WO2023218567A1

WO2023218567A1 - Dehumidifier

Info

Publication number: WO2023218567A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/019972
Authority: WO
Inventors: 元露木; 英雄柴田; 好孝明里; 直毅加藤; 亮康宮地
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社; 三菱電機ホーム機器株式会社
Priority date: 2022-05-11
Filing date: 2022-05-11
Publication date: 2023-11-16
Also published as: TW202344781A

Abstract

Provided is a dehumidifier wherein the deterioration of the dehumidification performance can be suppressed by improving the velocity distribution of the airflow through a heat exchanger.　This dehumidifier comprises: a housing having a suction port and a blowout port; an air blowing means for generating an airflow from the suction port to the blowout port; an air cleaning means disposed inside the housing; a dehumidifying means having a heat exchanger for removing moisture from the airflow; a main air passage through which air drawn in from the suction port passes through the air cleaning means and reaches the heat exchanger; at least one bypass air passage through which air drawn in from the suction port bypasses the air cleaning means and reaches the heat exchanger; and an opening/closing means capable of opening and closing between a closed position to shield the bypass air passage and an open position to open the bypass air passage. The at least one bypass air passage includes a curved bypass air passage. The curved bypass air passage is formed in an L shape so as to bend or curve toward the main air passage.

Description

dehumidifier

The present disclosure relates to a dehumidifier.

The dehumidifier disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a main body case as a casing, and an inlet and an outlet formed in the casing. An air path is formed within the housing to communicate the suction port and the blowout port. The air passage is provided with a heat exchanger that constitutes a dehumidifying means and a blowing means that generates airflow in the air passage, and the airflow from the suction port is dehumidified by passing through the heat exchanger. In addition, a filter is installed in the air passage on the upstream side of the heat exchanger so as not to cover the lower part of the heat exchanger, and a filter is installed in the lower part of the air passage that is not covered by the filter to open and close the lower part of this air passage. A shutter is provided. When the shutter is opened, much of the airflow passes through the heat exchanger without passing through the filter, resulting in dehumidification operation that focuses on dehumidification. On the other hand, when the shutter is closed, most of the airflow passes through the filter and is purified, and the purified airflow is ventilated to the heat exchanger, resulting in an air purification operation that focuses on air purification.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-211913

In the dehumidifying operation in which the shutter is opened, the airflow that has passed through the first airflow path covered by the filter and the airflow that has passed through the second airflow path that is not covered by the filter are ventilated to the heat exchanger. Here, both the first and second air passages are each formed to extend in the front-rear direction of the dehumidifier orthogonal to the surface of the heat exchanger. Therefore, the low-speed airflow that has passed through the filter and the high-speed airflow that has not passed through the filter are passed through the heat exchanger as they are. As a result, there is a problem in that the velocity distribution of the airflow passing through the heat exchanger deteriorates, and the dehumidification performance of the dehumidifier deteriorates.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problems. An object of the present disclosure is to provide a dehumidifier that can suppress deterioration in dehumidification performance of the dehumidifier by improving the velocity distribution of airflow ventilated through a heat exchanger.

A dehumidifier according to the present disclosure includes a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a blowing means for generating an airflow from the inlet to the outlet, an air purifying means disposed inside the casing, and a A dehumidifying means having a heat exchanger for removing moisture, a main air path through which air sucked from the suction port passes through the air purifying means and reaches the heat exchanger, and a main air passage through which the air sucked from the suction port passes through the air purifying means. It includes at least one bypass air path that reaches the heat exchanger without passing through it, and an opening/closing means that can be opened and closed between a closed position that blocks the bypass air path and an open position that opens the bypass air path. The at least one bypass air path includes a curved bypass air path. The curved bypass air path was formed in an L-shape so as to be bent or curved toward the main air path.

According to the present disclosure, the airflow that has passed through the curved bypass air path merges with the airflow that has passed through the main air path before being ventilated to the heat exchanger. That is, the airflow that has passed through the curved bypass air passage and the airflow that has passed through the main air passage are combined, and the combined airflow is ventilated to the heat exchanger. Therefore, it is possible to improve the velocity distribution of the airflow flowing through the heat exchanger, and as a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the dehumidification performance of the dehumidifier.

1 is a perspective view of the dehumidifier according to Embodiment 1 seen from the front side. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dehumidifier according to Embodiment 1, seen from the back side. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the dehumidifier according to Embodiment 1 taken along line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the dehumidifier according to Embodiment 1 taken along line BB in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the dehumidifier according to Embodiment 1 taken along line CC in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dehumidifier of Embodiment 1, viewed from the back side with the suction port cover and air purifying filter removed. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for easily explaining the flow of airflow in a state where the shutter opens a bypass air path.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals in each figure indicate the same or corresponding parts. Further, in this disclosure, overlapping explanations will be simplified or omitted as appropriate. Note that although the present disclosure describes the configuration of a dehumidifier that has both a dehumidifying function and an air purifying function as a representative example, the present disclosure is not limited to the dehumidifier. The technical idea according to the present disclosure is also applicable to an air conditioner or an air cleaner that can have the same configuration. Furthermore, the present disclosure may include any combination of configurations that can be combined among the configurations described in the embodiments below.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dehumidifier 1 according to Embodiment 1 seen from the front side. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dehumidifier 1 viewed from the back side. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the dehumidifier 1 taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the dehumidifier 1 taken along line BB in FIG. The AA line and the BB line are set to pass through the rotation center of a sirocco fan 32, which will be described later. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the dehumidifier 1 taken along line CC in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the dehumidifier 1 viewed from the back side with a suction port cover 13 and air purifying

filters

45 and 46, which will be described later, removed. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for easily explaining the flow of airflow in a state where the shutter 5, which will be described later, opens the bypass air passage 44. Note that in FIG. 6, illustration of the shutter 5 and the storage space 443 is omitted.

In this embodiment, the front-rear direction of the dehumidifier 1 is the X-axis direction, the width direction is the Y-axis direction or the left-right direction, and the up-down direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction is the Z-axis direction. The left side in FIG. 3 is the front side and the front side, and the right side is the rear side and the back side. Further, the left side in FIG. 4 is the left side in the Y-axis direction, and the right side is the right side in the Y-axis direction.

The dehumidifier 1 includes a case 10 as a housing. The case 10 includes a front case 10a forming a front part and a rear case 10b forming a back part. A self-supporting box-shaped case 10 is formed by fixing the front case 10a and the rear case 10b with, for example, screws in a state in which they are aligned longitudinally.

A suction port 11 and a blowout port 12 are formed in the case 10. The suction port 11 is an opening for taking air into the case 10 from the outside. The air outlet 12 is an opening for sending air from the inside of the case 10 to the outside. The suction port 11 is formed in a suction port cover 13 that is detachably provided on the rear case 10b. That is, the plurality of openings opened in the suction port cover 13 correspond to the suction ports 11. Considering the design of the back side of the dehumidifier 1, the suction port 11 and the suction port cover 13 are arranged with respect to a first center line CL1 extending in the front-rear direction by dividing the case 10 into left and right halves in the width direction. They are arranged symmetrically. Thereby, the entrances of

bypass air passages

44a, 44b and air purifying

filters

45, 46, which will be described later, are also provided symmetrically with respect to the first center line CL1, and the design of the back side of the dehumidifier 1 is improved. The outline of the suction port 11 is not limited to a rectangle, but may be circular.

The suction port cover 13 is provided with an opening 13a smaller than the suction port 11 and a hose connection hole 13b around the suction port 11. A humidity sensor Sm is arranged inside the rear case 10b facing the opening 13a. The humidity sensor Sm measures the humidity of indoor air. A drainage hose (not shown) connected to a drainage pipe 18b (described later) is inserted through the hose connection hole 13b, so that drain water can be continuously drained out of the dehumidifier 1. Further, the hose connection hole 13b communicates with a storage section Sp inside the rear case 10. When the dehumidifier 1 is not used, the power cable Cp can be inserted into the hose connection hole 13b and stored in the storage part Sp.

Note that the suction port cover 13 may be integrally formed into a net shape using a plastic material. The suction port cover 13 can prevent, for example, large foreign objects (paper scraps, fiber scraps, etc.) that are thrown into the air from entering the inside of the dehumidifier 1. However, this suction port cover 13 does not constitute an air purifying means, which will be described later, because it has a small pressure loss and has a poor air purifying effect against particles and the like. In this embodiment, a HEPA filter 45 and an activated carbon filter 46, which will be described later, correspond to air purifying means.

The air outlet 12 is formed on the upper surface of the front case 10a. A louver 14 is provided near the outlet 12 for adjusting the direction in which air is sent out from the outlet 12. As the louver 14, a known one having a plate-like member that is movable in the vertical direction can be used. The louver 14 is attached with a motor (not shown) for driving the louver. This motor is composed of, for example, a stepping motor. Thereby, the inclination angle of the louver 14 with respect to the air outlet 12 can be changed in several steps or more.

An operation display section 15 is provided at the top of the case 10. An operation display board 24, which will be described later, is attached to the operation display section 15. The operation display unit 15 includes a switch for the user to operate the dehumidifier 1, a display unit that displays the operating status and mode of the dehumidifier 1, and an audio notification unit that notifies the user of the status of the dehumidifier 1 and the like. Department, etc. The switches include, for example, an operation switch that turns on/off the operation of the dehumidifier 1, an operation mode changeover switch that changes the operation mode, and the like. Although details will be described later, the operation mode can be switched between a dehumidifying operation that emphasizes dehumidification and an air purifying operation that emphasizes air purification using the operation mode changeover switch. Note that the control means Cm, which will be described later, may be configured to automatically control switching of the operating mode based on the humidity measured by the humidity sensor Sm.

A base 16 serving as a bottom plate is provided at the bottom of the case 10. Flexible casters 16a, which are wheels for moving the dehumidifier 1, are provided at four corners of the lower surface of the base 16. If the dehumidifier 1 is not to be moved, the swivel casters 16a may not be provided. An electric compressor 21, which will be described later, is installed on the base 16, and a water storage tank 17 is housed in a positioned manner. A front panel 17a that constitutes a part of the front case 10a is fixed to the front surface of the water storage tank 17. When the water storage tank 17 becomes full, the water storage tank 17 can be pulled forward together with the front panel 17a, and the drain water in the water storage tank 17 can be discarded.

A drain water receiver 18 is arranged above the water storage tank 17. A drain water stop 18a is rotatably attached to the drain water receiver 18 to temporarily stop drain water from draining into the water storage tank 17, and is usually negatively biased by a spring in the water stop direction. Then, with the water storage tank 17 stored in the storage position, the drain water can be drained into the water storage tank 17 by rotating the drain water stopper 18a in a direction opposite to the negative direction of the spring. A dehumidifying means 2 for removing moisture from the airflow is arranged above the drain water receiver 18.

As the dehumidification means 2, for example, a heat pump type can be used, but other types can also be used. The dehumidifying means 2 includes a heat exchanger 20, a compressor 21 that compresses the refrigerant, and a pressure reducing device (not shown) that reduces the pressure of the refrigerant.

The heat exchanger 20 includes an evaporator 20a, a main condenser 20b as a first condenser, and a sub-condenser 20c as a second condenser. A refrigerant pipe 20d for circulating the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 21 is arranged on the left side of the heat exchanger 20 in the Y-axis direction. On the other hand, on the right side of the heat exchanger 20 in the Y-axis direction, a hairpin portion 20e for folding back the refrigerant within the heat exchanger 20 is arranged.

Here, the refrigerant pipe 20d includes refrigerant inlets and outlets provided in the evaporator 20a and

condensers

20b and 20c, respectively, and a plurality of pipe parts connected to the electric compressor 21 or the pressure reducing device. It is necessary to arrange these plurality of piping portions with a clearance so that they do not come into contact with each other. Therefore, the heat exchanger 20 is arranged symmetrically with respect to a second center line CL2 that is shifted by an arbitrary distance d to the right in the Y-axis direction with respect to the first center line CL1. That is, the second center line CL2 extending in the front-rear direction passing through the center of the heat exchanger 20 is located on the right side in the Y-axis direction with respect to the first center line CL1 passing through the center of the case 10 in the left-right direction, that is, the refrigerant pipe. 20d is offset to the opposite side. The distance d in the left-right direction, which is the amount of offset between the first center line CL1 and the second center line CL2, is set smaller than the width in the left-right direction of the bypass air passage 44b, which will be described later, and is set to 15 mm, for example. . By arranging the refrigerant pipes 20d collectively on the left side in the Y-axis direction, the structure can be made more compact than when they are arranged separately on both the left and right sides in the Y-axis direction.

The evaporator 20a corresponds to the aluminum fin portion of the heat exchanger 20. The evaporator 20a condenses moisture contained in the air passing through the evaporator 20a through heat exchange with the refrigerant circulating from the electric compressor 21 through the refrigerant pipe 20d, that is, generates dew condensation to dehumidify the air. It is configured as follows. As the electric compressor 21, for example, a reciprocating type or a rotary type can be used.

The electric compressor 21 is configured to forcibly circulate refrigerant through a refrigerant pipe 20d connected to the evaporator 20a and

condensers

20b and 20c. That is, the electric compressor 21 supplies compressed refrigerant to a refrigeration cycle configured by connecting an evaporator 20a,

condensers

20b, 20c, etc. with a refrigerant pipe 20d. The electric compressor 21 is installed on the base 16 directly below the connection point between the refrigerant pipe 20d and the evaporator 20a or the

condensers

20b, 20c. Thereby, the length of the refrigerant pipe 20d can be shortened. Coupled with the fact that the refrigerant pipes 20d are collectively arranged on the left side in the Y-axis direction, it is possible to improve the workability of welding the refrigerant pipes 20d when assembling the dehumidifier 1. Furthermore, by arranging the electric compressor 21 on the outer periphery of the base 16 on the left side in the Y-axis direction, a large-capacity water tank 17 can be used. Therefore, the frequency of draining the drain water can be reduced, and the usability for the user can be improved. Further, as the pressure reducing device, for example, an expansion valve or a capillary tube can be used.

Water droplets condensed on the evaporator 20a drip into the drain water receiver 18 and are drained into the water storage tank 17 through the drain pipe 18b. The air dehumidified by passing through the evaporator 20a is returned to room temperature in the main condenser 20b and the sub-condenser 20c, and then sent out from the air outlet 12 via a scroll space 35, which will be described later. Note that a drainage hose (not shown) may be directly connected to the drainage pipe 18b. In this case, continuous drainage is possible by inserting the drainage hose into the hose connection hole 13b and pulling it out of the case 10.

A blowing means 3 is arranged in front of the heat exchanger 20. The blowing means 3 includes a fan motor 31 and a sirocco fan 32. The sirocco fan 32 is rotatably arranged in a scroll space 35 defined by a casing 33 and a partition plate 34. The partition plate 34 has a circular opening as a bellmouth-shaped hole 34a, so that the air that has passed through the condenser 20c can be smoothly sucked in. Air sucked in from the bellmouth-shaped hole 34a by the rotation of the sirocco fan 32 is blown out from the air outlet 12 located above the casing 33, and the direction of the air can be changed by the louver 14.

A heat exchanger holder 22 is arranged above the heat exchanger 20 to hold the heat exchanger 20 and also function as a power supply board case. A power supply board unit 23 is provided on the heat exchanger holder 22. The power supply board unit 23 includes a power supply board and a control board (not shown). In this embodiment, the power supply board unit 23 and the operation display board 24 constitute the control means Cm. The control means Cm controls the driving of a motor for the louver 14, an electric compressor 21, a fan motor 31, a stepping motor for driving a shutter, which will be described later, and the like. In addition to the display on the operation display section 15, the control means Cm also controls audio notification.

An air passage forming frame 41 is attached to the rear case 10b so as to face the suction port 11. Inside the air passage forming frame 41, two air passage partition plates 42 that are longitudinal in the vertical direction are arranged with an interval in the left and right direction. The interval between the air passage partition plates 42 is determined to correspond to the width of an air purifying filter, which will be described later. These two air passage partition plates 42 partition the inside of the air passage forming frame 41 into a main air passage 43 and bypass

air passages

44a and 44b, which will be described later. That is, the two air passage partition plates 42 and the upper and lower walls of the air passage forming frame 41 define a main air passage 43 at the center of the air passage forming frame 41 in the left-right direction. Two

bypass air passages

44a and 44b are defined by each air passage partition plate 42 and the upper wall, lower wall, and side wall of the air passage forming frame 41, adjacent to both sides of the main air passage 43 in the left and right direction. Ru. The bypass air passage 44a on the left side in the Y-axis direction corresponds to a first bypass air passage, and the bypass air passage 44b on the right side in the Y-axis direction corresponds to a second bypass air passage. In this way, the main air passage 43 and the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b separated by the air passage partition plate 42 are adjacent to each other on the left and right, thereby making the main air passage 43 and the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b compact. Therefore, the dehumidifier 1 can be downsized. The height of the air passage forming frame 41 and thus the

bypass air passages

44a and 44b is set to be equal to the height of the portion of the suction port cover 13 where the suction port 11 is formed. Thereby, the

bypass air passages

44a and 44b are disposed opposite to each other over the entire height direction of the portion where the intake port 11 is formed.

The bypass air path 44a corresponds to a curved bypass air path. The curved bypass air passage 44a is formed to be bent or curved to the right in the Y-axis direction toward the main air passage 43. That is, the curved bypass air passage 44a has, in a cross section, a straight part 441 extending in the front-rear direction and a bent part 442 bent or curved from the front end of the straight part 441, and the bent part 442 is connected to the main air passage 43. configured to merge. As a result, the airflow Ab1 that has passed through the bending part 442 of the curved bypass air passage 44a flows toward the right side in the Y-axis direction and merges with the airflow Af that has passed through the main air passage 43. The heat exchanger 20 is ventilated through the heat exchanger 20.

The bypass air passage 44b is composed of a straight section 441. The airflow Ab2 that has passed through the second bypass air passage 44b is ventilated to the right end of the heat exchanger 20 in the Y-axis direction via a lattice portion 47, which will be described later. At this time, the airflow Ab2 may merge with the airflow Af that has passed through the air purifying filters 45 and 46 on the upstream side of the grid portion 47. In this embodiment, two

bypass air passages

44a and 44b are arranged on the left and right sides of the main air passage 43, but the present invention can be applied to the case where at least one bypass air passage 44a is arranged. can.

An air purifying filter serving as an air purifying means is removably arranged in the main air passage 43. The air cleaning filter includes, for example, a HEPA filter 45 and a deodorizing filter 46. Similar to the suction port 11, these

filters

45 and 46 are also arranged symmetrically with respect to the first center line C1. The HEPA filter 45 is an air filter that has a particle collection rate of 99.97% or more for particles having a particle size of 0.3 μm. Instead of the HEPA filter 45, it is also possible to use a ULPA filter that has a particle collection rate of 99.99% or more for particles with a particle diameter of 0.15 μm. As the deodorizing filter 46, for example, an activated carbon filter can be used.

On the downstream side of the deodorizing filter 46, a lattice portion 47 serving as a rectifying member is arranged with a gap therebetween. The lattice portion 47 has a plurality of openings 47a as ventilation windows opened in a lattice shape. On the downstream side of the grid section 47, the evaporator 20a is arranged with a gap therebetween. It is preferable that the grid portion 47 has a cross-sectional area equivalent to that of the evaporator 20a. Providing the grid portion 47 prevents the user from touching the evaporator 20a when replacing the air purifying filters 45, 46.

A shutter 5 is provided in the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b as an opening/closing means that can open and close the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b. The shutter 5 includes a plate-shaped shielding wall 51 that is elongated in the vertical direction, and an upper plate 52 and a lower plate 53 that are fan-shaped in plan view and are provided at the upper and lower ends of the shielding wall 51, respectively. An upper rotation shaft (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of the upper plate 52, and a lower rotation shaft 53a is provided on the lower surface of the lower plate 53. The upper rotation shaft and the lower rotation shaft 53a are inserted into through holes (not shown) as bearings provided in the upper wall and the lower wall of the air passage forming frame 41, respectively. Thereby, the shutter 5 is rotatably supported around the upper rotation shaft and the lower rotation shaft 53a. A stepping motor (not shown) is directly attached to the upper rotation shaft. By driving and controlling the stepping motor, the rotational position of the shutter 5 is controlled. Specifically, in the air purifying operation mode to be described later, the shutter 5 is in the closed position where it blocks the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b and blocks the airflow in the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b, as shown by the solid line in FIG. Rotate. On the other hand, in the dehumidifying operation mode, which will be described later, the shutter 5 is rotated to an open position in which the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b are opened and airflow through the

bypass air passages

44a, 44b is allowed, as shown by imaginary lines in FIG. Note that the shutter 5 can also be rotated to an intermediate position between the closed position and the open position. That is, by controlling the opening degree of the shutter 5, the opening degrees of the

bypass air passages

44a and 44b can be adjusted. Storage spaces 443 that bulge outward in the left-right direction are formed in the

bypass air passages

44a and 44b, respectively. By storing the shielding wall 51 in the storage space 443 when the shutter 5 is rotated to the open position, pressure loss in the

bypass air passages

44a and 44b during dehumidification operation can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the power supply board unit 23 and the operation display board 24 constitute the control means Cm. The power supply board unit 23 has a function as a main control section. Although not shown, the power supply board unit 23 includes a power supply section to which a power cable Cp is connected, a CPU, a drive circuit, and a storage section.

The dehumidifier 1 includes a wireless communication module as a wireless communication section inside the case 10. The wireless communication unit is configured to be capable of wireless communication with local network equipment such as a wireless router (not shown) installed in the home or office where the dehumidifier 1 is installed. The wireless communication unit 25 can be connected to an Internet line (not shown) via local network equipment. In this case, the wireless communication unit 25 can exchange information with an information processing terminal (not shown) such as a smartphone located in a remote location and other communication devices via the Internet line. Note that local network equipment may be a command device that controls the total amount of electricity used in a home or office, or an integrated management device that collects and coordinates information on multiple electrical devices, and may also be an access point or other device. Sometimes called.

Next, the operation of the dehumidifier 1 will be explained. When the dehumidifying operation mode is selected by the user's switching operation of the operation mode changeover switch, the control means Cm drives the louver motor so as to open the louver 14 to a specified angle. The angle of the louver 14 can be specified, for example, from 45 degrees, 60 degrees, and 75 degrees.

Next, the control means Cm drives the motor 6 so that the shutter 5 rotates to the open position. Thereby, the

bypass air passages

44a and 44b are opened. The control means Cm rotates the sirocco fan 32 at a preset rotation speed by driving the fan motor 31 to rotate. This generates an airflow from the suction port 11 to the outlet 12 via the main air path 43, the

bypass air paths

44a, 44b, and the heat exchanger 20. Then, by driving the motor of the electric compressor 21, the refrigerant is compressed by the electric compressor 21, and the compressed refrigerant circulates through the heat exchanger 20 via the refrigerant pipe 20d.

When the airflow ventilated through the heat exchanger 20 passes through the evaporator 20a, it condenses and is dehumidified by heat exchange with the refrigerant circulating from the electric compressor 21. The dehumidified air is returned to normal temperature in the

condensers

20b and 20c, and then is blown from the air outlet 12 through the scroll space 35. At this time, depending on the angle of the louvers 14, air can be blown upward to generate circulating airflow in the room to dehumidify the room, or the laundry can be blown with air to dry it. Water droplets condensed on the evaporator 20a drip into the drain water receiver 18 by gravity and are drained into the water storage tank 17 through the drain pipe 18b. Further, when a drain hose is attached to the drain pipe 18b, drain water can be continuously drained out of the case 10 through the drain hose.

The control means Cm determines whether the humidity measured by the humidity sensor Sm is 50% or more. When the humidity is 50% or more, the motor of the electric compressor 21 is continuously driven to continue the dehumidifying operation.

On the other hand, if the humidity is less than 50%, the drive of the motor of the electric compressor 21 is stopped. At the same time, the motor 6 is driven so that the shutter 5 rotates to the closed position, thereby performing an air cleaning operation. During the cleaning operation, almost all of the air sucked in from the suction port 11 passes through the air cleaning filters 45 and 46 in the main air passage 43 and is purified. Therefore, the air blown from the outlet 12 becomes clean air.

According to this embodiment, during dehumidification operation, the airflow Ab1 that has passed through the curved bypass air passage 44a merges with the airflow Af that has passed through the main air passage 43 before being ventilated to the heat exchanger 20. That is, the airflow Ab1 that has passed through the curved bypass air passage 44a flows toward the right side in the Y-axis direction, merges with the airflow Af that has passed through the main air passage 43, and the combined airflow is ventilated to the heat exchanger 20. Therefore, it is possible to improve the velocity distribution of the airflow flowing through the heat exchanger 20, and as a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the dehumidification performance of the dehumidifier 1.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the airflow that has passed through the straight portion 441 of the bypass air passage 44b during the dehumidifying operation is ventilated to the right end of the heat exchanger 20 in the Y-axis direction. Therefore, even when the heat exchanger 20 is arranged offset to the right in the Y-axis direction with respect to the center line CL1, the velocity distribution of the airflow ventilated through the heat exchanger 20 can be improved. Thereby, deterioration of the dehumidification performance of the dehumidifier 1 can be further suppressed. Moreover, since the suction port cover 13 and the suction port 11 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the first center line C1, the design of the back side of the dehumidifier 1 is not impaired. In this case, it is desirable that the sirocco fan 32 be arranged symmetrically with respect to the second center line C2, similarly to the heat exchanger 20.

1 dehumidifier, 10 case (housing), 11 suction port, 12 blowout port, 16 base (bottom plate), 2 dehumidification means, 20 heat exchanger, 20d refrigerant piping, 21 electric compressor, 3 blowing means, 43 Main style path, 44a first bypass air path, curved bypass air path, 44b second bypass air path, 441 straight section, 442 curved section, 45 HEPA filter (air cleaning means), 46 deodorizing filter (air cleaning means), 5 Shutter (opening/closing means)

Claims

A casing having an inlet and an outlet;
a blowing means for generating airflow from the suction port to the blowout port;
an air purifying means disposed inside the casing;
Dehumidification means having a heat exchanger for removing moisture in the airflow;
a main air path through which air sucked from the suction port passes through the air purifying means and reaches the heat exchanger;
at least one bypass air path through which air sucked from the suction port reaches the heat exchanger without passing through the air purifying means;
comprising an opening/closing means that can be opened and closed between a closed position for shielding the bypass air passage and an open position for opening the bypass air passage,
the at least one bypass air path includes a curved bypass air path;
In the dehumidifier, the curved bypass air path is formed in an L-shape so as to be bent or curved toward the main air path.
The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the curved bypass air path has a straight portion extending in the front-rear direction and a bent portion bent or curved from the front end of the straight portion, and the bent portion merges with the main air path. Machine.
The dehumidification means has a refrigerant pipe provided on one side in the left and right direction, which is the width direction of the heat exchanger,
The bypass air path includes a first bypass air path formed on one side of the main air path in the left-right direction, and a second bypass air path formed on the other side of the main air path in the left-right direction. ,
The first bypass air path is the curved bypass air path,
The dehumidifier according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second bypass air path is constituted by a straight section extending in the front-rear direction.
The dehumidification means has an electric compressor that compresses the refrigerant,
The dehumidifier according to claim 3, wherein the electric compressor is installed directly below a connection point between the refrigerant pipe and the heat exchanger.