JP7554964B2 - Blower - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an air blower device, and in particular to an air blower device that blows air to inhibit the growth of mold, primarily in bathrooms and other rooms in ordinary households.

Conventionally, bathroom heater-dryers, dehumidifiers, and electric fans have been known as ventilation devices for preventing the growth of mold in bathrooms and other rooms.

To prevent mold growth, it is necessary to dry the water droplets on the walls, but to completely dry out the moisture using air from the blower requires a long period of operation. Also, water droplets can form on the walls due to the high humidity air that fills the room, and a lot of energy is required to dry the walls.

One example of a method for controlling the airflow of this type of blower device is described in Patent Document 1, which uses a table that correlates temperature and humidity with mold index values to determine the extent to which mold has grown, and controls the airflow based on the results of this determination.

JP 2009-186133 A

In such conventional airflow control methods for airflow devices, the occurrence of mold is predicted from the ambient temperature and humidity, as described above. Therefore, even if water droplets remain on part of the wall surface, depending on the temperature and humidity, it may be determined that mold will not occur and operation may be stopped. Because mold occurs in places where moisture is present, conventional methods have the problem of making it difficult to accurately determine the occurrence of mold.

The present disclosure aims to provide a blower device that can more accurately predict mold growth.

The air blower of the present disclosure includes an air blower that blows air to an object, a temperature detector that detects the temperature of a specified space, a humidity detector that detects the humidity of the specified space, a moisture detector that detects the moisture content of the object, and a mold determination unit that predicts mold growth on the object. The moisture detector has a light emitter that emits detection light, which is light with a wavelength absorbed by water, and reference light, which is light with a wavelength less absorbed by water than the detection light, toward the object, a light receiver that receives the detection light and the reference light reflected from the object, and a moisture calculation unit that calculates the moisture content by comparing the intensities of the reflected detection light and the reflected reference light received by the light receiver. The mold determination unit makes a prediction based on the moisture content calculated by the moisture calculation unit, the temperature detected by the temperature detector, and the humidity detected by the humidity detector.

The disclosed air blower device can more accurately predict mold growth.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the dehumidifier. FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the schematic configuration of a light emitting section and a light receiving section of the dehumidifier. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control unit of the dehumidifier. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the absorption spectrum of moisture and water vapor in the dehumidifier. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the detection range and unit area of the dehumidifier. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the scanning directions of the light-emitting portion and the light-receiving portion of the dehumidifier. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a moisture amount calculation process performed by the control unit of the dehumidifier. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a moisture amount table that stores the moisture amount calculation results of the dehumidifier. FIG. 10 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the mold determination unit of the dehumidifier. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing mold determination information of the same dehumidifier. FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an electric fan according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of a bathroom dryer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The air blowing device according to the present disclosure includes an air blowing unit that blows air to an object, a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of a specified space, a humidity detection unit that detects the humidity of the specified space, a moisture amount detection unit that detects the moisture amount of the object, and a mold determination unit that predicts mold growth on the object. The moisture amount detection unit has a light emitting unit that emits detection light, which is light with a wavelength absorbed by water, and reference light, which is light with a wavelength that is less absorbed by water than the detection light, toward the object, a light receiving unit that receives reflected light of the detection light and reflected light of the reference light from the object, and a moisture amount calculation unit that calculates the moisture amount by comparing the intensity of the reflected light of the detection light and the reflected light of the reference light received by the light receiving unit. The mold determination unit makes a prediction based on the moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit, the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit, and the humidity detected by the humidity detection unit.

As a result, the air blower according to the present disclosure predicts mold occurrence based not only on the temperature and humidity in a specified space, but also on the moisture content of the object calculated by the moisture content calculation unit, and therefore can predict mold occurrence more accurately than before. Therefore, the air blower according to the present disclosure can suppress mold occurrence by controlling the airflow based on the results of a more accurate mold occurrence prediction.

In addition, the mold determination unit of the air blower device disclosed herein may make predictions based on mold determination information that represents the relationship between environmental information consisting of the moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit, the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit, and the humidity detected by the humidity detection unit, and the susceptibility of mold growth.

As a result, the blower device of the present disclosure predicts mold occurrence based on mold determination information that represents the relationship with the likelihood of mold occurrence, and is therefore able to predict mold occurrence more accurately than in the past.

In addition, the air blower device according to the present disclosure may further include a display unit that displays information regarding the prediction made by the mold determination unit.

This allows a user of the air blower according to the present disclosure to obtain information regarding prediction of mold occurrence. Therefore, based on the displayed information, the user of the air blower according to the present disclosure can take action, such as preventing mold occurrence or removing mold that has already occurred, thereby suppressing the proliferation of mold.

In addition, the air blowing device according to the present disclosure may further include an air blowing control unit that controls the air blown by the air blowing unit based on the prediction by the mold determination unit.

As a result, the air blowing device of the present disclosure can suppress the growth of mold, for example, by starting or stopping air blowing based on the prediction results.

In addition, the blowing section of the blower device according to the present disclosure may be an axial fan that blows air by rotating multiple blades using a motor.

As a result, the blower device of the present disclosure is able to blow air in a highly directional manner using an axial fan, which can suppress the growth of mold.

In addition, the blower device according to the present disclosure may further include a main body case having an air inlet and an outlet, and a heating section in the ventilation path from the inlet to the outlet for heating the air sucked in through the inlet.

As a result, the blower device of the present disclosure is able to blow high-temperature air heated by the heating section, which can suppress the growth of mold.

Below, a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that each of the embodiments described below shows a preferred specific example of the present disclosure. Therefore, the numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangements and connection forms of the components shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, among the components in the following embodiments, components that are not described in an independent claim that shows the highest concept of the present disclosure will be described as optional components.

In addition, each figure is a schematic diagram and is not necessarily an exact illustration. Therefore, for example, the scales in each figure do not necessarily match. In addition, in each figure, substantially the same configurations are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted or simplified.

(Embodiment)
In this embodiment, a dehumidifier 1, an electric fan 81, and a bathroom dryer 91 will be described in this order as examples of a blower device according to the present disclosure.

(Dehumidifier)
First, a description will be given of the dehumidifier 1. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the dehumidifier 1. Fig. 2 is a side cross-sectional configuration view showing a schematic configuration of the dehumidifier 1.

As shown in Figure 1, a dehumidifier 1, which is an example of a blower device of the present disclosure, is installed in front of a wall surface 100, which is an example of an object for which mold detection is to be performed. As shown in Figure 2, the dehumidifier 1 includes a main body 2, a blower section 3, a dehumidifier section 4, a control section 5, a temperature detection section 6, a humidity detection section 7, a light emitting section 8, a light receiving section 9, an intake port 10, an exhaust port 11, and a display section 12.

The dehumidifier 1 has an air outlet 11, a temperature detector 6, a humidity detector 7, a light emitter 8, and a light receiver 9 on the top surface of the main body 2, and an air inlet 10 on the lower side. The air outlet 11 and the air inlet 10 are provided on the same side.

Here, the blower 3 guides the air that has passed through the dehumidifier 4 to the outlet 11, and blows it from the outlet 11 to the target object (wall surface 100 in this embodiment) within the target range. That is, the dehumidifier 1 is equipped with the blower 3 that blows air to the target object, which is the wall surface 100. The dehumidifier 4 dehumidifies the indoor air sucked in from the intake port 10, and is, for example, a desiccant dehumidifier using a dehumidifying material such as silica gel or a vapor compression heat pump. That is, in the dehumidifier 1, the indoor air taken in from the intake port 10 is dehumidified by the dehumidifier 4, and is blown as dehumidified air from the outlet 11 by the blower 3.

The temperature detection unit 6 is a temperature sensor that detects the temperature inside a room, which is a specified space (hereinafter also referred to as the "ambient temperature"). The temperature detection unit 6 detects the ambient temperature and outputs the detected ambient temperature to the control unit 5.

The humidity detection unit 7 is a humidity sensor that detects the humidity in a room, which is a specified space (hereinafter also referred to as "ambient humidity"). The humidity detection unit 7 detects the ambient humidity and outputs the detected ambient humidity to the control unit 5.

The light emitting unit 8 emits detection light, which is light of a wavelength that is absorbed by water, toward the target wall surface 100, and reference light, which is light of a wavelength that is less easily absorbed by water than the detection light.

The light receiving unit 9 receives the reflected light of the detection light and the reflected light of the reference light from the target wall surface 100. Details of the light emitting unit 8 and the light receiving unit 9 will be described later.

The control unit 5 is composed of one or more microcontrollers. The control unit 5 stores the ambient temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 6 and the ambient humidity detected by the humidity detection unit 7. The control unit 5 also has a non-volatile memory, a volatile memory which is a temporary storage area for executing a program, an input/output port, a processor for executing a program, and the like. The non-volatile memory stores a light source control unit 51 which controls the detection light and reference light irradiated by the light emitting unit 8, a moisture amount calculation unit 56 which detects the reflected light received by the light receiving unit 9 and calculates the moisture amount of the wall surface 100, a mold determination unit 57, an air blowing control unit 58, and a general operation program of the dehumidifier 1. That is, the microcontroller functions as the control unit 5 by the processor executing the program stored in the non-volatile memory. Note that the program executed by the processor is pre-stored in the non-volatile memory here, but it may be recorded on a non-temporary recording medium such as a memory card and provided, or it may be provided via an electric communication line such as the Internet. The light-emitting unit 8, the light-receiving unit 9, and the moisture amount calculation unit 56 of the dehumidifier 1 according to the embodiment correspond to a moisture amount detection unit according to the present disclosure that detects the moisture amount of an object.

Specifically, the control unit 5 calculates the moisture content of the target wall surface 100 by comparing the intensity of the reflected light of the detection light received by the light receiving unit 9 with the reflected light of the reference light. The control unit 5 predicts mold growth on the target wall surface 100 based on the calculated moisture content, and controls at least one drying means of the air blowing unit 3 and the dehumidifying unit 4 based on the result. In this way, the dehumidifier 1 performs appropriate mold judgment and drying control according to the moisture content of the wall surface 100.

Next, the general configuration of the light-emitting unit 8, light-receiving unit 9, and control unit 5 of the dehumidifier 1 will be explained using Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the schematic configuration of the light-emitting unit 8 and the light-receiving unit 9 of the dehumidifier 1. Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the control unit 5 of the dehumidifier 1.

In the dehumidifier 1 according to this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3, the light-emitting unit 8 irradiates light toward the wall surface 100 across a space, the light-receiving unit 9 detects the reflected light RA1, and the moisture amount calculation unit 56 of the control unit 5 shown in Fig. 4 calculates the amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100. The amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100 refers to the amount of moisture accumulated on the wall surface 100 and the amount of water droplets adhering to the surface portion of the wall surface 100.

Below, each component of the light-emitting unit 8, the light-receiving unit 9 and the control unit 5 will be described in detail.

(Light emitting part)
The light emitting unit 8 emits, toward the wall surface 100, detection light including a first wavelength band, which is light of a wavelength that is absorbed by water, and reference light including a second wavelength band that is less absorbed by water than the first wavelength band.

Specifically, the light-emitting unit 8 has a projector lens 21 and a light source 22, as shown in FIG. 3.

Here, the projection lens 21 is a focusing lens that focuses the light emitted by the light source 22 onto the wall surface 100. The projection lens 21 is, for example, a convex lens made of resin, but is not limited to this.

The light source 22 is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light source that emits continuous light including a first wavelength band that constitutes the detection light and a second wavelength band that constitutes the reference light, with the peak wavelength being on the second wavelength band side. Specifically, the light source 22 is an LED light source made of a compound semiconductor.

Figure 5 shows the absorption spectra of water and water vapor. As shown in Figure 5, water has an absorption peak P1 at a wavelength of approximately 1450 nm and an absorption peak P2 at a wavelength of approximately 1940 nm. Water vapor has absorption peaks at wavelengths slightly lower than the absorption peaks P1 and P2 of water, specifically at wavelengths of approximately 1350 nm to 1400 nm and approximately 1800 nm to 1900 nm.

For this reason, a wavelength band in which water has a high absorbance is selected as the first wavelength band forming the detection light, and a wavelength band in which water has a lower absorbance than the first wavelength band is selected as the second wavelength band forming the reference light. As an example, the average wavelength of the second wavelength band is longer than the average wavelength of the first wave body. Since the light source 22 irradiates light that includes the first and second wavelength bands in succession, the wall surface 100 is irradiated with detection light including the first wavelength band, which is highly absorbed by water, and reference light including the second wavelength band, which is less absorbed by water than the first wavelength band.

(Light receiving section)
3, the light receiving unit 9 has a light receiving lens 71, a half mirror 34, a first band pass filter 72, a first light receiving element 73, a second band pass filter 42, and a second light receiving element 43. In the light receiving unit 9, the reflected light RA1 irradiated by the light emitting unit 8 and reflected by the wall surface 100 is collected by the light receiving lens 71 and split by the half mirror 34 into a first optical path LR01 and a second optical path LR02.

Here, the light receiving lens 71 is a focusing lens for focusing the reflected light RA1 reflected by the wall surface 100 onto the first light receiving element 73 and the second light receiving element 43. The light receiving lens 71 is fixed to the light receiving unit 9 so that the focal point is located on the light receiving surface of the first light receiving element 73. The light receiving lens 71 is, for example, a convex lens made of resin, but is not limited to this.

The half mirror 34 is disposed, for example, between the light receiving lens 71 and the first light receiving element 73, and transmits half of the light collected by the light receiving lens 71 and reflects the remainder. At the end of the first optical path LR01 that passes through the half mirror 34, a first bandpass filter 72 and a first light receiving element 73 are provided.

The first bandpass filter 72 is a bandpass filter for extracting light of a first wavelength band from the reflected light RA1. Specifically, the first bandpass filter 72 is disposed between the half mirror 34 and the first light receiving element 73, and is provided on the optical path of the reflected light that passes through the half mirror 34 and enters the first light receiving element 73. The first bandpass filter 72 transmits light of the first wavelength band and reflects or absorbs light of other wavelength bands.

The first light receiving element 73 is a light receiving element that receives light of a first wavelength band that is transmitted through the half mirror 34 and the first band pass filter 72 from the reflected light RA1 reflected by the wall surface 100, and converts it into an electrical signal (hereinafter also referred to as the "first electrical signal"). The first light receiving element 73 photoelectrically converts the received light of the first wavelength band to generate a first electrical signal corresponding to the amount of light received (i.e., the intensity). The generated first electrical signal is output to the control unit 5. The first light receiving element 73 is, for example, a photodiode, but is not limited to this. For example, the first light receiving element 73 may be a phototransistor or an image sensor.

The second bandpass filter 42 is a bandpass filter for extracting light of the second wavelength band from the light reflected by the half mirror 34. Specifically, the second bandpass filter 42 is disposed between the half mirror 34 and the second light receiving element 43, and is provided on the optical path of the light that is reflected by the half mirror 34 and enters the second light receiving element 43. The second bandpass filter 42 transmits light of the second wavelength band, and reflects or absorbs light of other wavelength bands.

The second light receiving element 43 is a light receiving element that receives the light of the second wavelength band that is transmitted through the second band pass filter 42 from the reflected light RA1 reflected by the wall surface 100 and converts it into an electrical signal (hereinafter also referred to as the "second electrical signal"). The second light receiving element 43 photoelectrically converts the received light of the second wavelength band to generate a second electrical signal corresponding to the amount of light received (i.e., the intensity). The generated second electrical signal is output to the control unit 5. The second light receiving element 43 is a light receiving element of the same shape as the first light receiving element 73. In other words, if the first light receiving element 73 is a photodiode, the second light receiving element 43 is also a photodiode.

(Control Unit)
The control unit 5 controls the lighting of the light source 22 of the light emitting unit 8, and has a moisture amount calculation unit 56 that calculates the moisture amount by processing the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal output from the first light receiving element 73 and the second light receiving element 43, and a mold determination unit 57 that predicts the occurrence of mold on the wall surface 100.

The control unit 5 may be housed within the main body 2, or may be attached to the outer surface of the main body 2. Alternatively, the control unit 5 may be divided into multiple units, have a communication function such as wireless communication, and receive a first electrical signal from the first light receiving element 73 and a second electrical signal from the second light receiving element 43.

4, the control unit 5 has a light source control unit 51, a first amplifier unit 52, a second amplifier unit 53, a first signal processing unit 54, a second signal processing unit 55, a moisture content calculation unit 56, a mold determination unit 57, and an air supply control unit 58. As described above, the control unit 5 has one or more microcontrollers. In the following description, the microcontrollers of the light source control unit 51, the first signal processing unit 54, the second signal processing unit 55, the moisture content calculation unit 56, the mold determination unit 57, and the air supply control unit 58 may be the same microcontroller or different microcontrollers.

Here, the light source control unit 51 is composed of a drive circuit and a microcontroller. The light source control unit 51 has a non-volatile memory in which a control program for the light source 22 is stored, a volatile memory which is a temporary storage area for executing the program, an input/output port, a processor for executing the program, and the like. The light source control unit 51 controls the light source 22 so that the light source 22 is turned on and off repeatedly at a predetermined light emission cycle. Specifically, the light source control unit 51 outputs a pulse signal of a predetermined frequency (e.g., 1 kHz) to the light source 22, thereby turning the light source 22 on and off at a predetermined light emission cycle.

The first amplifier 52 amplifies the first electrical signal output by the first light receiving element 73 and outputs it to the first signal processing unit 54. Specifically, the first amplifier 52 is an operational amplifier that amplifies the first electrical signal.

The first signal processing unit 54 is composed of a microcontroller. The first signal processing unit 54 has a non-volatile memory in which a processing program for the first electrical signal is stored, a volatile memory which is a temporary storage area for executing the program, an input/output port, a processor for executing the program, and the like. The first signal processing unit 54 performs passband limitation on the first electrical signal and corrects the phase delay due to the passband limitation, and then performs multiplication processing with the light emission period of the light source 22. This processing on the first electrical signal is so-called lock-in amplifier processing. This makes it possible to remove noise due to ambient light to a certain extent from the first electrical signal.

The second amplifier 53 amplifies the second electrical signal output by the second light receiving element 43 and outputs it to the second signal processing unit 55. Specifically, the second amplifier 53 is an operational amplifier that amplifies the second electrical signal.

The second signal processing unit 55 is composed of a microcontroller. The second signal processing unit 55 has a non-volatile memory in which a processing program for the second electrical signal is stored, a volatile memory which is a temporary storage area for executing the program, an input/output port, a processor for executing the program, and the like. The second signal processing unit 55 performs passband limitation on the second electrical signal and corrects the phase delay due to the passband limitation, and then performs multiplication processing with the light emission period of the light source 22. The processing on this second electrical signal is so-called lock-in amplifier processing. This makes it possible to remove noise due to ambient light to a certain extent from the second electrical signal.

The moisture amount calculation unit 56 calculates the amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100 based on the first electrical signal output from the first light receiving element 73 and the second electrical signal output from the second light receiving element 43. That is, the moisture amount calculation unit 56 calculates the amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100, which is the target, by comparing the intensity of the reflected light of the detection light received by the light receiving unit 9 with the reflected light of the reference light. Specifically, the moisture amount calculation unit 56 calculates the amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100 based on the ratio (signal ratio) between the voltage level of the first electrical signal and the voltage level of the second electrical signal. In this embodiment, the moisture amount calculation unit 56 calculates the amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100 based on the first electrical signal processed by the first signal processing unit 54 and the second electrical signal processed by the second signal processing unit 55. In the following, the first electrical signal processed by the first signal processing unit 54 may also be simply referred to as the first electrical signal, and the second electrical signal processed by the second signal processing unit 55 may also be simply referred to as the second electrical signal. The moisture amount calculation unit 56 outputs the calculated moisture amount to the mold determination unit 57. The specific moisture amount calculation process will be described later.

The moisture content calculation unit 56 is composed of, for example, a microcontroller. The moisture content calculation unit 56 has a non-volatile memory in which a signal processing program is stored, a volatile memory which is a temporary storage area for executing the program, an input/output port, a processor for executing the program, and the like.

(Water content calculation process)
The moisture amount calculation process by the moisture amount calculation unit 56 will be described. In this embodiment, the moisture amount calculation unit 56 calculates the amount of components contained in the wall surface 100 by comparing the optical energy Pd of the detection light contained in the reflected light with the optical energy Pr of the reference light. Note that the optical energy Pd of the detection light corresponds to the intensity of the first electrical signal output from the first light receiving element 73, and the optical energy Pr of the reference light corresponds to the intensity of the second electrical signal output from the second light receiving element 43.

The light energy Pd is expressed by the following (Equation 1).

(Formula 1) Pd=Pd0×Gd×Rd×Td×Aad×Ivd
Here, Pd0 is the optical energy of the light in the first wavelength band that constitutes the detection light among the light emitted by the light source 22. Gd is the coupling efficiency of the light in the first wavelength band to the first light receiving element 73 ( Specifically, Gd is a part of the component of the light emitted by the light source 22 that is diffusely reflected by the target object (wall surface 100) (i.e., the detection light included in the reflected light). This corresponds to the proportion of the

Rd is the reflectance of the detection light by the wall surface 100. Td is the transmittance of the detection light by the first bandpass filter 72. Ivd is the light receiving sensitivity of the first light receiving element 73 to the detection light contained in the reflected light.

Aad is the absorption rate of the detection light by the components (moisture) present on the wall surface 100, and is expressed by the following (Equation 2).

(Formula 2) Aad=10-αa×Ca×D
Here, αa is a predetermined absorption coefficient, specifically, the absorption coefficient of the detection light due to the component (moisture), and Ca is the volume concentration of the component (moisture) present on the wall surface 100. D is the contribution thickness, which is twice the thickness of the component that contributes to the absorption of the detection light.

More specifically, in the case of a wall surface 100 in which moisture is uniformly dispersed, when light is incident on the wall surface 100 and is reflected and emitted from the wall surface 100, Ca corresponds to the volume concentration contained in the components of the wall surface 100. Furthermore, D corresponds to the optical path length from reflection to emission from the wall surface 100. For example, Ca is the moisture concentration contained in the liquid phase covering the wall surface 100. Furthermore, D is the contribution thickness converted into the average thickness of the liquid phase covering the wall surface 100.

Therefore, αa×Ca×D corresponds to the amount of components (amount of moisture) present on the wall surface 100. From the above, it can be seen that the light energy Pd, which corresponds to the intensity of the first electrical signal, changes depending on the amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100. Note that the absorbance of moisture is extremely small compared to that of moisture, so it can be ignored.

Similarly, the light energy Pr of the reference light incident on the second light receiving element 43 is expressed by the following (Equation 3):

(Formula 3) Pr=Pr0×Gr×Rr×Tr×Ivr
In this embodiment, it can be considered that the reference light is not substantially absorbed by the components contained in the wall surface 100, and therefore, as can be seen by comparing with (Equation 1), The term is not included in (Equation 3).

In (Equation 3), Pr0 is the light energy of the light in the second wavelength band that constitutes the reference light among the light emitted by the light source 22. Gr is the coupling efficiency (light collection rate) of the reference light emitted by the light source 22 to the second light receiving element 43. Specifically, Gr corresponds to the proportion of the reference light that becomes part of the component that is diffusely reflected by the wall surface 100 (i.e., the reference light contained in the reflected light). Rr is the reflectance of the reference light by the object. Tr is the transmittance of the reference light by the second bandpass filter 42. Ivr is the light receiving sensitivity of the second light receiving element 43 to the reflected light.

In this embodiment, the light irradiated from the light source 22, i.e., the detection light and the reference light, are irradiated coaxially and with the same spot size, so that the coupling efficiency Gd of the detection light and the coupling efficiency Gr of the reference light are approximately equal. In addition, since the peak wavelengths of the detection light and the reference light are relatively close, the reflectance Rd of the detection light and the reflectance Rr of the reference light are approximately equal.

Therefore, by taking the ratio (signal ratio) of (Equation 1) to (Equation 3), the following (Equation 4) is derived.

(Formula 4) Pd/Pr=Z×Aad
Here, Z is a constant term and is shown in (Equation 5).

(Formula 5) Z=(Pd0/Pr0)×(Td/Tr)×(Ivd/Ivr)
The light energies Pd0 and Pr0 are respectively predetermined as the initial outputs of the light source 22. The transmittances Td and Tr are respectively predetermined based on the transmission characteristics of the first band-pass filter 72 and the second band-pass filter 42. The light receiving sensitivity Ivd and the light receiving sensitivity Ivr are determined in advance based on the light receiving characteristics of the first light receiving element 73 and the second light receiving element 43, respectively. Therefore, Z shown in (Equation 5) is a constant. It can be regarded as such.

The moisture content calculation unit 56 calculates the light energy Pd of the detection light based on the first electrical signal, and calculates the light energy Pr of the reference light based on the second electrical signal. Specifically, the signal level (voltage level) of the first electrical signal corresponds to the light energy Pd, and the signal level (voltage level) of the second electrical signal corresponds to the light energy Pr.

Therefore, the moisture amount calculation unit 56 can calculate the absorption rate Aad of the moisture contained in the target wall surface 100 based on (Equation 4). This allows the moisture amount calculation unit 56 to calculate the moisture amount based on (Equation 2). The moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit 56 is passed to the mold determination unit 57 as a value obtained by dividing the weight [g] of the moisture present in the target area by the area [m2] (square meters) of the target area.

It is to be noted that moisture (water vapor) may also be present in the space, and it is possible that the detection light and the reference light may be absorbed by the water vapor. The control unit 5 of the dehumidifier 1 may be provided with a correction unit that corrects the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal to cancel the absorption by the water vapor.

(Moisture detection range)
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a schematic of the detection range A of the light-emitting unit 8 and the light-receiving unit 9 according to the embodiment. The detection range A is preferably set to be equal to or wider than the range in which the dehumidified air is blown by the dehumidifier 1. The detection range A is also equal to or wider than the light-receiving range of the light-receiving unit 9. As shown in FIG. 6, the unit area R is an area in which light is detected individually by the light-receiving unit 9. The unit area R may be equal in size to the detection range A, or may be smaller than the detection range A. For example, in FIG. 6, the unit area R is a size obtained by dividing the detection range A into six vertically and six horizontally. As a method of detecting each of the unit areas R S11 to S66, for example, an image sensor may be used for the first light-receiving element 73 and the second light-receiving element 43. As another method, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, a method is adopted in which the light-emitting unit 8 is caused to scan and irradiate the irradiation area while scanning, and at the same time, the light-receiving area of the light-receiving unit 9 is also scanned to receive the reflected light of each area. As a scanning means, for example, a base to which a light emitting unit 8 and a light receiving unit 9 are fixed is arranged so as to be rotatable about two orthogonal axes using two stepping motors (not shown). One stepping motor is arranged at an angle that allows the irradiation area to be scanned in the main scanning direction of Fig. 7, and the other stepping motor is arranged at an angle that allows the irradiation area to be scanned in the sub-scanning direction of Fig. 7. Figs. 6 and 7 show an example in which six locations are detected at equal intervals per row, and six locations are detected at equal intervals per column.

(Moisture content calculation process)
Next, the moisture content calculation process using the scanning method shown in Fig. 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the moisture content calculation process performed by the control unit 5.

First, the control unit 5 moves the irradiation area of the light-emitting unit 8 and the light-receiving area of the light-receiving unit 9 to the reference position (S11 in FIG. 7) and sets the variable n to 1 (step St1). Next, the control unit 5 sets the designated position of each area to Sn6 (step St2). For example, when the variable n is 1, the designated position is S16.

Next, the control unit 5 moves the irradiation area and the light receiving area in parallel with the main scanning direction shown in FIG. 7 (here, from left to right) and moves them by the stepping motor so that they are located at the specified position Sn6 (step St3). The control unit 5 determines whether the irradiation area and the light receiving area are located at the center of the unit area R (step St4). The determination of whether they are located at the center of the unit area R is calculated, for example, from the number of driving steps of the stepping motor. That is, the control unit 5 counts the number of driving steps of the stepping motor, and when it reaches the number of driving steps for when it is located at the center of the unit area R, it determines that it is located at the center of the unit area R. If the irradiation area and the light receiving area are not located at the center of the unit area R (step St4: no), the control unit 5 continues driving the stepping motor (step St3). If the irradiation area and the light receiving area are located at the center of the unit area R (step St4: yes), the control unit 5 acquires the light receiving intensity (step St5), calculates the moisture content from the intensity ratio, and stores it in the moisture content table T. More specifically, the light source control unit 51 of the control unit 5 controls the light source 22 to cause the light emitter 8 to emit the detection light and the reference light, and the light receiver 9 receives the reflected light of the detection light and the reflected light of the reference light. The first signal processing unit 54 of the control unit 5 performs a process to remove noise on the first electric signal from the first light receiving element 73 of the light receiver 9, and the second signal processing unit 55 performs a process to remove noise on the second electric signal from the second light receiving element 43. The moisture amount calculation unit 56 of the control unit 5 calculates the light energy Pd of the detection light based on the first electric signal processed by the first signal processing unit 54, and calculates the light energy Pr of the reference light based on the second electric signal processed by the second signal processing unit 55. The moisture amount calculation unit 56 also calculates the moisture absorption rate Aad using the calculated light energy Pd of the detection light and the light energy Pr of the reference light according to the above-mentioned (Equation 4), and calculates the amount of moisture (αa×Ca×D) present on the wall surface 100 according to the above-mentioned (Equation 2). The moisture amount calculation unit 56 stores the calculated moisture amount (here, the moisture amount per unit area) present on the wall surface 100 in a corresponding position in a moisture amount table T shown in Fig. 9. For example, the moisture amount of the unit area S11 is stored in T11 of the moisture amount table T. The moisture amount table T will be described later.

Next, the control unit 5 determines whether the currently located unit area R is the designated position Sn6 (step St7). If the unit area R is not the designated position Sn6 (step St7: no), the control unit 5 continues driving the stepping motor (step St3). If the unit area R is the designated position Sn6 (step St7: yes), the control unit 5 stops driving the stepping motor (step St8). The control unit 5 adds 1 to the variable n and moves the irradiation area and the light receiving area toward Sn6 in parallel with the sub-scanning direction in FIG. 7 (here, from top to bottom) (step St9).

Next, the control unit 5 sets the designated position to Sn1 (step St10). For example, when the variable n is 2, the designated position becomes S21. The control unit 5 moves the irradiation area and the light receiving area in the opposite direction to step St2 (here, from right to left) parallel to the main scanning direction in FIG. 7, and moves the stepping motor so that they are positioned at the designated position Sn1 (step St11). The control unit 5 performs the same process as steps St4 to St8 (steps St12 to St16).

Next, the control unit 5 determines whether the variable n is 6 (step St17). If the variable n is not 6 (step St17: no), the control unit 5 adds 1 to the variable n, moves the irradiation area and the light receiving area in parallel with the sub-scanning direction in FIG. 7 (here, from top to bottom) toward the designated position Sn1 (step St18), and performs the process again from step St2.

On the other hand, if the variable n is 6 (step St17: yes), the control unit 5 terminates the moisture content calculation process.

Next, the moisture content table T will be explained using Figure 9.

9 is a diagram showing the moisture amount table T that stores the moisture amount calculation results. The moisture amount table T is configured so that the calculated moisture amount of each unit area R can be stored in the positions corresponding to each of S11 to S66, which are unit areas R shown in FIG. 7. That is, in FIG. 7, the detection range A is divided into 6 rows and 6 columns as an example, so the moisture amount table T shown in FIG. 9 is also configured as a matrix of 6 rows and 6 columns. For example, the moisture amount calculated for S11 (1st row, 1st column), which is the unit area R shown in FIG. 7, is stored in T11 (1st row, 1st column) of the moisture amount table T shown in FIG. 9. When the moisture amount calculation process shown in FIG. 8 is completed, the moisture amount calculation result for each unit area R is stored in the moisture amount table T shown in FIG. 9. Note that this moisture amount table T is temporarily recorded in the volatile memory of the moisture amount calculation unit 56. Based on the information in this moisture amount table T, the mold determination unit 57 performs the mold determination process described below. In this embodiment, the information in the moisture amount table T is used in the mold determination process as individual information for each unit area R, but it may also be averaged and processed into one or a few pieces of information.

(Mold detection)
Next, the operation of the mold determination unit 57 will be described with reference to Fig. 10 and Fig. 11. Fig. 10 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the mold determination unit 57, and Fig. 11 is a diagram showing mold determination information 61.

The mold determination unit 57 predicts mold occurrence on the target wall surface 100 based on the moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit 56, the ambient temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 6, and the ambient humidity detected by the humidity detection unit 7. When the dehumidifier 1 is drying, the mold determination unit 57 predicts mold occurrence on the wall surface 100 based on the moisture amount table T shown in FIG. 9 output from the moisture amount calculation unit 56, the ambient temperature output from the temperature detection unit 6, the ambient humidity output from the humidity detection unit 7, and the measurement time interval.

As this prediction method, the mold determination unit 57 calculates the risk of mold growth on the wall surface 100 using a mold prediction unit 62 that periodically compares environmental information consisting of the moisture amount of the wall surface 100 calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit 56, the ambient temperature, and the ambient humidity with mold determination information 61. That is, the mold determination unit 57 predicts mold growth on the wall surface 100 based on the mold determination information 61 that represents the relationship between the environmental information consisting of the moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit 56, the ambient temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 6, and the ambient humidity detected by the humidity detection unit 7, and the likelihood of mold growth.

The mold determination unit 57 is composed of, for example, a microcontroller. The mold determination unit 57 has a non-volatile memory in which a mold determination processing program and the like are stored, a volatile memory which is a temporary storage area for executing the program, an input/output port, a processor for executing the program, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 10, the mold determination unit 57 has mold determination information 61 and a mold prediction unit 62.

As shown in Fig. 11, the mold determination information 61 stores a mold determination index 66 indicating the likelihood of mold growth in a table format in correspondence with environmental information such as moisture content 63, ambient temperature 64, and ambient humidity 65. The mold determination information 61 is pre-recorded in the non-volatile memory described above.

Figure 11 shows, for example, that when the moisture content 63 is "100~" (100 g/m2 or more), the ambient temperature 64 is "30~" (30°C or more), and the ambient humidity 65 is "80~" (80% RH or more), the mold determination index 66 is "0.080".

The mold prediction unit 62 calculates the mold occurrence risk by adding up the mold determination index according to the environmental information at each measurement time interval. If the mold occurrence risk exceeds 1, mold occurrence is predicted. In this embodiment, the mold occurrence risk is stored in a table (hereinafter also referred to as the "mold occurrence risk table") with the same matrix as the moisture amount table T. In other words, the mold occurrence risk is calculated for each unit area R and stored as distribution information within the wall surface 100, but it may be averaged and processed into one or a few pieces of information. In addition, if the moisture amount 63 is "0 to 10" (0 to 10 [g/m2]), the ambient temperature 64 is "up to 20" (20°C or less), and the ambient humidity 65 is "up to 40" (40% RH or less) for a certain period of time, the mold occurrence risk may be reset.

As described above, the dehumidifier 1 of this embodiment comprises a main body 2, an intake port 10 for drawing air into the main body 2, an exhaust port 11 for blowing the air drawn in from the intake port 10 to the outside, a blower unit 3 for transporting air from the intake port 10 to the exhaust port 11, a dehumidifier unit 4 for dehumidifying the air drawn in from the intake port 10, a temperature detector unit 6 for detecting the ambient temperature, which is the temperature of a specified space, a humidity detector unit 7 for detecting the ambient humidity, which is the humidity of a specified space, a light emitter unit 8 for emitting light towards the wall surface 100, a light receiver unit 9 for receiving light reflected from the wall surface 100 in response to the emitted light, and a controller unit 5 for controlling the blowing of air from the exhaust port 11. The light-emitting unit 8 irradiates the wall surface 100 with detection light including a first wavelength band which is absorbed by water, and reference light including a second wavelength band which is light less absorbed by water than the detection light, and the light-receiving unit 9 has a first light-receiving element 73 which receives the detection light reflected by the wall surface 100 and converts it into a first electric signal, and a second light-receiving element 43 which receives the reference light reflected by the wall surface 100 and converts it into a second electric signal. The control unit 5 has a moisture amount calculation unit 56 which calculates the moisture amount from a signal ratio between the first electric signal and the second electric signal, and a mold determination unit 57 which determines the risk of mold growth on the wall surface 100 based on the moisture amount, the ambient humidity, and the ambient temperature.

With this configuration, the dehumidifier 1 can detect the moisture content of the wall surface 100 more accurately. Therefore, the dehumidifier 1 can more accurately predict mold growth on the wall surface 100, which was previously not possible to predict accurately. The prediction of mold growth is performed based on the mold growth risk calculated by the mold determination unit 57. The mold determination unit 57 predicts that mold will grow if the mold growth risk is 1.

In addition, the mold determination unit 57 has a mold prediction unit 62 that periodically compares environmental information consisting of the moisture amount of the wall surface 100 calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit 56, the ambient temperature, and the ambient humidity with mold determination information 61. The mold prediction unit 62 compares the moisture amount table T with the ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and the mold determination information 61 stored therein, and determines the risk of mold growth at each measurement time interval.

This configuration enables the dehumidifier 1 to more accurately predict mold occurrence according to the surrounding environment and the distribution of moisture on the wall surface 100. Specifically, the mold prediction unit 62 calculates the mold occurrence risk by adding up the mold occurrence indexes present in the mold determination information 61 for each measurement time interval. When the value of the mold occurrence risk exceeds 1, the mold prediction unit 62 determines that mold has occurred.

The dehumidifier 1 according to the present embodiment is also provided with a display unit 12 (see FIG. 4) that displays information related to the prediction by the mold determination unit 57. Specifically, the display unit 12 displays the mold occurrence risk calculated by the mold determination unit 57 (mold prediction unit 62). The display unit 12 performs light-emitting diode display, liquid crystal panel display, or the like. The display unit 12 may display the mold occurrence risk table as distribution information, may display one or a small number of averaged data, or may display both. The display unit 12 is preferably provided on the upper part of the main body 2, but is not limited thereto. In addition, when the mold occurrence risk becomes equal to or exceeds a preset threshold value, the color of the light-emitting diode display of the display unit 12 is changed from green to yellow or red. This allows the user of the dehumidifier 1 to know that mold contamination has progressed.

With this configuration, the user of the dehumidifier 1 can know the risk and location of mold growth on an object such as a wall surface 100, and can therefore decide whether or not to remove mold that cannot be dealt with by drying using the dehumidifier 1.

The dehumidifier 1 also includes an airflow control unit 58 (see FIG. 4) that controls at least one of the airflow unit 3 and the dehumidification unit 4, and the airflow control unit 58 controls the airflow based on the mold growth risk determined by the mold determination unit 57. The airflow control unit 58 controls the airflow to start at a portion where the mold growth risk is 0.1 or higher, for example, and to stop the airflow when the mold determination index for each measurement time interval falls to 0.05 or lower. In other words, the dehumidifier 1 includes an airflow control unit 58 that controls the airflow by the airflow unit 3 based on the prediction of mold growth on the wall surface 100 by the mold determination unit 57.

(Electric fan)
Next, an electric fan 81 will be described as an example of a blower device according to the present disclosure. Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the electric fan 81.

12 shows an electric fan 81 equipped with an axial fan 84 having multiple blades 82 fixed to the rotating shaft of a motor 83. In other words, the axial fan 84 corresponds to the blower section of the present disclosure, which blows air by rotating the multiple blades 82 with the motor 83. The blades 82 attached to the axial fan 84 are covered by a front guard 86 and a rear guard 87, and the rotation of the motor 83 enables the blowing of air. The axial fan 84 is fixed to one end of a main body shaft 85, the other end of which is fixed to a base 88. The axial fan 84 is installed in a structure that allows it to move left and right and up and down relative to the main body shaft 85.

The electric fan 81 is provided with a moisture amount detection unit 13 that detects the amount of moisture on the target wall surface 100, on a base 88 of the electric fan 81 shown in Fig. 12. Although not shown in Fig. 12, the moisture amount detection unit 13 has a light-emitting unit 8, a light-receiving unit 9, and a moisture amount calculation unit 56 similar to those of the above-mentioned dehumidifier 1, and the electric fan 81 also has a mold determination unit 57 similar to those of the above-mentioned dehumidifier 1.

As shown in Fig. 12, when an electric fan 81 blows air onto a wall surface 100 hung out to dry indoors to dry it, the moisture detection unit 13 accurately detects the amount of moisture adhering to the wall surface 100. Then, based on the mold risk predicted by a mold determination unit 57 (not shown in Fig. 12) based on the ambient temperature and ambient humidity, the airflow control unit (not shown) of the electric fan 81 can control the wind direction, air volume, airflow time, etc. For example, the airflow control unit of the electric fan 81 starts blowing air to areas where the mold growth risk is 0.1 or higher, and controls the airflow to stop when the mold determination index for each measurement time interval falls to 0.05 or lower.

(Bathroom dryer)
Next, a bathroom dryer 91 will be described as an example of a blower device according to the present disclosure. Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of bathroom dryer 91.

Figure 13 shows a bathroom dryer 91 used for drying clothes and drying the bathroom in a bathroom. The bathroom dryer 91 shown in Figure 13 comprises a main body case 92 and a heating unit 95. The bathroom dryer 91 has an exterior composed of a main body case 92 having an intake port 10 that takes in air from the bathroom into the bathroom dryer 91, and an outlet port 11 that blows out the air sucked in through the intake port 10. In addition, a heating unit 95 that heats the air sucked in through the intake port 10 is provided in the ventilation path from the intake port 10 to the outlet port 11. In addition, a blower unit 93 that circulates air from the intake port 10 to the outlet port 11 is arranged in the ventilation path.

The bathroom dryer 91 further includes an air direction control unit 96 that changes the direction of the air blown from the air outlet 11, a ventilation unit 97 that ventilates the bathroom, and an operation control unit 98 that controls the amount of heating, the amount of air blown, the air direction, etc. of the bathroom dryer 91. The bathroom dryer 91 has a drying mode that controls the amount of heating, the amount of air blown, the air direction, etc. for the purpose of drying clothes or the bathroom.

In the drying mode of the bathroom dryer 91, since the material, position, size, etc. of the object to be dried differs between clothes drying and bathroom drying, it is necessary to appropriately detect the dryness state and control the operation of the bathroom dryer 91. Therefore, the bathroom dryer 91 is equipped with a moisture amount detection unit 13 that detects the moisture amount of the object to be dried. Although not shown in Figure 13, the moisture amount detection unit 13 has a light-emitting unit 8, a light-receiving unit 9, and a moisture amount calculation unit 56 similar to those of the dehumidifier 1 described above, and the bathroom dryer 91 also has a mold determination unit 57 similar to that of the dehumidifier 1 described above.

As shown in FIG. 13, when the bathroom dryer 91 blows air to dry clothes hung out to dry in the bathroom, the moisture amount detection unit 13 accurately detects the amount of moisture present on the wall surface 100 or floor surface 101, and the mold determination unit 57 (not shown in FIG. 13) determines the risk of mold growth. The operation control unit 98 starts heated air blowing, for example, when the risk of mold growth determined by the mold determination unit 57 is higher than a predetermined value. The predetermined value is, for example, 0.3. The temperature rise in the bathroom caused by the heated air blowing accelerates the evaporation of water droplets. Therefore, the rate of mold growth is suppressed compared to the case of only air blowing. In addition, the operation control unit 98 may control the air direction control unit 96 to blow air toward a part where the risk of mold growth is 0.1 or more, and stop blowing air when the mold determination index for each measurement time interval becomes 0.05 or less. The operation control unit 98 corresponds to the air blowing control unit of the present disclosure that controls the air blowing by the air blowing unit based on the prediction by the mold determination unit 57.

[effect]
The blower (1, 81, 91) according to the embodiment includes a blower (3, 84, 93) that blows air to a wall surface 100 that is an object, a temperature detector 6 that detects an ambient temperature that is the temperature of a predetermined space, a humidity detector 7 that detects an ambient humidity that is the humidity of a predetermined space, a moisture amount detector 13 that detects the amount of moisture on the wall surface 100, and a mold determination unit 57 that predicts the occurrence of mold on the wall surface 100. The moisture amount detector 13 includes a light emitter 8 that emits a detection light that is a light having a wavelength absorbed by water toward the wall surface 100 and a reference light that is a light having a wavelength that is less absorbed by water than the detection light, a light receiver 9 that receives the detection light reflected from the wall surface 100 and the reference light reflected, and a moisture amount calculator 56 that calculates the amount of moisture by comparing the intensity of the reflected light of the detection light and the reflected light of the reference light received by the light receiver 9. Then, the mold determination unit 57 makes a prediction based on the moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit 56 , the ambient temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 6 , and the ambient humidity detected by the humidity detection unit 7 .

According to this configuration, the air blower (1, 81, 91) according to this embodiment can detect the amount of moisture on the wall surface 100 more accurately. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately predict the occurrence of mold on the wall surface 100, which was previously not possible to predict accurately. Therefore, the air blower (1, 81, 91) according to this embodiment can suppress the occurrence of mold due to moisture and condensation on the wall surface 100.

In addition, the mold determination unit 57 has a mold prediction unit 62 that periodically compares environmental information consisting of the moisture amount of the wall surface 100 calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit 56, the ambient temperature, and the ambient humidity with mold determination information 61. The mold prediction unit 62 compares the moisture amount table T with the ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and the mold determination information 61 stored therein, and determines the risk of mold growth at each measurement time interval.

This configuration allows the user of the air blower (1, 81, 91) according to this embodiment to know the risk of mold growth and the location of the mold growth on the target object such as the wall surface 100. Therefore, the user of the air blower (1, 81, 91) can decide whether or not to remove mold that cannot be dealt with by drying with the air blower (1, 81, 91).

In addition, the air blowing device (1, 81, 91) includes an air blowing control unit 58 that controls the air blowing unit (3, 84, 93), and the air blowing control unit 58 controls the air blowing based on the mold growth risk determined by the mold determination unit 57. For example, the air blowing control unit 58 starts air blowing to a portion where the mold growth risk is 0.1 or more, and controls the air blowing to stop when the mold determination index for each measurement time interval becomes 0.05 or less.

With this configuration, the air blower (1, 81, 91) can blow air according to the risk of mold growth on the target object such as the wall surface 100. That is, while a long time of air blowing operation was conventionally required to suppress mold growth, the air blower (1, 81, 91) can perform optimal air blowing control. For example, the air blower (1, 81, 91) can suppress excessive power consumption in areas with few water droplets, and can prevent mold growth due to insufficient air blowing operation in areas with many water droplets.

The blowing section of the blower (81) is an axial fan 84 that blows air by rotating multiple blades 82 with a motor 83. The moisture amount detection section 13 of the blower (81) detects the amount of moisture adhering to the wall surface 100 more accurately, and the blower (81) can control the wind direction, air volume, blowing time, etc. based on the mold risk predicted based on the ambient temperature and ambient humidity. For example, the blower (81) starts blowing air to areas where the mold growth risk is 0.1 or more, and controls the blowing to stop when the mold determination index for each measurement time interval becomes 0.05 or less.

According to this configuration, the blower (81) can blow air with high directionality using the axial fan 84. Therefore, the blower (81) can efficiently blow air to areas with a high risk of mold growth, and can suppress mold growth with less power consumption.

The blower (91) further includes a main body case 92 having an air inlet 10 and an outlet 11, and a heating section 95 for heating the air sucked through the inlet 10 in the ventilation path from the inlet 10 to the outlet 11. The blower (91) blows heated air when the moisture content is greater than a first predetermined value, and only blows air when the moisture content is less than the predetermined value.

This configuration enables the air blower (91) to blow high-temperature air to the target object. Therefore, the air blower (91) can efficiently evaporate and remove water droplets present in areas with a high risk of mold growth. Therefore, the air blower (91) can suppress mold growth in a short time compared to when only air is blown.

In addition, this disclosure also includes forms that can be obtained by making various modifications to each embodiment that would occur to a person skilled in the art, and forms that can be realized by arbitrarily combining the components and functions of each embodiment without departing from the spirit of this disclosure.

The air blower disclosed herein is useful primarily as an air blower for use in bathrooms and other rooms in ordinary households.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 1 Dehumidifier 2 Main body 3 Air blower 4 Dehumidifier 5 Control unit 6 Temperature detector 7 Humidity detector 8 Light emitter 9 Light receiver 10 Inlet 11 Air outlet 12 Display unit 13 Moisture detector 21 Light projector lens 22 Light source 34 Half mirror 42 Second bandpass filter 43 Second light receiver 51 Light source controller 52 First amplifier 53 Second amplifier 54 First signal processor 55 Second signal processor 56 Moisture calculator 57 Mold determination unit 58 Air blower controller 61 Mold determination information 62 Mold prediction unit 63 Moisture amount 64 Ambient temperature 65 Ambient humidity 66 Mold determination index 71 Light receiver lens 72 First bandpass filter 73 First light receiver 81 Electric fan 82 Blades 83 Motor Description of the Reference Signs 84 Axial fan 85 Main body shaft 86 Front guard 87 Rear guard 88 Base 91 Bathroom dryer 92 Main body case 93 Air blowing section 95 Heating section 96 Air direction control section 97 Ventilation section 98 Operation control section 100 Wall surface 101 Floor surface A Detection range LR01 First light path LR02 Second light path P1 Absorption peak P2 Absorption peak Pd Light energy Pr Light energy R Unit area S11 to S66 Unit area RA1 Reflected light T Moisture content table

Claims (6)

A blower that blows air to the target object;
A temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of a predetermined space;
A humidity detection unit that detects the humidity in the predetermined space;
A moisture content detection unit that detects the moisture content of the object;
A mold determination unit that predicts mold growth on the object,
The moisture content detection unit is
a light emitting unit that emits a detection light, which is light having a wavelength that is absorbed by water, toward the object and a reference light, which is light having a wavelength that is less easily absorbed by water than the detection light;
a light receiving unit that receives reflected light of the detection light and reflected light of the reference light from the object;
a moisture amount calculation unit that calculates the moisture amount by comparing an intensity of the reflected light of the detection light and an intensity of the reflected light of the reference light received by the light receiving unit,
The mold determination unit makes the prediction based on the moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit, the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit, and the humidity detected by the humidity detection unit. The blower device of claim 1, characterized in that the mold determination unit makes the prediction based on mold determination information that represents the relationship between environmental information consisting of the moisture amount calculated by the moisture amount calculation unit, the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit, and the humidity detected by the humidity detection unit, and the susceptibility of mold to growth. The air blower according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a display unit that displays information related to the prediction by the mold determination unit. The air blower according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an air blowing control unit that controls the air blown by the air blowing unit based on the prediction by the mold determination unit. The blower device according to claim 1 , wherein the blower is an axial flow fan that blows air by rotating a plurality of blades using a motor. The blower device further includes a main body case having an air inlet and an air outlet;
The blower device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a heating unit arranged in a ventilation path from the suction port to the air outlet, the heating unit heating the air sucked through the suction port.

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