JP2008023486A - Dehumidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dehumidifier which can dry a laundry effectively without uselessness. <P>SOLUTION: A case 2 has a dehumidification part 15 inside to draw in indoor air to dehumidify in a dehumidification part 15, and to discharge dried air from an air outlet 7. Then, the air outlet 7 has a wind-direction controller 6 for adjusting the direction of blowing wind. As an infrared sensor 10 for detecting a drying state of the laundry is arranged in the case 2, the drying state of the laundry is judged from the temperature change detected with the infrared sensor 10, and the wind-direction controller 6 is controlled on its basis so that the dried air can be intensively hit for a yet-undried position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a dehumidifier that sucks indoor air, dehumidifies it in a dehumidifying section, and then discharges it as dry air to the outside.

  Conventionally, laundry such as clothes is hung in a room, and the laundry is dried by applying dry air from a dehumidifier to the laundry to be dried. In this case, a dehumidifier that provides a blowout port for discharging dry air and dries laundry is considered (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Moreover, in such a dehumidifier, the ventilation means is arrange | positioned in a housing | casing, after taking in indoor air with the said ventilation means and dehumidifying in a dehumidification part, it is comprised so that it may blow out from a blower outlet as dry air. .
JP 2003-222377 A

  However, in the dehumidifier having such a configuration, the user needs to install the dehumidifier at an optimal position as appropriate so that the dry air blown from the dehumidifier hits the selected item. However, depending on the amount of laundry and how to dry the laundry, there are still places where the dry air from the outlet does not hit and it is difficult to dry, and there is still a possibility of uneven drying in the laundry. On the other hand, even though the laundry is already dry enough, dry air may be blown onto the laundry forever. As a result, problems such as uneven drying and useless overdrying are solved. I couldn't.

  Moreover, since the dehumidifying part is provided in the housing of the dehumidifier, the pressure loss of the air volume increases during the operation of the air blowing means. For this reason, when it is desired to efficiently dry the laundry, it is necessary to increase the air volume of the air blowing means. However, when the air volume of the air blowing means is increased, there is a problem that the noise increases accordingly. Furthermore, when a larger air blowing means than the conventional one is provided in the housing in order to increase the air volume, the housing becomes large. Furthermore, in the dehumidifier having the dehumidifying part, there is a limit to providing the air blowing means having a large air volume in the housing.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the first problem, and a first object thereof is to provide a dehumidifier capable of drying an object to be dried efficiently and without waste.

  In addition, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned second problem, and while utilizing the existing casing as it is, the air volume can be reliably increased to efficiently dry the object to be dried, and the increased air volume can be effectively used. A second object is to provide a dehumidifier that can be utilized.

  In the dehumidifier according to claim 1 of the present invention, the drying state of the object to be dried is detected by a detecting means such as an infrared sensor, and the adjustment unit is controlled based on this to concentrate on the portion that has not yet been dried. Dry air can be applied. Therefore, it is possible to prevent drying unevenness and overdrying of the object to be dried and efficiently dry the entire object to be dried around the dehumidifier.

  Since the dehumidifier in claim 2 of the present invention can direct the detection means over a wide range by the movable means, the amount of the object to be dried is large, and even if the object to be dried is arranged in a wide area around the dehumidifier, The dry state of all these objects to be dried can be reliably detected.

  In the dehumidifier according to claim 3 of the present invention, in addition to the blowing of the dry air by the first blowing means and the dehumidifying section, the second blowing means provided at a position independent from the housing also allows the dehumidifier to be dried. Because it can be blown against the air, it can blow out a large amount of wind with low noise together with the first air blower provided in the housing while utilizing the existing housing as it is. It can be dried efficiently. Moreover, this 2nd ventilation means can be used as a circulator, an electric fan, etc. by operating the said 2nd ventilation means independently.

  According to the dehumidifier of claim 1 of the present invention, the object to be dried can be efficiently and efficiently dried, and the entire object to be dried around the dehumidifier can be efficiently dried.

  According to the dehumidifier of claim 2 of the present invention, even when the amount of the object to be dried is large, the dry state of all the objects to be dried can be reliably detected.

  According to the dehumidifier of claim 3 of the present invention, while utilizing the existing casing as it is, the air volume can be surely increased and the material to be dried can be efficiently dried, and the increased air volume can be effectively used as, for example, a circulator or a fan. Can be used.

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

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a stationary dehumidifier according to the present invention, and an outer shell is constituted by a vertically long box-like housing 2. A box-shaped container-shaped water storage tank 3 having an upper opening is provided at the lower portion of the housing 2 so as to be able to be drawn. In addition to such a configuration, a wind direction adjusting unit 6 including an up and down wind direction plate portion 4 and a left and right wind direction plate portion 5 is provided at the outlet 7 on the upper front side of the housing 2. It is comprised so that the dry air discharged | emitted from the inside of the housing | casing 2 may be blown in arbitrary directions. In practice, the top and bottom wind direction plate portion 4 of the wind direction adjusting portion 6 is pivoted in the vertical direction y with a shaft portion (not shown) as a fulcrum. On the side, the blowing angle in the vertical direction y of the dry air is adjusted. Further, the left and right wind direction plate portion 5 of the wind direction adjusting portion 6 is configured such that the tip of each plate piece rotates in the left and right direction x with another shaft portion (not shown) as a fulcrum. The blow angle of the dry air in the left-right direction x is adjusted on the diagonally upper side of the front. On the upper back side of the housing 2, a dryness detection unit 11 including an infrared sensor 10 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the dryness detection unit 11 further includes a base 12 having a trapezoidal cross section in the vicinity of the airflow direction adjustment unit 6 and a sensor case 13 for housing the infrared sensor 10. An infrared sensor 10 is placed on the surface. The upper surface of the base 12 is inclined so as to face the front side, and is arranged so that the infrared sensor 10 faces in a direction in which the blowing direction can be blown out by the wind direction adjusting unit 6. Here, the infrared sensor 10 is provided as a dryness detection means for detecting the dry state of the object to be dried in a non-contact manner, and the amount of infrared rays corresponding to the temperature radiated from the laundry (not shown) as the object to be dried. Can be received. In addition to this configuration, the infrared sensor 10 is arranged on the upper surface of the sensor case 12 so as to rotate in the vertical direction y with the shaft portion as a fulcrum, and in the horizontal direction x (FIG. 1). The infrared ray emitted from the laundry can be received within the movable range.

  Inside the housing 2 is provided a dehumidifying part 15 in which an evaporator (not shown) and a condenser (not shown) are arranged in parallel. A refrigerant (not shown) is used to supply refrigerant to the dehumidifying part 15. By circulating, a dehumidifying mechanism of a well-known refrigeration cycle is configured. In addition, a blower 16 composed of, for example, a sirocco fan or the like is provided at the rear of the dehumidifying unit 15 in order to form an air flow path from the intake port (not shown) to the blowout port 7 in the housing 2. It has been. The evaporator is opposed to the intake port with an air filter interposed therebetween, and during operation of the blower 16, the indoor air taken in from the intake port is touched to the evaporator constituting the dehumidifying unit 15 to be cooled and dehumidified, The cooled room air is heated by a condenser and blown out from the blowout port 7. The condensed water dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 15 is temporarily received by a drain pan (not shown) in the housing 2 and then discharged to the lower side of the drain pan and collected in the water storage tank 3. ing.

  Next, the electrical configuration of the dehumidifier 1 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the configuration of each part related to the dehumidifying part 15 described above is omitted. In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a control unit having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) configuration for comprehensively controlling the dehumidifier 1. The dryness detection unit 11 includes a first actuator 25 incorporating a motor for driving the infrared sensor 10 in the vertical direction y as a movable means for directing the infrared sensor 10 in an arbitrary direction, and the infrared sensor 10 to the left and right. And a second actuator 26 for driving in the direction x. Upon receiving a drive signal from the control unit 20, each of these actuators 25, 26 directs the infrared sensor 10 in an arbitrary direction regularly and at a predetermined cycle. It is configured. Furthermore, the dryness detection unit 11 includes first position detection means 30 that detects in which direction the infrared sensor 10 is directed, and detection signals from the first position detection means 30 and the infrared sensor 10 are It is sent to the control unit 20.

  On the other hand, the wind direction adjusting unit 6 incorporates a third actuator 35 incorporating a motor for driving the vertical wind direction plate portion 4 in the vertical direction y, and a motor for driving the left and right wind direction plate portion 5 in the horizontal direction x. A fourth actuator 36 and second position detecting means 40 for detecting the positions of the up and down wind direction plate portion 4 and the left and right wind direction plate portion 5 are provided, and the control unit 20 receives from the first position detection means 30. Based on the detection signal, the current position of the infrared sensor 10 is specified, and the dry state of the clothes to be dried is measured based on the detection signal detected by the infrared sensor 10 at that time. The second position detection means 40 causes the up-and-down wind direction plate portion 4 and the laundry to be struck intensively against an object or a portion of the laundry that is not dry (hereinafter referred to as an undried portion). Left and right wind direction plate 5, while driving each position 5, drive signals are output to the third actuator 35 and the fourth actuator 36, respectively, and the blowing direction of the dry air from the outlet 7 is variably controlled in a desired direction. ing.

  Further, the control unit 20 is connected not only to the airflow direction adjustment unit 6 and the dryness detection unit 11 but also to an operation unit 21 including an air volume changeover switch and an operation switch to the input port thereof, and various operation states to the user. The display unit 22 for notification, the aforementioned dehumidifying unit 15 and the blower 16 are connected to the output port.

  Next, the effect | action is demonstrated about the said structure. When an operation switch (not shown) of the operation unit 21 is operated, the operation start signal is input to the control unit 20, and the control unit 20 outputs drive signals to the compressor and the blower 16, respectively. Thereby, the driving of the compressor is started, the refrigerant is circulated through the dehumidifying unit 15, and the blower 16 is started to start the dehumidifying operation of either the strong air amount or the weak air amount. When the dehumidifying operation is started, the room air is taken in from the intake port by the blower 16, and this room air is cooled and dehumidified by touching the evaporator constituting the dehumidifying unit 15, and this cooled room air is heated by the condenser. Thus, the dry air is discharged from the outlet 7 into the room.

  Here, when the laundry such as clothes is dried using the dehumidifier 1, the dry air from the outlet 7 is affected by the exhaust heat of the motor incorporated in the blower 16. It is discharged at a higher temperature. The laundry can be dried by applying this arrow or high-temperature, low-humidity dry air to the laundry.

  In addition to this, in the dehumidifier 1, when the dehumidifying operation is started, the control unit 20 outputs a drive signal to the first actuator 25 and the second actuator 26, whereby the detection direction of the infrared sensor 10 is regulated. Variable. At the same time, the control unit 20 receives a detection signal from the first position detection means 30 to specify which direction the infrared sensor 10 is currently directed, and receives a detection signal from the infrared sensor 10, A dry state of the laundry positioned in the direction in which the infrared sensor 10 is directed is determined.

  Here, the relationship between the detection output of the infrared sensor 10 and the dry state will be explained. Since laundry such as clothes contains moisture immediately after washing, the surface temperature is lowered by the latent heat of vaporization when it hits the wind. As the moisture level decreases, the surface temperature becomes difficult to decrease because the latent heat of vaporization decreases even if the wind hits it.After that, the surface temperature of the laundry becomes the temperature of the wind being applied. Is almost the same. Therefore, in this embodiment, the infrared sensor 10 detects the dry state of the laundry as a change in the surface temperature of the laundry using the principle of the temperature change due to the latent heat of vaporization.

  Accordingly, when the control unit 20 determines, for example, that the surface temperature of the laundry is lower than the set value and has not yet been dried by the detection output from the infrared sensor 10, the detection direction of the infrared sensor 10 at this time is set to the first position. The third actuator 35 and the third actuator 35 are monitored while monitoring the detection output from the second position detection means 40 so as to be specified by the detection signal from the detection means 30 and to discharge dry air from the outlet 7 in the detection direction. A drive signal is output to each of the fourth actuators 36 to move the up / down wind direction plate portion 4 and the left / right wind direction plate portion 5 in a desired direction. In this way, by controlling the direction of the wind direction adjusting unit 6, it is possible to apply dry air intensively to portions that have not yet been dried.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 20 determines that the laundry surface temperature is higher than the set value and is in a dry state based on the detection output from the infrared sensor 10, the dry air from the direction of the air outlet 7 remains unchanged. Is not output to the third actuator 35 and the fourth actuator 36 so as to be discharged. As a result, it is possible to effectively blow dry air only to the laundry that is not sufficiently dried, thereby avoiding a wasteful dry state.

  Thus, in this dehumidifier 1, the dry air can be automatically and intensively applied to the undried portion, so that the user sequentially grasps the dry state of the laundry, and each time the vertical wind direction plate portion 4 and The complicated operation of adjusting the left and right wind direction plate portion 5 is not necessary, and the operation burden on the user can be reduced accordingly. Furthermore, in the dehumidifier 1, the infrared sensor 10 is regularly moved in the vertical direction y and the horizontal direction x by the first actuator 25 and the second actuator 26. The range in which infrared rays can be received can be expanded.

  In the above series of operations, for example, the set value necessary for determining the dry state of the laundry is, for example, the temperature of the indoor air taken into the housing 2 of the dehumidifier 1 by a temperature detection means (not shown). It may be detected and determined based on this detected temperature. In this way, it is possible to correctly determine the dry state of the laundry regardless of changes in the room temperature. The detected temperature at this time may be taken in every predetermined time by the control unit 20 during operation of the dehumidifier 1.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the housing 2 has the dehumidifying part 15, sucks room air by the blower 16, dehumidifies it by the dehumidifying part 15, and discharges dry air from the blowout port 7. In the dehumidifier 1 provided with the wind direction adjusting unit 6 as an adjusting unit for changing the direction of the blown air, an infrared sensor 10 is provided in the housing 2 as a detecting means for detecting the dry state of the laundry that is to be dried. Yes. In this way, the dry state of the laundry is detected based on the temperature change detected by the infrared sensor 10, and based on this, the air direction adjusting unit 6 is controlled to concentrate the dry air on the portion that has not yet been dried. You can guess. Therefore, it is possible to prevent drying unevenness and overdrying of the laundry and efficiently dry the entire object to be dried around the dehumidifier 1.

  In this embodiment, a first actuator 25 and a second actuator 26 are provided as movable means for directing the infrared sensor 10 in an arbitrary direction. In this way, since the infrared sensor 10 can be directed over a wide area, even if the amount of laundry is large and the laundry is arranged in a wide area around the dehumidifier 1, the dry state of all these laundry can be detected, Thus, even when the amount of laundry is large, uneven drying and overdrying of all the laundry can be prevented.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible. For example, the infrared sensor 10 and the wind direction adjusting unit 6 may be moved in different directions such as a left-right diagonal direction. In short, the movable range of the wind direction adjusting unit 6 and the movable range of the infrared sensor 10 need only correspond to each other. In addition, although laundry is applied as an object to be dried, it may be applied to other objects to be dried as long as it needs to be dried with dry air.

  FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. Common portions to the first embodiment are denoted by common reference numerals, and description of common portions is omitted as much as possible to avoid duplication. Reference numeral 51 denotes a dehumidifier in the present embodiment. This dehumidifier 51 includes a dehumidifier 52 in which a well-known dehumidifying mechanism including a dehumidifier 15 and a blower 16 is built in the housing 2 in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The dehumidifying device 52 includes an external blower 55 for external blowing provided separately. Actually, the external blower 55 includes a box-shaped blower-side housing 56 and is supported on the upper portion of the housing 2 by arm portions 53 and 54 that form a pair. In the case of this embodiment, the blower side housing 56 is formed to be smaller than the outline of the dehumidifying device 52, and its weight is selected to be much lighter than the weight of the dehumidifying device 52. The dehumidifying device 52 is prevented from falling down no matter where the blower 55 is located.

  Although not shown in this embodiment, the wind direction adjusting unit 6 and the dryness detecting unit 11 may be incorporated in the dehumidifying device 52 as in the first cited example. The internal configuration of the dehumidifying device 52 is the same as that shown in FIGS.

  Each of the arm portions 53 and 54 has a substantially U-shaped rod shape, and one end side thereof is rotatably provided above the side surface of the housing 2, and the other end side is provided on the side surface of the blower side housing 56. It is provided rotatably. The other ends of the arm portions 53 and 54 are fitted into one of a plurality of fitting holes (not shown) provided in the upper part of the side surface of the housing 2, and are externally connected to the housing 2. The blower 55 is supported stationary at a predetermined angle.

  The blower-side housing 56 has a blower-side intake port (not shown) formed in the back surface thereof, and a blower-side blowout port 58 is formed in the front surface. The blower-side intake port 58 is connected to the blower-side blowout port 58. A blower fan 59 composed of, for example, a propeller fan is provided in the air flow path leading to The blower fan 59 is provided with a power cord 60 connected to the housing 2, and power can be supplied from the dehumidifying device 52 via the power cord 60. Thus, the blower fan 59 sucks room air from the back side through the blower side intake port, and blows out the room air from the blower side blowing port 58 to the front side as it is. Here, an operation switch 62 and a wind-up switch 63 are arranged on the front surface of the housing 2, and the blower fan 59 of the external blower 55 is driven by operating the wind-up switch 63 or the blower fan 59. It is configured to adjust the blowout air by either the strong air amount or the weak air amount.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the power connector 65 of the dehumidifier 52 is plugged into the nearest power outlet (not shown) and the operation switch 62 is operated in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the dehumidifier 52 has either a strong air flow or a weak air flow. Start dehumidifying operation. When the dehumidifying operation is started, room air is taken in from an air inlet (not shown) by a blower, and this room air is cooled and dehumidified by touching an evaporator constituting the dehumidifying section, and this cooled room air is heated by a condenser. As a result, the dry air is discharged from the outlet 7 into the room.

  In addition, when the air volume up switch 63 is operated during the dehumidifying operation, electric power is supplied from the dehumidifying device 52 to the external blower 55 via the power cord 60, and the external blower 55 starts to be driven. Thus, the room air is taken in from the blower side intake port by the external blower 55, and this room air is blown out from the blower side blowing port 58 to the front side as it is. At this time, the user can adjust the blowing direction of the indoor air from the blower side blowing port 58 by adjusting the fitting position between the arm portions 53 and 54 and the housing 2. Thus, for example, when the laundry is dried by applying dry air, the user applies the air blown from the external blower 55 to the laundry in addition to the dry air from the dehumidifying device 52 and sends the laundry to the laundry. The air volume can be increased, and as a result, the laundry can be efficiently dried.

  Here, the external blower 55 is separate from the dehumidifying device 52 including the housing 2 and the dehumidifying unit 15 and is provided independently, so that there is no pressure loss of the air volume due to the dehumidifying unit 15 or the like. Therefore, the external blower 55 can directly apply the blown air generated by rotating the blower fan 59 to the laundry. Therefore, in the dehumidifier 51, the total air volume blown to the laundry can be increased by the external blower 55 without bothering to increase the rotational speed of the blower 16, so that the noise of the dehumidifier 51 can be reduced. Further, since the amount of blown air applied to the laundry can be increased by using the existing dehumidifier 51 as it is without providing a large blower in the housing 2, it is possible to prevent the housing 2 itself from becoming large. it can. Furthermore, since the amount of air flowing through the air flow path in the housing 2 does not change, the balance of the refrigeration cycle in the dehumidifying unit 15 is not disturbed.

  In this embodiment, when the air volume up switch 63 is operated while the dehumidifying operation of the dehumidifier 51 is stopped, power is supplied from the dehumidifying device 52 to the external fan 55 via the power cord 60. Only the external blower 55 starts to be driven alone. Since only the external blower 55 can be driven independently with the dehumidifying device 52 stopped as described above, the external blower 55 can be used as, for example, a circulator for circulating indoor air, a fan, or the like.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the dehumidifying part 51 and the blower 16 serving as the first blowing means are built in the housing 2, and the dehumidifying machine 51 sucks indoor air, dehumidifies the dehumidifying part 16 and discharges dry air. In FIG. 2, an external blower 55 serving as a second blower for external blowing is provided at a position independent of the housing 2. In this way, in addition to the blowing of dry air by the blower 16 and the dehumidifying unit 15, the blower can be blown against the laundry by the external blower 55 provided at a position independent from the housing 2. While utilizing the existing housing 2 as it is, it is possible to blow a large amount of air with low noise together with the blower 16 provided in the housing 2, and the laundry can be dried more efficiently than before. Further, by operating the external blower 55 alone, the external blower 55 can be used as a circulator, a fan, or the like.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible. For example, various blower fans configured by a sirocco fan, a cross flow fan, or the like may be applied as the external blower 55.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the dehumidifier in 1st Example of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a dehumidifier same as the above. It is a block diagram of a dehumidifier same as the above. It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the dehumidifier in 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1,51 Dehumidifier 2 Case 6 Adjuster
10 Infrared sensor (detection means)
15 Dehumidifier
16 Blower (first blower)
25 First actuator (movable means)
26 Second actuator (movable means)
55 External blower (second blower)

Claims (3)

  A dehumidifying part in the housing, sucking in indoor air, dehumidifying by the dehumidifying part, discharging dry air from the outlet, and detecting the dry state of the object to be dried in the dehumidifier equipped with the adjusting part A dehumidifier characterized in that means is provided in the housing.   The dehumidifier according to claim 1, further comprising a movable means for directing the detection means in an arbitrary direction.   In the dehumidifier having a dehumidifying part and a first air blowing means in the housing, sucking in indoor air, dehumidifying by the dehumidifying part, and discharging dry air, a second air blowing means is provided at a position independent of the housing A dehumidifier characterized by that.

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