KR20150097908A - Electric fan and control method of electric fan - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electric fan and an electric fan control method. The electric fan comprises: a receiving part wherein a manipulation button is formed; a support part installed in the receiving part; an operating part installed in the support part to rotate in a longitudinal direction of the support part; a wing part generating wind while rotating by being connected to the operating part; a cover part covering the wing part; a sensor part installed in the support part to sense a wind receiving target; and a control part controlling an operation state of the operating part by receiving a sensing signal of the sensor part. Therefore, the speed and quantity of wind are controlled in accordance to a distance and position of a target distribution.

Description

ELECTRIC FAN AND CONTROL METHOD OF ELECTRIC FAN

The present invention relates to an electric fan and an electric fan control method, and more particularly, to an electric fan and an electric fan control method that suppress unnecessary power consumption and prevent a safety accident by sensing the object to be blown and controlling the driving of the electric fan.

Generally, a fan is a machine that rotates a wing installed on an axis of an electric motor in the room to give a feeling of cooling by generating wind, and it is mainly used for cooling the heat in summer.

Depending on the shape and purpose of the fan, there are a desk fan, a stand fan, a ventilation fan, a ceiling fan, and a remote control type that can control the operation of the fan even at a long distance. Some programs have been equipped to do so.

Recently, a variety of technologies related to a functional fan having a special function in a simple cooling function that cools the summer heat are unfolding.

Among these, a fan for cooling and heating combined with a cooling function and a heating function in a blowing function, a well-being fan for adding an air-cleaning function or an antifungal function for imparting a specific flavor, a light emitting diode (LED) And an electric fan that can do.

Since the conventional fan operates according to a given command irrespective of whether or not an object to be blown is present, the intensity of the wind is constantly controlled regardless of the position distribution or the distance of the object to be blown. As a result, there is a problem that energy is wasted because the fan is turned even when there is no object to be blown.

Further, even if a child or a child approaches the fan, the fan blades are continuously rotated according to a given command, thereby causing a safety accident due to their carelessness. Therefore, there is a need to improve this.

BACKGROUND ART [0002] The background art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1998-0065108 (published on October 10, 1998, titled as an air conditioner for humidification).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an electric fan and an electric fan control method for controlling the wind intensity according to the presence or absence of an object to be blown, .

An electric fan according to the present invention includes: a support portion on which an operation button is formed; A support portion mounted on the support portion; A driving unit mounted on the support unit and rotated around a center axis of the support unit; A blade unit connected to the driving unit to generate wind while being rotated; A cover portion surrounding the wing portion; A sensor unit mounted on the support unit to sense a blowing object; And a controller receiving the sensing signal of the sensor unit and adjusting an operation state of the driving unit.

The sensor unit includes: a pair of sensing belts, the both ends of which are superimposed on each other to surround the supporting unit; A plurality of sensors arranged along outer sides of each of the pair of the detection bases and detecting a position distribution of the object to be blown and a distance to the object to be blown; A cable for connecting the detector and the controller to transmit the sensing signal measured by the detector to the controller; And a fixing body that is inserted into the support portion through the detection base.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric fan control method comprising the steps of: driving a driving unit such that a wing unit is rotated when an operation button formed on a receiving unit is selected; Sensing a target to be blown by a sensor unit surrounding the support unit mounted on the support unit; And driving the driving unit according to a sensing signal of the sensor unit.

The step of driving the driving unit according to the sensing signal of the sensor unit may include stopping the driving unit when the distance between the sensor unit and the air blowing object is less than a limit distance.

Wherein the step of driving the driving unit in response to the sensing signal of the sensor unit comprises the steps of controlling the rotation angle of the driving unit according to the position distribution of the blowing object sensed by the sensor unit when the distance between the sensor unit and the air- The method comprising the steps of:

Wherein the step of adjusting the rotation angle of the driving unit according to the position distribution of the blowing object sensed by the sensor unit comprises the steps of detecting a blowing object by detecting a plurality of the blowing objects disposed along the outer side of the sensing zone surrounding the supporting unit, And a rotation angle of the driving unit is adjusted according to an arrangement angle of the detector.

Wherein the step of driving the driving unit according to the sensing signal of the sensor unit comprises the step of adjusting the output of the driving unit according to the distance between the sensor unit and the air blowing object when the distance between the sensor unit and the air blowing object exceeds a limit distance .

Wherein the step of adjusting the output of the driving unit according to the distance between the sensor unit and the blowing object compares distances between the sensor unit and the blowing object sensed by the plurality of sensors disposed along the outer side of the sensing unit surrounding the supporting unit, And increases the output of the driving unit when the distance between the detector and the air blowing object exceeds the set distance and decreases the output of the driving unit when the distance between the detector and the air blowing object is less than the set distance.

The fan and the fan control method according to the present invention can prevent a safety accident of an infant or a child by stopping the driving unit by detecting proximity of the object to be blown.

The fan and the fan control method according to the present invention can control the wind direction by sensing the position distribution of the object to be blown.

The fan and the fan control method according to the present invention can control the air volume by sensing the distance between the fan and the fan.

1 is a schematic view of a fan according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view schematically showing a sensor unit in a fan according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing a fan control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a view schematically showing a rotation angle of a fan when the first sensor and the second sensor detect an object to be blown in an electric fan control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
5 is a view schematically showing the rotation angle of a fan when the first sensor to the third sensor detect an object to be blown in the fan control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a view schematically showing the amount of air flow according to the distance from the object to be blown in the fan control method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a fan and a fan control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thicknesses of the lines and the sizes of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. In addition, the terms described below are terms defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user, the operator. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a fan according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a sensor unit in a fan according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 and 2, an electric fan 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a receiving unit 10, a supporting unit 20, a driving unit 30, a wing unit 40, (50), a sensor unit (60), and a control unit (70).

The pedestal 10 is seated on the ground or mounted on a fixture such as a wall or ceiling. A plurality of operation buttons 11 are formed on the receiving portion 10 and the driving portion 30 is driven as the user operates the operation button 11 to rotate the wing portion 40.

The supporting portion 20 is mounted on the receiving portion 10. For example, the supporting portion 20 is provided on the receiving portion 10 and can be moved up and down by the operation of a lever switch (not shown) to adjust the height of the wing portion 40.

The driving unit 30 is mounted on the supporting unit 20 and is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the supporting unit 20 as a central axis. For example, the driving unit 30 includes a driving lid 31 rotatably mounted on the upper end of the supporting unit 20, a lid rotating body 32 for rotating the driving lid 31, And a drive motor (33). The cover rotation body 32 is built in the support portion 20 and rotates the drive lid 31 as power is applied. The drive motor 33 rotates the drive shaft 34 exposed to the outside of the drive lid 31 as power is applied.

The wing portion 40 is connected to the driving portion 30 and is rotated to generate wind. That is, the wing portion 40 rotates to discharge air in all directions. In one example, the wing portion 40 is engaged with the drive shaft 34.

The cover portion 50 is formed to enclose the wing portion 40. For example, the cover portion 50 may be made of a metal material or a resin material so that air is passed through the cover portion 50 and damage or deformation due to an external force is suppressed.

The sensor unit 60 is attached to the support unit 20 to sense a blowing object. The blowing object means a person who wishes to cool down the heat, and all persons detected by the sensor unit 60 can be regarded as objects to be blown. For example, the sensor unit 60 may use an ultrasonic wave, a laser, an infrared signal, or the like.

The control unit 70 receives the sensing signal of the sensor unit 60 and adjusts the operation state of the driving unit 30. [ That is, when the sensor unit 60 senses the position distribution of the object to be blown and the distance between the object to be blown and the object to be blown, the controller 70 adjusts the wind direction and the wind speed according to the position distribution of the object to be blown and the distance between the object. For example, the control unit 70 controls the cover rotation body 32 to adjust the rotation angle of the wing unit 40, and controls the drive motor 33 to adjust the rotation speed of the wing unit 40. On the other hand, the control unit 70 is built in the receiving unit 10 and can receive an operation signal of the operation button 11. [

The sensor unit 60 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sensing table 61, a sensor 62, a cable 63, and a fixture 64. The detection bases 61 are formed as a pair. For example, the detection table 61 has a curved surface, and both ends are superposed on each other to surround the support 20. A plurality of detectors (62) are disposed along the outer sides of the pair of detection belts (61), and sense the position distribution of the object to be blown and the distance to the object to be blown. That is, each of the detectors 62 irradiates a signal to the front and senses a signal reflected from the object to be blown, thereby detecting the position distribution of the object to be blown and the distance to the object to be blown. One end of the cable 63 is connected to each of the detectors 62, and the other end of the cable 63 is connected to the controller 70. The cable 63 transmits the sensing signal measured by the sensor 62 to the controller 70. The fixture 64 penetrates through the detection table 61 and is fastened to the support 20. For example, a screw is used as the fixing member 64, and the fixing member 64 is screwed to the supporting portion 20 through the pair of the sensing belts 61.

FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing a method of controlling an electric fan according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an electric fan according to an embodiment of the present invention when a first sensor and a second sensor detect an object to be blown 5 is a view schematically showing the rotation angle of the fan when the first sensor to the third sensor detect the object to be blown in the fan control method according to the embodiment of the present invention And FIG. 6 is a view schematically showing the amount of air flow according to the distance from the object to be blown in the fan control method according to the embodiment of the present invention. The fan control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG.

When the user selects the operation button 11 formed on the receiving unit 10, the driving unit 10 is driven and the wing unit 40 connected to the driving unit 10 is rotated (S10).

When the blade unit 40 is rotated to start blowing air, the sensor unit 60 senses an object to be blown (S20). The sensor unit 60 surrounds the support unit 20 mounted on the support unit 10. A plurality of sensors 62 of the sensor unit 60 are arranged along the curved surface of the detection unit 61 to detect a position distribution And the distance to the blowing object can be detected.

The sensor unit 60 senses the position distribution of the object to be blown and the distance to the object to be blown and transmits a detection signal to the control unit 70. The control unit 70 which receives the detection signal controls the driving unit 30, The air volume can be adjusted.

That is, when the sensor unit 60 measures that the distance between the sensor unit 60 and the air blowing object is less than the limit distance (S30), the control unit 70 controls the driving unit 30 to stop the rotation of the wing unit 40 (S70). The limit distance is a distance at which a safety accident can be caused by the wing 40 which is rotated by a child or a child close to the child. It can be stored at a value set in the controller 70 at the time of initial designing. As an example, the marginal distance may be 0.5 to 1.5 meters. When the infant or child reaches the limit distance and stops driving the driving unit 30, the warning unit 80 may warn the user of the danger by using a warning sound or a warning light (S80). Since the sensor unit 60 includes the sensing unit 61 surrounding the support unit 20 and the plurality of sensors 62 disposed along the outer side of the sensing unit 61, can do.

If the distance between the sensor unit 60 and the air blowing object is less than the limit distance after the set time, the system is terminated. can do. In addition, if the distance between the sensor unit 60 and the air blowing object exceeds the limit distance after the set time, the operation may return to step S10 in which the driving unit 30 is driven. For example, the set time may be 10 seconds to 30 seconds.

When the sensor unit 60 measures that the distance between the sensor unit 60 and the air blowing object exceeds the limit distance at step S30, the control unit 70 adjusts the rotation angle of the driving unit 30 according to the position distribution of the object to be blown (S40). That is, a plurality of detectors 62 disposed along the outer side of the detection unit 61 surrounding the support unit 20 detect the air blowing target and detect the air blowing target according to the arrangement angle of the sensor 62, Is adjusted.

For example, the first sensor 621, the second sensor 622, and the third sensor 623 are disposed along the outer side of the detection table 61. If only the first sensor 621 and the second sensor 622 sense an object to be blown, the lid rotation body 32 becomes the rotational center axis and the drive shaft 34 rotates on the vertical line of the first sensor 621 And the rotation is repeated up to the vertical line of the second sensor 622 (see Fig. 4). When the first sensor 621 to the third sensor 623 sense the object to be blown, the cover rotation body 32 becomes the rotation center axis and the drive shaft 34 is rotated on the vertical line of the first sensor 621 The rotation is repeated up to the vertical line of the third sensor 623 (see Fig. 5). Therefore, since the air discharged through the wing 40 is discharged only within the positional distribution of the object to be blown, the rotation of the driving unit 30 to the point where the positional distribution of the object to be blown out is restricted, and unnecessary power consumption can be prevented .

When the sensor unit 60 measures that the distance between the sensor unit 60 and the air blowing object exceeds the limit distance at step S30, the control unit 70 controls the driving unit 30 according to the distance between the sensor unit 60 and the air- (S50). That is, the controller 70 compares the distances with the blast targets sensed by the plurality of detectors 62 disposed along the outer side of the detection table 61 surrounding the support 20, The output of the driving unit 30 is increased and the output of the driving unit 30 is decreased if the distance between the sensor 62 and the air blowing target is less than the set distance. At this time, the set distance is a value previously input to the control unit 70, and may be 2 to 3 meters.

For example, the first sensor 621, the second sensor 622, and the third sensor 623 are disposed along the outer side of the detection table 61. If the blast target sensed by the first sensor 621 is positioned at the set distance and the blast target sensed by the second sensor 622 is located farther than the set distance, The driving motor 33 is driven in accordance with the operation of the first operation button 11 and the air blown by the air blown by the second sensor 622 The output of the drive motor 33 is increased more than the output of the drive motor 33 driven by the operation of the first operation button 11 and with respect to the object to be blown sensed by the third sensor 623, The output of the drive motor 33 is lower than the output of the drive motor 33 driven by the operation of the drive motor 11.

More specifically, when there is a weak wind, a paralell, and a strong wind button on the operation button 11 and the first parallactic operation button 11 is selected, a parallactic wind is output to the blast target sensed by the first sensor 621, Strong wind is output to the blast target sensed by the second sensor 622 and weak wind is output to the blast target sensed by the third sensor 623 (see Fig. 6). Accordingly, since the air volume discharged through the blade section 40 is adjusted according to the distance of the object to be blown, a large number of objects to be blown can feel a cool wind irrespective of the distance from the fan 1.

When the stop signal is received (S60), the control unit 70 ends the driving of the driving unit 30 according to the airflow amount and the direction of the airflow according to the positional distribution of the airflow target and the distance to the airflow target as described above.

The fan and the fan control method according to an embodiment of the present invention can prevent a safety accident of an infant or a child by stopping the driving unit 30 by detecting the proximity of the object to be blown.

The fan and the fan control method according to an embodiment of the present invention can control the wind direction by sensing the position distribution of the object to be blown.

The fan and the fan control method according to an embodiment of the present invention can control the air volume by sensing the distance between the fan and the fan.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill 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. I will understand. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

10: Base 11: Operation button
20: support part 30:
31: driving cover 32: cover rotating body
33: drive motor 34: drive shaft
40: wing portion 50: cover portion
60: sensor part 61: detection part
62: Detector 63: Cable
64: Fixture 70:
80: Warning section

Claims (8)

A receiving portion on which an operation button is formed;
A support portion mounted on the support portion;
A driving unit mounted on the support unit and rotated around a center axis of the support unit;
A blade unit connected to the driving unit to generate wind while being rotated;
A cover portion surrounding the wing portion;
A sensor unit mounted on the support unit to sense a blowing object; And
And a control unit for receiving the sensing signal of the sensor unit and adjusting an operation state of the driving unit.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit
A pair of sensing belts, both ends of which are overlapped with each other to surround the supporting part;
A plurality of sensors arranged along outer sides of each of the pair of the detection bases and detecting a position distribution of the object to be blown and a distance to the object to be blown;
A cable for connecting the detector and the controller to transmit the sensing signal measured by the detector to the controller; And
And a fixing body that penetrates through the detection table and is fastened to the support portion.
Driving the driving unit such that the wing unit is rotated when the operation button formed on the receiving unit is selected;
Sensing a target to be blown by a sensor unit surrounding the support unit mounted on the support unit; And
And driving the driving unit according to a sensing signal of the sensor unit.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein driving the driving unit according to a sensing signal of the sensor unit comprises:
And stopping the driving unit when the distance between the sensor unit and the air blowing target is less than a limit distance.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein driving the driving unit according to a sensing signal of the sensor unit comprises:
And controlling the rotation angle of the driving unit according to a position distribution of the blowing object detected by the sensor unit when the distance between the sensor unit and the blowing object exceeds a limit distance.
The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the step of adjusting the rotation angle of the driving unit according to the position distribution of the blowing object sensed by the sensor unit comprises:
Wherein a plurality of detectors disposed along the outer side of the sensing unit surrounding the support member detect the air blowing object and the rotation angle of the driving unit is adjusted according to the arrangement angle of the sensor that senses the air blowing object.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein driving the driving unit according to a sensing signal of the sensor unit comprises:
And adjusting the output of the driving unit according to a distance between the sensor unit and the air blowing object when the distance between the sensor unit and the air blowing object exceeds a limit distance.
The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the step of adjusting the output of the driving unit according to the distance between the sensor unit and the blowing object comprises:
A plurality of detectors disposed along the outer side of the sensing unit surrounding the support unit compares the sensed distance with the sensed distance,
The output of the driving unit is increased when the distance between the detector and the air blowing object exceeds the set distance,
Wherein the controller reduces the output of the driving unit when the distance between the detector and the air blowing object is less than the set distance.

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