supplying power to the thermoelectric element 20 and the blower fan 50. Can generate a control signal. The control signal generated by the control unit 60 is transmitted to the power supply unit 70, so that the power supply unit 70 can stop the power supply of the thermoelectric element 20 and the blower fan 50.

Here, stopping the power supply to the thermoelectric element 20 and the blower fan 50 may be regarded as stopping the dehumidification function of the dehumidifying apparatus in order to prevent overheating of the thermoelectric element 20.

In addition, the control unit 60 may generate a control signal to indicate that an abnormality occurs in the blower fan 50 to perform the dehumidification function, and transmit the control signal to the display unit 80. Can be. The display unit 80 may notify the user of light, sound, etc. according to the control signal.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that the thermoelectric element 20 is overheated, but the rotation speed of the blower fan 50 is greater than or equal to the reference rotation speed, the thermoelectric element 20 is cut off by supplying power to the thermoelectric element 20 once. Can no longer be overheated.

In this case, since there is no abnormality in the blowing fan 50, it can be seen that the thermoelectric element 20 is not properly cooled by another cause.

For example, although the inlet or outlet of the dehumidifier is temporarily blocked, the blower fan 50 operates normally, but the blower fan 50 cannot provide sufficient airflow to the heat sink 30. It may be the case that cooling to the thermoelectric element 20 can not be made properly.

Blocking of the inlet or outlet may be temporary, and since the blower fan 50 is operated in a fine manner, when the heat sink temperature is lowered below the restart temperature after the supply cutoff of the thermoelectric element 20 is performed again, Power may be supplied to the thermoelectric element 20.

However, in this case, the blower fan 50 operates normally, but when the phenomenon in which the thermoelectric element 20 is overheated is repeatedly repeated several times, the power supply of the thermoelectric element 20 and the blower fan 50 is cut off. The control unit 60 may generate a control signal, and may generate a control signal to inform the user that the display unit 80 indicates that overheating of the thermoelectric element 20 occurs.

For example, even if the inlet or outlet is continuously blocked, even if the cooling to the heat sink 30 cannot be properly performed, repeated power supply and shut-off to the thermoelectric element 20 causes unnecessary power waste. Can be. Therefore, in this case, even if the heat sink temperature value exceeds the restart temperature, it may be desirable not to supply power to the thermoelectric element 20 again.

Therefore, the thermoelectric element 20 and the blower fan 50 are cut off to stop the dehumidifying function of the dehumidifying apparatus, and instead, the display unit 80 is used to inform the user that there is a problem with the inlet or the outlet. You can do that.

The power supply unit 70 may supply power to the blower fan 50 and the thermoelectric element 20 according to the control signal. The power supply unit 70 may receive a control signal from the control unit 60 to adjust the power supply to the thermoelectric element 20 and the blowing fan 50.

The power supply unit 70 may be a switch mode power supply (SMPS), and converts the commercial power of the supplied AC to generate a supply voltage having the correct magnitude in the thermoelectric element 20 to generate the thermoelectric power. It can be applied to the device 20. The amount of dehumidification of the thermoelectric element 20 may vary depending on the magnitude of the supply voltage applied from the power supply unit 70.

The display unit 80 may visually or acoustically indicate an operating state of the dehumidifier. The display unit 80 may be implemented as an LCD, an LED, or the like, and may include a speaker or the like. The display unit 80 may indicate whether the thermoelectric element 20 is overheated or the cause of overheating according to a control signal of the controller 60.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for preventing overheating of a thermoelectric device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2, the method for preventing overheating of a thermoelectric element according to an embodiment of the present invention, the thermoelectric element operation step (S10), blower fan confirmation step (S20), thermoelectric element blocking step (S30), restart step (S40) And it may include a restart stop step (S50).

In the thermoelectric operation step S10, power may be supplied to the thermoelectric element. First, power is supplied to the thermoelectric element, so that heat may be absorbed from the cooling plate and heat is generated from the heat sink. By the operation of the thermoelectric element, the cooling plate may be cooled to remove moisture in the outside air introduced.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, one variable, Error check, may be set to 0 before supplying power to the thermoelectric device. The variable error check may then be utilized in power supply related control of the thermoelectric element.

Blowing fan check step (S20), if the heat sink of the thermoelectric element is higher than the reference temperature (T reference) and the rotational speed of the blower fan cooling the heat sink is less than the reference rotational speed, shut off the power of the thermoelectric element and the blower fan And it can indicate that there is an error in the blowing fan.

If the temperature (T radiation) of the heat sink of the thermoelectric element is higher than the reference temperature (T reference), the thermoelectric element is overheated. If the rotational speed of the blower fan is less than the reference rotational speed, the blower fan has an abnormality. In order to stop the dehumidifying function of the dehumidifying device, the thermoelectric element and the blower fan may be cut off. In this case, the user may be notified of the abnormality of the blowing fan by using light or sound.

The temperature (T radiation) of the heat sink may be measured by a general temperature sensor, and the rotational speed of the blowing fan may be input from a motor that rotates the blowing fan.

In the thermoelectric element blocking step (S30), when the temperature (T radiation) of the heat sink is greater than or equal to the reference temperature (T reference), and the rotation speed of the blower fan is greater than or equal to the reference rotation speed, the power of the thermoelectric element may be cut off. have.

When the thermoelectric element is overheated but there is no abnormality in the blower fan, only the power of the thermoelectric element may be cut off once. Since the cooling of the thermoelectric element is performed by the blower fan, the cooling of the thermoelectric element may be regarded as no problem as long as the blower fan operates properly. Since the thermoelectric element is overheated is only a temporary phenomenon, once the power supply to the thermoelectric element is stopped, the thermoelectric element is cooled, and after the thermoelectric element is sufficiently cooled, power can be supplied again to resume the dehumidification function. have.

In the restarting step S40, after the power of the thermoelectric element is cut off, when the temperature T of the heat sink decreases below the restart temperature T restart, power may be supplied to the thermoelectric element again.

As described above, when the temperature (T radiation) of the heat sink is lowered below the restart temperature (T restart), the thermoelectric element is sufficiently cooled to be restarted so that the thermoelectric element is again supplied with power to perform a dehumidification function. can do.

In this case, 1 may be added to the variable error check. That is, each time the power supply of the thermoelectric element is stopped and restarted, the variable error check may be added by one. Through this, it can be confirmed how many times the restart of the thermoelectric element has been performed.

In the restarting stop step S50, when the thermoelectric element blocking step and the restarting step are repeated more than a predetermined number of times, the thermoelectric element and the blowing fan may be cut off and displayed.

Here, the preset number may be five times. Since the variable error check may increase by 1 each time the thermoelectric element is restarted, when the variable error check reaches 5, power supply to the thermoelectric element may no longer be resumed.

The blower fan is not abnormal, but the thermoelectric element continues to overheat, so it may be desirable to inform the user that there is a problem with the dehumidifier while stopping the dehumidification function of the dehumidifier rather than supplying power to the thermoelectric element again. have. Therefore, the power supply of the thermoelectric element and the blower fan may be cut off, and the user may be notified of a problem in using the dehumidifier by using light, sound, and the like.

Although not shown, there may be an air cleaner including a dehumidifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The air cleaner may include a housing, a cooling plate, a thermoelectric element, a heat sink, a temperature sensor, a blowing fan, a filter unit, a controller, and a power supply unit.

The cooling plate, the thermoelectric element, the heat dissipation plate, the temperature sensor, the blowing fan, the filter unit, the control unit, and the power supply unit including the air cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention are similar to those described above, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The filter unit may remove contaminants in the air introduced by the blowing fan. The introduced air may pass through a plurality of filters constituting the filter unit. In the process of passing the introduced air through the plurality of filters, contaminants such as dust present in the air may be adsorbed onto the filter. Therefore, the introduced air may be purified by removing contaminants while passing through the filter unit. The filter unit may perform functions such as deodorization and sterilization in addition to dust removal.

The housing may constitute an outer shape of the air cleaner, and may include an air inlet and an air outlet. External air may be introduced into the air purifier through the air inlet, and the introduced external air may be purged and dehumidified through the air outlet. Here, the external air inlet to the air inlet and the external air discharge to the air outlet may be made by the air flow formed by the blower fan.

The present invention is not limited by the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims, .

10: cooling plate 20: thermoelectric element
30: heat sink 40: temperature sensor
50: blowing fan 60: control unit
70: power supply unit 80: display unit
S10: operation step of the thermoelectric element S20: confirmation step of the blowing fan
S30: thermoelectric element blocking step S40: restarting step
S50: Restart stop phase

Claims (7)

A cooling plate contacting the introduced external air and condensing water vapor present in the external air with water;
A thermoelectric element for cooling the cooling plate by using a thermoelectric effect;
A heat sink for dissipating heat generated by the thermoelectric element while cooling the cooling plate;
A temperature sensor measuring a temperature of the heat sink to generate a heat sink temperature value;
A blowing fan which forms a flow of air through rotation and supplies the air flow to the heat sink to cool the heat sink;
A controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling power supplied to the thermoelectric element and the blower fan by using the rotational speed of the blower fan and the heat sink temperature value; And
Dehumidifier comprising a power supply for supplying power to the blowing fan and the thermoelectric element in accordance with the control signal.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit
Dehumidifying apparatus for generating a control signal for shutting off the power of the thermoelectric element and the blowing fan when the heat sink temperature value is greater than the reference temperature, the rotation speed of the blower fan is less than the reference rotation speed.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit
Dehumidifier for generating a control signal to cut off the power of the thermoelectric element when the heat sink temperature value is greater than the reference temperature, the rotational speed of the blower fan is greater than the reference rotational speed.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the control unit
Dehumidifying apparatus for generating a control signal for supplying power back to the thermoelectric element when the heat sink temperature value falls below the restart temperature after the power of the thermoelectric element is cut off.
The method of claim 4, wherein the control unit
Dehumidifying apparatus for generating a control signal for shutting off the power of the thermoelectric element and the blowing fan when the control signal for supplying power to the thermoelectric element is generated repeatedly a predetermined number of times.
A housing including an air inlet and an air outlet;
A cooling plate contacting the outside air introduced through the air inlet port and condensing water vapor present in the outside air with water;
A thermoelectric element for cooling the cooling plate by using a thermoelectric effect;
A heat sink for dissipating heat generated by the thermoelectric element while cooling the cooling plate;
A temperature sensor measuring a temperature of the heat sink to generate a heat sink temperature value;
A blowing fan for introducing the external air into the housing through rotation and supplying the external air to the heat sink to cool the heat sink;
A filter unit for removing contaminants in external air introduced by the blower fan;
A controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling power supplied to the thermoelectric element and the blower fan by using the rotational speed of the blower fan and the heat sink temperature value; And
And a power supply unit for supplying power to the blower fan and the thermoelectric device according to the control signal.
A thermoelectric operation step of supplying power to the thermoelectric element;
If the heat sink of the thermoelectric element is above the reference temperature and the rotational speed of the blower fan cooling the heat sink is less than the reference rotational speed, the blower fan to cut off the power supply of the thermoelectric element and the blower fan and indicate that there is an error in the blower fan Confirmation step;
A thermoelectric element blocking step of shutting off power of the thermoelectric element when the temperature of the heat sink is greater than or equal to the reference temperature and the rotation speed of the blowing fan is greater than or equal to the reference rotation speed;
Re-supplying power to the thermoelectric element when the temperature of the heat sink decreases below the restart temperature after the power of the thermoelectric element is cut off; And
If the thermoelectric element blocking step and the restarting step is repeated more than a predetermined number of times, the thermoelectric element overheat prevention method of the dehumidifier comprising a restart stop step of cutting off the power of the thermoelectric element and the blowing fan and displaying it.

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