JP7748299B2 - sensor - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a detector for disaster prevention.

Disaster prevention detectors for fires and other emergencies include a sensor unit that detects smoke, heat, or harmful gases such as CO, either individually or in combination, as well as a sensor body that contains an electronic circuit for transmitting signals detected by the sensor unit to a receiver. They also include a sensor cover that houses the sensor unit and sensor body.

The sensor cover is equipped with a cover member with an opening in the center that exposes the aforementioned sensing unit. Because the inner surface of this cover member faces the ceiling, water, such as condensation on the ceiling, can drip and adhere to the inner surface of the cover member. For this reason, the cover member is equipped with a drainage structure that drains water that adheres to the inner surface without it coming into contact with the sensing unit or the sensor itself (see Patent Document 1 below).

JP 2013-8084 A

In the aforementioned conventional technology, the drainage structure of a sensor cover involves providing a drain groove on the inner surface of the cover member to drain water, with a drain hole at the bottom of the drain groove to expel water that has flowed into the drain groove. With this conventional technology, the drain hole penetrates and opens onto the underside of the cover member, making the drain hole visible from the outside and detracting from the appearance. Furthermore, considering visibility, the drain holes visible from the outside must be aligned in a consistent direction for multiple sensors in the same room, which creates the problem of impaired workability.

In contrast, if the water adhering to the inner surface of the cover member were to be naturally guided to the opening of the cover member by using the slope of the inner surface without providing the drainage grooves or drainage holes mentioned above, the water's drainage path would not be specified, and there was a risk that the drainage path would interfere with the contents of the sensor body and other items housed inside, causing electronic components and other parts to become wet and malfunction.

The present invention aims to address these issues. Specifically, it aims to provide a drainage structure that does not detract from the appearance of the sensor cover, and to ensure that the drainage path does not interfere with the sensor body or other contents when draining water that has adhered to the inner surface of the sensor cover.

In order to solve such problems, the sensor of the present invention has the following configuration.
A sensor comprising a sensor unit that senses changes in conditions inside a room, a substrate on which the sensor unit is mounted, a sensor main body on which the substrate is placed, and a sensor cover in which the sensor unit, the substrate, and the sensor main body are housed, wherein the sensor cover has a bottom that covers the sensor main body and an opening in the center of the bottom, the opening having inner ribs around it and the sensor unit located in the center, and the inner surface of the bottom having a drainage path that directs water on the inner surface through a notch in the inner rib to the opening.

A detector of the present invention with these characteristics has a drainage path on the inner surface of the bottom of the detector cover that directs water on the inner surface to an opening in the center of the bottom, eliminating the need for drainage holes visible from the outside. Furthermore, the opening in the center of the bottom of the detector cover allows airflow to flow toward the sensing unit housed inside the detector cover, eliminating the need to provide a new drainage opening.

This allows for improved workability, without compromising the sensor cover's appearance and eliminating the need to consider directionality during installation. Furthermore, by providing a specific drainage path on the inner surface of the bottom of the sensor cover without creating a new drainage opening, the drainage path can be set so as not to interfere with the contents of the sensor cover, preventing problems with electronic components and the like due to water damage.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an external perspective view of a sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention; 3 is a cross-sectional view of a sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention (a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2). FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a sensor cover of the sensor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings indicate parts with the same function, and duplicate explanations in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate. Furthermore, terms indicating position or direction, such as "front," "rear," "left," and "right," used to describe the detector of this invention, are used according to the position or direction of the detector when installed.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, a sensor 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sensing unit 2, a substrate 3, and a sensor body 4, as well as a sensor cover 10 that houses the sensing unit 2, substrate 3, and sensor body 4.

Sensing unit 2 is a sensor that detects changes in conditions inside the room. In the illustrated example, a heat-sensitive element using a rod-shaped thermistor is shown, but it is not limited to this. It may also be a photoelectric smoke sensor that detects smoke, a gas sensor that detects harmful gases such as CO, or a combined sensor that detects a combination of these. Sensing unit 2 is mounted on board 3, which is equipped with an electronic circuit that processes the output of sensing unit 2. Mounting sensing unit 2 on board 3 electrically connects it to the aforementioned electronic circuit.

The circuit board 3 on which the sensing unit 2 is mounted is positioned on the front of the sensor body 4. The sensor body 4 includes a frame 41 having an attachment portion 40 for attachment to a sensor base (not shown), which is attached to a mounting location such as a ceiling. A main body 42 to which the circuit board 3 is connected is integrally molded with the frame 41. One end of a connector 43 is connected to the attachment portion 40, and the other end of the connector 43 is connected by a screw 5 to a connection portion provided on the mounting location such as a ceiling. The main body 42 includes a communication circuit that transmits signals processed by the electronic circuit on the circuit board 3. The connector 43 mechanically attaches the sensor body 4 to a mounting location such as a ceiling, and connects the communication circuit of the main body 42 to communication wiring provided on the ceiling, etc.

The sensor cover 10 is removably attached to the sensor main body 4, which is attached to a ceiling or the like. The sensor cover 10 comprises a bottom 10A that covers the sensor main body 4, an outer peripheral wall 10B provided on the outer edge of the bottom 10A, and an opening 10C provided in the center of the bottom 10A. An attachment rib 11 having an attachment hole 11A protrudes from the bottom 10A, and the sensor cover 10 is removably attached to the sensor main body 4 by engaging the attachment hole 11A of this attachment rib 11 with an engagement protrusion 41A provided on the frame 41 of the sensor main body 4.

Various ribs are provided on the inner surface of the bottom 10A of the sensor cover 10. In the illustrated example, an outer rib 12 is provided along the inside of the outer peripheral wall 10B, and a surrounding wall rib 13 is provided at the middle position of the bottom 10A, surrounding the periphery of the substrate 3. In addition, inner ribs 14 and 15 are provided around the opening 10C in the bottom 10A.

In addition, a protective rib 16 is provided on the outer surface of the bottom 10A of the sensor cover 10 around the opening 10C, protruding outward from the bottom 10A to protect the sensing unit 2. The protective rib 16 is provided around the opening 10C facing the sensing unit 2, and functions to surround the sensing unit 2 located at the center of the opening 10C and protect it from mechanical shocks, etc.

The opening 10C located in the center of the bottom 10A of the sensor cover 10 is an airflow inlet that allows the sensor unit 2 (such as a thermistor) housed inside the sensor cover 10 to detect indoor airflow and hot airflow during a fire, and is an essential part of the sensor cover 10's functionality.

In addition to the aforementioned sensor main body 4, the sensor cover 10 also houses a light-emitting member 6. The light-emitting member 6 guides light emitted by the light-emitting element 7 mounted on the substrate 3 and emits the light within the opening 10C. When the sensor 1 is activated, the light-emitting element 7 emits light and the light is emitted from the light-emitting member 6, thereby making the operating state of the sensor 1 known to the outside. The light-emitting member 6 has a light-emitting portion 6A disposed within the opening 10C, and a support portion 6B extending outward from the light-emitting portion 6A that is supported by the aforementioned inner ribs 14, 15 and the notches in the surrounding wall rib 13.

In this type of detector 1, the detector cover 10 is provided with a drainage path that directs water on the inner surface of the bottom 10A to the opening 10C. This drainage path is partitioned on the inner surface of the bottom 10A, as shown in Figure 4. The inner surface of the bottom 10A is also sloped so that water on the inner surface flows through the partitioned drainage path, and the drainage path is also sloped so that water that enters the drainage path flows toward the opening 10C.

Figure 4 illustrates one example of a specific drainage path. The inner surface of the bottom 10A of the sensor cover 10 is provided with a surrounding wall rib 13 that is approximately circumferentially arranged around the opening 10C, and is covered by the sensor main body 4 such that the main body 42 equipped with the substrate 3 is located inside the surrounding wall rib 13. As a result, water dripping from the ceiling or the like adheres to an area S on the inner surface of the bottom 10A outside the surrounding wall rib 13. This area S has an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the center of the bottom 10A (the center of the opening 10C) (see Figure 3). As a result, water adhering to area S first moves outside the surrounding wall rib 13, as indicated by the thick arrow in Figure 4, and then moves to an even lower position within area S.

The surrounding wall rib 13 has a cutout 13A that connects the inner surface (area S) of the bottom 10A outside the surrounding wall rib 13 to the inner surface of the bottom 10A inside the surrounding wall rib 13. In the example shown, two cutouts 13A are provided around the opening 10C with the drainage paths facing each other, but the number can be changed as appropriate. For example, if four cutouts 13A are provided in a cross shape around the opening 10C, the variation in the drainage paths can be reduced compared to when only two cutouts are provided.

The slope in area S is formed so that the entrance to this cutout 13A is at the lowest position within area S. As a result, water adhering to area S moves to the cutout 13A of the surrounding wall rib 13. The slope that decreases from cutout 13A toward opening 10C guides the water that passes through cutout 13A to opening 10C. The thick arrows in the figure indicate the drainage path of the water flow described above.

In addition, in the illustrated example, the aforementioned drainage path is defined by a pair of guide walls 17 extending from the cutout portion 13A to the opening 10C. By defining the drainage path with guide walls 17 in this way, unnecessary spreading of water on the inner surface of the bottom portion 10A can be suppressed, and the drainage path can be prevented from interfering with the contents.

In the illustrated example, the drainage path is arranged downstream of the opening 10C, facing the protective rib 16. This allows water that reaches the opening 10C through the drainage path to flow down the protective rib 16 and be guided to a position lower than the tip of the sensing unit 2, preventing the sensing unit 2 from getting wet due to the water flow.

In the illustrated example, the guide wall 17 that forms the drainage path also serves as a support frame for the aforementioned light emitting member 6 that is placed in the opening 10C. In other words, the support portion 6B of the light emitting member 6 is supported while fitted into the guide wall 17. This allows the support structure of the light emitting member 6 to be used to form a partitioned drainage path, making it possible to efficiently use the space within the bottom portion 10A to form a specified drainage path.

With this type of detector 1, a partitioned drainage path is formed on the inner surface of the bottom 10A of the detector cover 10, leading to the opening 10C in the bottom 10A. The opening 10C, which serves as the airflow inlet for the detector cover 10, also serves as a drainage hole, eliminating the need to create a separate opening or hole in part of the detector cover 10 as a drainage hole. This makes it possible to form a drainage structure that is completely invisible from the outside, as shown in Figure 2. This not only improves the appearance, but also improves workability, as there is no need to consider directionality during construction.

In addition, the drainage path defined on the inner surface of the bottom 10A of the sensor cover 10 can be formed as a path isolated from the contents of the sensor cover 10, thereby preventing the drainage path from interfering with the contents of the sensor cover 10 and causing electronic components and other items to become wet.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention also includes design changes that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention. Furthermore, the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined by utilizing each other's technology, as long as there are no particular contradictions or problems with their purpose, configuration, etc.

1: Sensor, 2: Sensor unit, 3: Board, 4: Sensor body, 5: Screw,
6: light emitting member, 6A: light emitting portion, 6B: support portion, 7: light emitting element,
10: Sensor cover, 10A: Bottom, 10B: Outer wall, 10C: Opening,
11: Mounting rib, 11A: Mounting hole, 12: Outer rib, 13: Surrounding wall rib,
13A: notch portion,
14, 15: Inner rib, 16: Protective rib, 17: Guide wall,
40: Mounting portion, 41: Frame body, 41A: Engagement protrusion,
42: Main body, 43: Connector, S: Area

Claims (7)

A sensor comprising a sensor unit that senses a change in a state inside a room, a substrate on which the sensor unit is mounted, a sensor body on which the substrate is disposed, and a sensor cover in which the sensor unit, the substrate, and the sensor body are housed,
the sensor cover includes a bottom portion that covers the sensor body and an opening portion provided in the center of the bottom portion;
The opening has an inner rib around its periphery, and the sensing part is located at its center.
A sensor characterized in that a drainage path is provided on the inner surface of the bottom portion to guide water on the inner surface through the notch in the inner rib to the opening. a surrounding wall rib that surrounds the outside of the substrate is provided on the inner surface of the bottom portion;
The surrounding wall rib is provided with a notch portion that connects the inner surface of the outer side of the surrounding wall rib to the inner surface of the inner side of the surrounding wall rib,
2. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the drainage path guides water flowing through the notch to the opening. A sensor as described in claim 2, characterized in that the drainage path is defined by a pair of guide walls extending from the cutout portion to the opening. A sensor as described in claim 3, characterized in that the guide wall also serves as a support frame for a light-emitting member placed in the opening. a protective rib that protrudes outward from the bottom portion and protects the sensing portion is provided around the opening,
5. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the drainage path is provided so as to face the protective rib, which is narrower than the drainage path . 5. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the inner rib is provided in duplicate around the opening. 7. The sensor according to claim 6, wherein the outer rib of the inner rib is formed higher than the inner rib.