JP7573145B2 - Humidification device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a humidifier that can humidify air.

Conventional humidifiers of this type have the following configuration:

That is, the conventional device is equipped with a main body case having an air outlet and an air intake, and, within the main body case, an air purifying filter that collects dust, a water tank that stores water, a humidifying filter that is partially immersed in the water in the water tank, and an air blowing section that blows air to the humidifying filter. It has a first air passage that communicates from the air intake to the air outlet via the air purifying filter and the first air blowing section, a second air passage that communicates from the air intake to the air outlet via the air purifying filter and the second air blowing section, and a third air passage that communicates from the air intake to the air outlet via the air purifying filter, the humidifying filter, and the second air blowing section in that order. It has a damper that opens and closes the second air passage, and the amount of humidification is adjusted by opening and closing the damper. Compared to when the damper opens the second air passage, when the damper closes the second air passage, the air volume in the second air passage disappears, and the air volumes in the first air passage and the third air passage increase, resulting in an increase in the amount of humidification (for example, a similar prior art document is described in Patent Document 1 below).

JP 2010-054113 A

In such a conventional humidifier, when the damper closes the second air passage, the air volume in the second air passage disappears and the air volumes in the first air passage and the third air passage increase, increasing the amount of humidification, compared to when the damper opens the second air passage. However, because the air flow resistance of the first air passage, which is the humidification air passage, is greater than the air flow resistance of the third air passage, the amount of increase in the air volume in the first air passage, which is the humidification air passage, due to the damper closing the second air passage is smaller than the amount of increase in the air volume in the third air passage. As a result, there was an issue of small change in the amount of humidification.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a device that includes a main body case having an air outlet and an air intake, a first air purifying filter and a second air purifying filter for collecting dust, a water tank for storing water, a humidifying filter containing the water in the water tank, an air blowing section for blowing air into the main body case from the air intake, a first air duct that communicates from the air intake successively through the first air purifying filter, the humidifying filter, and the air blowing section to the air outlet, a second air duct that communicates from the air intake successively through the second air purifying filter and the air blowing section to the air outlet, and The device is provided with an air volume adjustment unit that adjusts the air volume and is provided in a communicating air passage that communicates the second air purification filter in the second air passage and the blowing unit, and a control unit that controls the blowing unit and the air volume adjustment unit, wherein the air sucked in from the air intake by the blowing unit is blown to the air outlet via the first air passage or the second air passage in the main body case, and the air volume adjustment unit has a plate-shaped damper plate that opens and closes the communicating air passage, and a communication hole provided in the damper plate, thereby achieving the initial object.

As described above, the present invention can reduce the bias in the amount of dust captured by the first air cleaning filter and the second air cleaning filter, and can increase the change in the amount of humidification.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a humidifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. Cross-sectional view of the humidifier FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a filter frame, a filter unit, and a water tank of the humidifier; Exploded view of the filter frame and filter section of the humidifier Cross-sectional view of the humidifier FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a damper plate of an air volume adjustment unit of the humidifier and an intake port of a casing; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a damper plate of an air volume adjustment unit of the humidifier and an intake port of a casing; FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a damper plate of the air volume adjustment unit of the humidifier;

This embodiment will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a humidifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a humidifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention with a door open. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a humidifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a filter frame, a filter, and a water tank of a humidifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figures 1 to 4, the humidifier 1 of this embodiment includes a main body case 4 in the shape of a vertically long box having an air intake 2 and an air outlet 3, and inside the main body case 4, an air purifier 5, a humidifier 6, an air blower 7, an air volume adjustment unit 8, and a control unit 9. Inside the main body case 4, the air purifier 5 is disposed on the front side of the main body case 4, the air blower 7 is disposed on the rear side of the main body case 4, and the humidifier 6 is disposed between the air purifier 5 and the air blower 7.

The air intakes 2 are located on the left and right side surfaces of the main body case 4, and the air outlet 3 is located on the top surface of the main body case 4. The air outlet 3 has multiple louvers 3a that rotate in the vertical direction. In Figures 1, 2, and 3, the air outlet 3 is in a state where the louvers 3a are closed.

The air purifying section 5 captures fine particles and removes them from the airflow, and has a first air purifying filter 10 and a second air purifying filter 11. The first air purifying filter 10 is elongated, has a filter material folded into a bellows shape, and is provided on the downwind side of the air duct of the air intake 2. The second air purifying filter 11 is elongated, has a filter material folded into a bellows shape, and is provided on the downwind side of the air duct of the air intake 2. The horizontal dimensions of the first air purifying filter 10 and the second air purifying filter 11 are the same. The second air purifying filter 11 is provided above the first air purifying filter 10, and the first air purifying filter 10 and the second air purifying filter 11 are integrally formed and have a vertically elongated shape.

The humidifying section 6 holds water and promotes gas-liquid contact between the air to be humidified and the water, and is provided on the downwind side of the air duct of the first air purifying filter 10, which is the air purifying section 5. The humidifying section 6 has a water tank 12, a water tub 13, a humidifying filter 14, a filter frame 15, and a rotating member 16. There is an opening/closing door 4a on the side of the main body case 4, and when the door 4a is opened, the water tank 12 and the water tub 13 appear.

The water tank 12 is attached to the end of the water tub 13, and stores water in the water tank 12. Water is supplied from the water tank 12 to the water tub 13 via a valve mechanism, so that the water level in the water tub 13 is kept approximately constant. The water tank 12 may also be configured to supply water from a pipe connected to a water pipe.

The water tub 13 is roughly a horizontally long box shape with an open top, stores water supplied from the water tank 12, and is detachably mounted at the bottom of the main body case 4. The water tub 13 has a first support plate (not shown) and a second support plate 18 that are roughly vertically long plates extending upward. The upper part of the first support plate has a first bearing (not shown) that rotatably supports the filter frame 15, and the upper part of the second support plate 18 has a second bearing 20 that rotatably supports the filter frame 15.

Figure 5 is an exploded view of the filter frame and filter section of the humidifier according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figures 3 to 5, the humidifying filter 14 is disk-shaped, with a portion of its periphery periodically immersed in the water in the tank, and draws up water using capillary action. The water drawn up by capillary action is held in the connecting threads of the humidifying filter 14, and humidification is achieved by air passing through them. The humidifying filter 14 is held within a filter frame 15.

The filter frame 15 has an outer filter frame 21 and an inner filter frame 22.

The filter outer frame 21 has a circular shallow dish shape and has multiple openings 23 on its bottom surface. The center of the bottom surface of the filter outer frame 21 has a first shaft 24 that protrudes outward. The diameter of the filter outer frame 21 is slightly larger than the diameter of the filter inner frame 22.

The filter inner frame 22 has a circular shallow dish shape and has multiple openings 25 on its bottom surface. The filter inner frame 22 has a second shaft 26 protruding outward in the center of its bottom surface.

The humidifying filter 14 is disposed between the filter outer frame 21 and the filter inner frame 22, and the filter inner frame 22 is configured to fit within the filter outer frame 21. In this state, the second shaft 26 of the filter inner frame 22 and the first shaft 24 of the filter outer frame 21 each protrude outward. The filter frame 15 is rotatably supported by the first bearing provided on the first support plate of the water tank 13 and the second bearing 20 provided on the second support plate 18 by the first shaft 24 of the filter outer frame 21 and the second shaft 26 of the filter inner frame 22. The first shaft 24 of the filter outer frame 21 and the second shaft 26 of the filter inner frame 22 extend in the front-rear direction of the main body case 4 (the direction of airflow in the filter frame 15). The humidifying filter 14 and the filter frame 15 are configured to rotate in the vertical direction by the rotating member 16. The first shaft 24 of the filter outer frame 21 of the filter frame 15 is attached to the first bearing, and the second shaft 26 of the filter inner frame 22 is attached to the second bearing 20 so that part of the periphery of the humidification filter 14 is immersed in the water in the water tank 13.

As shown in FIG. 2, the blower 7 is provided in the center of the main body case 4 and includes a motor 27, a fan 28 rotated by the motor 27, and a scroll-shaped casing 29 that surrounds them.

The casing 29 is provided with an outlet 30 and an inlet 31. The outlet 30 is provided on the top surface side of the main body case 4 of the casing 29. The inlet 31 is provided on the front surface side of the main body case 4 of the casing 29.

The motor 27 has a rotating shaft 32 that extends horizontally from the front side to the rear side of the main body case 4.

The fan 28 is a sirocco fan, and is fixed to a rotating shaft 32 extending from the motor 27. When the rotating shaft 32 of the motor 27 rotates, the fan 28 also rotates, and air sucked in from the air intake 2 of the main body case 4 is blown to the air outlet 3 via the first air passage 33 or the second air passage 34 inside the main body case 4.

The first air passage 33 is an air passage that sequentially connects the intake 2 to the air outlet 3 via the first air purifying filter 10, the humidifying filter 14, and the air blower 7. First, when the fan 28 of the air blower 7 rotates, air outside the main body case 4 is sucked in from the intake 2 and blown into the first air passage 33. The air blown into the first air passage 33 passes through the first air purifying filter 10, which captures dust and other particles, turning it into purified air. Next, the purified air passes through the humidifying filter 14, which holds water, turning it into purified air that contains a lot of moisture, and is blown out of the main body case 4 from the air outlet 3 via the air blower 7.

The second air passage 34 is an air passage that sequentially connects the intake 2 to the outlet 3 via the second air purifying filter 11 and the blower 7. First, when the fan 28 of the blower 7 rotates, air outside the main body case 4 is sucked in through the intake 2 and blown into the second air passage 34. The air blown into the second air passage 34 passes through the second air purifying filter 11, which collects dust and other particles, turning it into clean air. Next, the clean air is blown out of the main body case 4 from the outlet 3 via the blower 7.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the humidifier of embodiment 1 of the present invention, with the air volume adjustment unit opening the second air passage. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the humidifier of embodiment 1 of the present invention, with the air volume adjustment unit closing the second air passage. Figure 7 is a perspective view of the damper plate of the air volume adjustment unit and the casing intake of the humidifier of embodiment 1 of the present invention, with the air volume adjustment unit opening the second air passage. Figure 8 is a perspective view of the damper plate of the air volume adjustment unit and the casing intake of the humidifier of embodiment 1 of the present invention, with the air volume adjustment unit closing the second air passage. Figure 9 is a perspective view of the damper plate of the air volume adjustment unit of the humidifier of embodiment 1 of the present invention.

As shown in Figures 3, 6 to 8, the air volume adjustment unit 8 is provided in the communication air passage 35 that connects the second air cleaning filter 11 in the second air passage 34 with the blower unit 7, and adjusts the air volume. The air volume adjustment unit 8 has a plate-shaped damper plate 36 that opens and closes the communication air passage 35, and a damper motor (not shown) that rotates the damper plate.

The communication air passage 35 is a horizontally elongated rectangular opening whose central axis extends in the vertical direction, and is disposed between the second air purification filter 11 and the blower 7. The dimension of the short side of the communication air passage 35 is slightly smaller than the dimension between the second air purification filter 11 and the blower 7 in the horizontal direction. The second air purification filter 11 and the blower 7 are disposed side by side in the front-to-rear direction of the main body case 4.

The damper plate 36 has a horizontally elongated rectangular plate shape and is provided between the second air cleaning filter 11 and the blower unit 7 so that it can rotate freely in the vertical direction. When the damper plate 36 closes the communicating air passage 35, one long side of the damper plate 36 is disposed on the second air cleaning filter 11 side, and the other long side is disposed on the blower unit 7 side. The length of the short side of the damper plate 36 is slightly larger than the dimension of the short side of the communicating air passage 35. The damper plate 36 rotates in the vertical direction by a damper motor. An example of a damper motor is a stepping motor.

The control unit 9 can adjust the air volume and the amount of humidification by controlling the motor 27 of the blower unit 7, the rotating member 16 of the humidifier unit 6, and the damper motor of the air volume adjustment unit 8. The control unit 9 has a low humidification operation mode and a high humidification operation mode.

In the low humidification operation mode, the control unit 9 controls the motor 27 of the blower 7 to rotate the fan 28, the rotating member 16 of the humidifier 6 to rotate the humidifying filter 14 and the filter frame 15, and the damper motor of the air volume adjustment unit 8 to open the communication air passage 35 (see FIG. 3). On the other hand, in the high humidification operation mode, the control unit 9 controls the motor 27 of the blower 7 to rotate the fan 28, the rotating member 16 of the humidifier 6 to rotate the humidifying filter 14 and the filter frame 15, and the damper motor of the air volume adjustment unit 8 to close the communication air passage 35. The control unit 9 can adjust the amount of humidification by switching between the low humidification operation mode and the high humidification operation mode based on the operation input of the operation unit 38 provided on the top surface of the main body case 4 (see FIG. 6).

The feature of this embodiment is the communication hole 39, which is a long and narrow rectangular hole provided in the damper plate 36. When the damper plate 36 closes the communication air passage 35, a part of the air blown by the blower unit 7 flows through the first air passage 33, while the other air blown by the blower unit 7 flows through the second air passage 34 via the communication hole 39. Specifically, the air blown to the second air passage 34 passes through the second air cleaning filter 11, and dust and the like are captured by the second air cleaning filter 11, becoming clean air. Next, the clean air flows to the blower unit 7 through the communication hole 39 of the damper plate 36 provided in the communication air passage 35, and is blown from the blower unit 7 to the outside of the main body case 4 through the air outlet 3. Note that the communication hole 39 is provided with a plurality of rod-shaped reinforcing bars 39a to prevent deformation and the opening dimensions of the hole from becoming smaller.

In this way, even if the communication air passage 35 of the second air passage 34 is closed by the damper plate 36, air flows not only through the first air purification filter 10 of the first air passage 33, but also through the second air purification filter 11, albeit at a small volume, so the amount of dust and other particles captured by the first air purification filter 10 of the first air passage 33 can be reduced compared to when air does not flow through the second air purification filter 11. In other words, the amount of humidification increases, and some of the dust and other particles captured by the first air purification filter 10 of the first air passage 33 are captured by the second air purification filter 11 of the second air passage 34, so the collection life of the first air purification filter 10 can be extended.

The distance between the second air purifying filter 11 and the communication hole 39 is longer than the distance between the blower 7 and the communication hole 39. This makes it easier for the air to pass through a wider area of the second air purifying filter 11 rather than just a part of it, compared to when the distance between the second air purifying filter 11 and the communication hole 39 is shorter than the distance between the blower 7 and the communication hole 39, and it is possible to prevent the collected dust and the like from being concentrated in a part of the second air purifying filter 11.

The second air purifying filter 11 has a larger horizontal dimension than its vertical dimension, and the horizontal dimension of the communication hole 39 of the second air purifying filter 11 is substantially the same as the horizontal dimension of the second air purifying filter 11. In this way, since the communication hole 39 extends in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the second air purifying filter 11, it becomes easier for the air to pass through a wider range of the second air purifying filter 11, and it is possible to prevent the collected dust and the like from being concentrated in one part of the second air purifying filter 11.

The blower 7 also includes a motor 27, a fan 28 rotated by the motor 27, and a casing 29 surrounding the fan 28. The casing 29 has an intake port 31 that connects the inside and outside of the casing 29, and the damper plate 36 is disposed above the intake port 31 of the blower 7. The communication air passage 35 connects the second air cleaning filter 11 and the blower 7 in the vertical direction. The center of rotation of the damper plate 36 is provided on the blower 7 side, and the damper plate 36 rotates in the vertical direction. When the damper plate 36 is closed, the damper plate 36 is in a horizontal state, and a part of the air blown by the blower 7 flows along the other side of the damper plate 36 (the upper surface when the damper plate is closed) and then flows into the communication hole 39. As a result, the clean air that passes through the second air cleaning filter 11 flows along the damper plate 36 before flowing into the communication hole 39, so that the damper plate 36 acts as a guide for the air to flow into the communication hole 39, making it easier for the air to flow into the communication hole 39.

On the other hand, when the damper plate 36 is open, the long side of the damper plate 36 facing the blower unit 7 becomes the center of rotation, and the long side of the damper plate 36 facing the second air cleaning filter 11 moves upward from the center of rotation of the damper plate 36. In this state, part of the air blown by the blower unit 7 flows along one side of the damper plate 36 (the bottom surface when the damper plate 36 is closed) and then flows into the communicating air passage 35.

This invention is suitable as a humidifier for home and office use.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 1 Humidifier 2 Air intake 3 Air outlet 3a Louver 4 Body case 4a Door 5 Air purifier 6 Humidifier 7 Air blower 8 Airflow adjuster 9 Control unit 10 First air purifier filter 11 Second air purifier filter 12 Water tank 13 Water tank 14 Humidifier filter 15 Filter frame 16 Rotating member 18 Second support plate 20 Second bearing 21 Filter outer frame 22 Filter inner frame 23 Opening 24 First shaft 25 Opening 26 Second shaft 27 Motor 28 Fan 29 Casing 30 Outlet 31 Intake 32 Rotating shaft 33 First air passage 34 Second air passage 35 Connecting air passage 36 Damper plate 38 Operation unit 39 Connecting hole

Claims (4)

a main body case having an air outlet and an air intake;
a first air cleaning filter and a second air cleaning filter for collecting dust;
A tank for storing water;
a humidifying filter that contains the water in the water tank;
a blower that blows air into the main body case through the air intake;
a first air passage that is in communication with the air outlet through the first air cleaning filter, the humidifying filter, and the air blower;
a second air passage that is connected in sequence from the intake port through the second air cleaning filter and the blower to the air outlet;
an air volume adjusting unit that is provided in a communication air passage that connects the second air cleaning filter in the second air passage and the air blowing unit, and adjusts an air volume;
A control unit that controls the air blower and the air volume adjustment unit,
The air blowing unit blows air drawn in through the air intake port through the first air passage or the second air passage in the main body case to the air outlet port,
The airflow adjustment unit is
A plate-shaped damper plate that opens and closes the communication air passage;
and a communication hole provided in the damper plate. The distance between the second air cleaning filter and the communication hole is:
The humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the air blowing section and the communication hole is longer than the distance between the air blowing section and the communication hole. The second air cleaning filter has a larger horizontal dimension than a vertical dimension,
The size of the communication hole in the lateral direction of the second air cleaning filter is
3. The humidifier according to claim 2, wherein the lateral dimension of the second air cleaning filter is substantially the same as that of the first air cleaning filter. The communication air passage communicates the second air cleaning filter and the air blower in the up-down direction,
The damper plate rotates in a vertical direction, and a rotation center of the damper plate is provided on the blower unit side,
When the damper plate is open, a portion of the air blown by the blower flows along one side surface of the damper plate and then flows into the communicating air passage,
The humidifier according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that when the damper plate is closed, a portion of the air blown by the blowing section flows along the other side of the damper plate and then flows into the communication hole.

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