JP7748609B2 - Bathroom heating and drying equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a bathroom heating and drying device.

A specific example of a bathroom heating and drying device is described in Patent Document 1.
The bathroom heater/dryer described in the document is installed in the ceiling of a bathroom and includes a fan, a motor for driving the fan, and a heat exchanger for heating, all housed in a housing case with an open bottom. Bathroom air is drawn into the housing case by the fan and sent to the heat exchanger, where it is heated and then returned to the bathroom.

Such bathroom heater/dryer systems often use a cross-flow type fan (impeller), with the fan positioned so that its central axis extends horizontally, a motor placed next to it, and the motor's output shaft connected to the impeller. However, the motor tends to become a high-temperature heat source during operation, a tendency that is exacerbated in bathroom heater/dryer systems that are installed in high-humidity environments and used for long periods of time. For this reason, Patent Document 1 forms a metal vapor deposition film on the inner surface of the resin case that houses the motor to prevent the spread of fire in the event of the motor catching fire.

However, there is still room for improvement in the above-mentioned conventional technology, as described below.

In other words, fan motors are not uniformly prone to heat generation and fire throughout, and the motor's wiring outlets are the parts of the motor that are particularly prone to heat generation and fire. However, in the past, no special measures have been taken for such wiring outlets. This has led to concerns about the spread of fire due to heat generation and fire at the wiring outlets, and it is desirable to appropriately address this issue.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-122586

This invention was conceived in light of the circumstances described above, and its objective is to provide a bathroom heating and drying device that can appropriately prevent or suppress the spread of fire caused by heat generation and ignition at the wiring outlet of the fan motor.

To solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical measures.

The bathroom heating and drying device provided by the present invention comprises a fan, a motor for driving the fan, and a housing case with an opening at the bottom that houses the motor and fan, wherein the motor has a wiring outlet on the peripheral wall of the motor case and is configured in a horizontally placed configuration with the central axis of the motor case extending in a direction that intersects the vertical height direction, and the motor is positioned so that the wiring outlet faces diagonally downward, and further comprises a fire prevention cover having flame-retardant front and lower wall portions located in front and below the wiring outlet, respectively, and facing the wiring outlet.
Here, "flame retardant" means that the material has resistance to flames, delays the time until ignition, or has the ability to suppress the amount or rate of combustion. Therefore, it does not necessarily mean that the material complies with a specific standard. Furthermore, "flame retardant" as used in this invention also includes non-flammability.

This configuration provides the following effects.
First, the motor for driving the fan is placed horizontally, with the wiring outlets on the peripheral wall of the motor case facing diagonally downward. Meanwhile, the fire prevention cover is flame-retardant and has front and lower walls located in front and below the wiring outlets of the motor, respectively, facing the wiring outlets. Even if the wiring outlets were to catch fire, the fire prevention cover can contain the flames and prevent them from spreading forward or downward. As a result, the spread of fire due to heat generation or ignition at the wiring outlets of the motor can be appropriately prevented or suppressed.
Second, it is possible to prevent the fire spread prevention cover from becoming large and bulky. That is, when the wiring outlets are oriented horizontally or directly downward, as in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 of Figures 9(a) and 9(b), which will be described later, the fire spread prevention cover protrudes relatively significantly to the side or below the motor, which is undesirable in terms of reducing the overall size of the device. However, the present invention appropriately solves this problem.
Third, it is possible to simplify and optimize the installation and maintenance of the fire prevention cover. Specifically, if the wiring outlets were provided in the upper area of the motor case, as in Comparative Example 3 of Figure 9(c), described below, the size of the fire prevention cover would need to be increased to suppress fires. Furthermore, it would be difficult to install and remove the fire prevention cover from the bottom of a housing case with an open bottom, which would result in poor assembly and maintenance workability. In contrast, according to the present invention, the fire prevention cover is located in the lower area of the motor, thereby avoiding the above-mentioned problems.

In the present invention, preferably, a support portion is provided within the housing case, at least a portion of which is located between the motor and the fan and which supports at least one of the motor and the fan, and the fire prevention cover further has a flame-retardant rear wall portion that separates the support portion from the motor's wiring outlet.

With this configuration, if the motor's wiring outlet catches fire, the flames will not come into contact with the support part from the wiring outlet, further improving the fire spread prevention effect.

In the present invention, preferably, the support portion is provided with a first mark for aligning the wiring outlet portion, and by aligning the wiring outlet portion with the first mark, the motor can be set in a position in which the wiring outlet portion faces diagonally downward.

With this configuration, when assembling the bathroom heating and drying device, the first mark can be used to quickly and appropriately set the motor in a specified position. This improves productivity and makes maintenance work even easier.

In the present invention, the fire prevention cover is preferably provided with a second mark for aligning the fire prevention cover with the wiring outlet.

With this configuration, when assembling the bathroom heating and drying device, the second marker provided on the fire prevention cover can be used to quickly and appropriately set the motor to a specified position or to check whether the motor is set to the specified position.

In the present invention, preferably, the lower wall portion of the fire spread prevention cover is configured to interfere with the wiring outlet portion when the wiring outlet portion is pointing downward at an angle greater than a predetermined angle.

With this configuration, if the motor's wiring outlet is set to face directly downward, or in a similar position, the wiring outlet and the lower wall of the fire prevention cover will interfere with each other. This makes it easy to detect this setting and helps to set the motor to the desired position.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a bathroom heating and drying device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of the bathroom heating and drying device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the main part of the bathroom heating and drying device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the essential parts of FIG. 3, showing a state in which the fire spread prevention cover is not attached. FIG. 4 is a plan cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG. 3 . FIG. 6 is a front view of a main part corresponding to the arrow VI in FIG. 5 . 6A is a perspective view of the fire spread prevention cover shown in Figures 2 to 6, and FIG. 6B is a perspective view of the fire spread prevention cover from a different direction from FIG. 6A. The bathroom heating and drying device shown in FIG. 6A is a schematic perspective view of the main part of the fire spread prevention cover shown in FIG. 6A. 8A is a cross-sectional view of the essential part taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 4, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the essential part showing an example of the case where the laminate tape shown in FIG. 8A is attached to a motor. 1A to 1C are explanatory diagrams showing comparative examples 1 to 3, respectively.

Below, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The bathroom heater/dryer A shown in Figure 1 is configured so that a fan 2 (impeller), a motor M (fan motor) for rotating the fan 2, a heat exchanger 3 as an air heating means, and a fire prevention cover 4 (not shown in Figure 1) are installed within a housing case 1 with a lower opening 12.

As will be described later, the bathroom heater/dryer A of this embodiment is characterized by the configuration of the motor M and the fire-prevention cover 4. The basic overall configuration of the bathroom heater/dryer A is similar to that of known devices, so this will be explained briefly.
That is, bathroom heater/dryer device A is mounted on bathroom ceiling panel 90 for use, and parts of lower opening 12 of housing case 1 serve as air inlet 91 and air outlet 92. When fan 2 is rotated by motor M, air from the bathroom is drawn into housing case 1 through inlet 91 and passes through heat exchanger 3, where it is heated. This heated air passes through fan 2 and is returned to the bathroom through outlet 92. Heat exchanger 3 can heat the air using hot water supplied from a water heater (not shown), for example.
An opening 11 is formed in the side wall 10 of the housing case 1, and a ventilation fan 95 is separately attached to a location corresponding to this opening 11. By operating this ventilation fan 95, air in the bathroom can be exhausted to the outside, thereby ventilating the bathroom.

As shown in Figure 2, the fan 2 is, for example, a cross-flow type, and is set in a horizontally extending position with both axial ends supported by a pair of left and right supports 5. The output shaft 66 of the motor M (see Figure 5) is connected to one side of the fan 2. In Figure 2, the support 5 is shown as a roughly plate-shaped synthetic resin member with semicircular recesses 50 into which the shafts at both ends of the fan 2 are fitted. Auxiliary members 59 (see Figure 5) are attached to this support 5 to hold the shafts of the fan 2 fitted into the recesses 50. The support 5 is attached to the housing case 1 using, for example, screws.

The motor M is itself a conventionally known motor. The motor case 6 is generally disk-shaped and houses a rotor, stator, bearings, and other components (not shown). The motor case 6 has a generally cylindrical peripheral wall 60 that is provided with a wiring outlet 61 through which lead wires C are pulled from the inside to the outside of the motor case 6.

Of all the parts of the motor M, the area around the wiring outlet 61 on the peripheral wall 60 of the motor case 6 is the most susceptible to heat generation and fire. In this embodiment, laminate tape 7 (shown with a dotted pattern in the drawings) is affixed to this area.

As shown in Figure 8(a), the laminate tape 7 is a tape in which aluminum glass cloth 71 is laminated and bonded onto aluminum tape 70, which serves as a metal foil tape. In this laminate tape 7, the aluminum tape 70 and the aluminum glass cloth 71 are laminated and bonded together before being applied to the motor case 6, and the aluminum tape 70 has an adhesive layer 72 covered with release paper (not shown). Therefore, as shown in Figure 8(b), when applying the laminate tape to the motor case 6, the aluminum tape 70 and the aluminum glass cloth 71 can be applied simultaneously.
In this embodiment, the laminate tape 7 is attached to the periphery of the wiring outlet portion 61, but instead of or in addition to this, the laminate tape 7 may be attached to other portions of the motor M.

2 to 6, the motor M is in a horizontal orientation. Here, "horizontal orientation" refers to an orientation in which the central axis CL of the motor case 6 extends in a direction that intersects with the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the central axis CL of the motor case 6 is set to extend horizontally.
The motor M is also oriented such that the wiring outlet 61 is located on the underside of the motor case 6 and faces diagonally downward (hereinafter referred to as the "specific orientation" where appropriate). Preferably, the inclination angle α of the wiring outlet 61 with respect to the horizontal direction is approximately 45°. The motor M is fixed to the support 5 or another appropriate part using appropriate fixing means (not shown) so as not to rotate around the central axis CL.

The fire spread prevention cover 4 is made of flame-retardant resin. Its flame-retardant grade is, for example, UL94 5VA. The fire spread prevention cover 4 has a front wall 4a, a lower wall 4b, a rear wall 4c, an engagement portion 41, and a screw-fastening portion 42 (see also Figure 7). The front wall 4a is a roughly rectangular plate that stands upright in the vertical direction, and the lower wall 4b is a roughly horizontal rectangular plate, and these are connected to form a roughly L-shape when viewed from the front.

The engaging portion 41 and the screw-fastening portion 42 of the fire spread prevention cover 4 are portions for attaching the fire spread prevention cover 4 to the support portion 5, and the engaging portion 41 is, for example, a hook-shaped protrusion. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 , the support portion 5 is provided with a U-shaped engaged portion 51, into which the engaging portion 41 engages. As shown in FIG. 6 , the screw-fastening portion 42 has a hole 42a through which a screw member 9 such as a screw is inserted, and can be screwed into a screw-fastening portion 52 separately provided on the support portion 5. This screw fastening maintains the engaged state of the engaging portion 41 and the engaged portion 42 appropriately, thereby attaching the fire spread prevention cover 4 to the support portion 5.

The fire prevention cover 4 is attached so that the front wall 4a and the lower wall 4b are located in front of (to the left in FIG. 6 ) and below the wiring outlet 61 of the motor M. The wiring C is drawn out to the outside of the fire prevention cover 4, for example.
In the above-described attached state of the fire prevention cover 4, as shown in FIG. 5, the rear wall portion 4c of the fire prevention cover 4 is positioned to separate the wiring outlet portion 61 of the motor M from the support portion 5.

As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support portion 5 and the fire spread prevention cover 4 are provided with first and second marks 8A and 8B, respectively.
The first mark 8A has an appropriate convex shape (in this embodiment, a generally V-shaped convex shape when viewed from the front) and is a portion for aligning the wiring outlet 61 of the motor M when installing the motor M. When installing the motor M, if a specific portion of the wiring outlet 61 (for example, the portion indicated by reference numeral 61a) is aligned so as to be flush with a specific portion of the first mark 8A, such as the upward surface 80, the motor M will be set in the specific posture described above.

The second mark 8B is used to align the fire spread prevention cover 4 with the wiring outlet portion 61, and is, for example, a concave or convex horizontal line formed on the fire spread prevention cover 4 itself when the fire spread prevention cover 4 is resin-molded.
During the assembly of bathroom heater/dryer device A, after motor M is installed, fire prevention cover 4 is attached to support 5. At this time, it is confirmed that second mark 8B is aligned with a specific location (which may or may not be the same as specific location 61a) on motor M's wiring outlet 61. If this confirmation reveals that they do not match, it means that the angle of motor M's wiring outlet 61 or the installation position of fire prevention cover 4 is not appropriate, and corrections can be made.

The lower wall 4b of the fire prevention cover 4 is located quite close to the motor M, and as can be seen clearly in Figure 6, the gap La between the lower part of the motor case 6 and the lower wall 4b is small. As a result, if the wiring outlet 61 of the motor M is set at an angle that points downward more than a predetermined angle, such as pointing directly downward, the lower wall 4b will interfere with the fire prevention cover 4 when an attempt is made to install the fire prevention cover 4, making it difficult to install. This will reveal that the installation of the motor M is improper, and the installation of the motor M can be corrected.

Next, we will explain the operation of the bathroom heating and drying device A.

First, the front wall 4a and lower wall 4b of the flame-retardant fire prevention cover 4 are positioned closely facing each other in front of and below the wiring outlet 61 of the motor M. Therefore, even if the wiring outlet 61 were to catch fire, the flames would be appropriately prevented from spreading forward and downward. Furthermore, the rear wall 4c of the fire prevention cover 4 is located between the wiring outlet 61 and the support part 5, so even if the wiring outlet 61 were to catch fire, the flames would not reach the support part 5. This effectively prevents or suppresses the spread of fire caused by heat generation or ignition from the wiring outlet 61 of the motor M.

Figures 9(a) to (c) show comparative examples 1 to 3 of this embodiment, but compared to these, the bathroom heating and drying device A of this embodiment offers the following advantages:

That is, in Comparative Example 1 of Figure 9(a), the wiring outlet 61 is located at the horizontal end of the motor case 6 and faces horizontally. With this configuration, the wiring outlet 61 is located on the side of the motor M, and therefore the fire spread prevention cover 4' is positioned to protrude relatively far to the side from the side of the motor M (the dimension Lb in Figure 9(a) is large). In contrast, with this embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, it is possible to reduce the protrusion dimension Lc of the fire spread prevention cover 4 from the side of the motor M. This is advantageous for reducing the overall size of the bathroom heating and drying device A.

In Comparative Example 2 of Figure 9(b), wiring outlet 61 is located at the bottom of motor case 6 and faces directly downward. With this configuration, wiring outlet 61 is located below motor M, and fire spread prevention cover 4' is positioned at a relatively large distance below the bottom of motor M (the dimension Ld in Figure 9(b) is large). In contrast, with this embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, it is possible to reduce the protrusion dimension Le from the bottom of motor M to fire spread prevention cover 4, which is preferable for reducing the size of bathroom heating/dryer device A.
In Comparative Example 2, if the wiring outlet 61 catches fire, the flame will spread widely to the left and right, so it is necessary to increase the left and right width Lf of the fire spread prevention cover 4'. In contrast, according to this embodiment, it is possible to make the overall left and right width of the fire spread prevention cover 4 relatively small.

In Comparative Example 3 of Figure 9(c), the wiring outlet 61 is provided in the upper surface area of the motor case 6. As a result, in Comparative Example 3, not only does it become necessary to increase the size of the fire spread prevention cover 4' to suppress the flames, but the motor M gets in the way when attaching or removing the fire spread prevention cover 4 through the lower opening 12 of the housing case 1, making the task difficult. In contrast, according to the present invention, the fire spread prevention cover 4 is located below the motor M, that is, closer to the lower opening 12 of the housing case 1 than the motor M, so the above-mentioned drawback is eliminated.

In addition, according to this embodiment, the effects already described by providing the first and second marks 8A and 8B can also be obtained, which is preferable.
As mentioned above, the laminate tape 7 is applied to the periphery of the wiring outlet 61 of the motor M, and this laminate tape 7 is configured by laminating and adhering aluminum glass cloth 71 onto aluminum tape 70, so it has the excellent flame retardancy (non-combustibility) of the aluminum tape 70 as well as the flexibility and ease of handling of the aluminum glass cloth 71. The aluminum tape 70 alone has the disadvantage of being easily torn during handling, but laminating and adhering the aluminum glass cloth 71 eliminates this risk.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. The specific configuration of each part of the bathroom heating and drying device according to the present invention can be freely designed and modified within the intended scope of the present invention.

The fan is not limited to a cross-flow type, and can be of other types and configurations, such as a sirocco fan. The fan may also be either a circulation fan or a ventilation fan. The motor is a motor that drives the fan, and as long as it is installed horizontally as intended by this invention, its specific type (drive/control method, etc.) is not important. The motor should be oriented so that the wiring outlet faces diagonally downward, and the specific means for mounting and fixing the motor are not limited.

The fire spread prevention cover may have a shape, size, or material different from those of the fire spread prevention cover of the above-described embodiment. The fire spread prevention cover may also be made of metal. As already mentioned in the "Means for Solving the Problems" section, the term "flame retardant" as used in this invention means that it is resistant to flames, delays the time until ignition, or suppresses the amount or rate of combustion, and does not necessarily mean compliance with a specific standard, and also includes the concept of non-flammability.

The first and second marks in the present invention can be provided as parts having various three-dimensional shapes, but alternatively or in addition, they can also be flat marks made using paint, tape, etc.

A bathroom heating and drying device is a device that has the function of heating and drying a bathroom, and heating means other than, for example, a hot water heat exchanger, can be used to heat the air in the bathroom.

A Bathroom heating and drying device C Wiring (motor)
CL Central axis M Motor 1 Housing case 12 Lower opening (of housing case)
2 Fan 4 Fire prevention cover 4a Front wall portion (of the fire prevention cover)
4b Lower wall (of fire prevention cover)
4c Back wall (of fire prevention cover)
5 Support portion 6 Motor case 60 Peripheral wall portion 61 Wiring outlet portions 8A, 8B First and second marks

Claims (5)

The device includes a fan, a motor for driving the fan, and a housing case with an opening at the bottom that houses the motor and the fan,
The motor has a wiring outlet on a peripheral wall of the motor case, and is horizontally placed so that the central axis of the motor case extends in a direction intersecting the vertical height direction.
the motor is oriented such that the wiring outlet faces obliquely downward,
A bathroom heating and drying device further characterized by being provided with a fire prevention cover having flame-retardant front and lower wall portions located respectively in front of and below the wiring outlet portion and facing the wiring outlet portion. The bathroom heating and drying device according to claim 1,
a support portion is provided within the housing case, at least a portion of which is located between the motor and the fan and which supports at least one of the motor and the fan;
The fire prevention cover further has a flame-retardant back wall portion that separates the support portion from the motor wiring outlet portion. The bathroom heating and drying device according to claim 2,
A bathroom heating and drying device in which the support part is provided with a first mark for aligning the wiring outlet part, and by aligning the wiring outlet part with the first mark, the motor can be set to a position in which the wiring outlet part faces diagonally downward. The bathroom heating and drying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
In the bathroom heating and drying device, the fire prevention cover is provided with a second mark for aligning the fire prevention cover with the wiring outlet portion. The bathroom heating and drying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A bathroom heating and drying device in which the lower wall portion of the fire prevention cover is configured to interfere with the wiring outlet portion when the wiring outlet portion is pointing downward at a predetermined angle or more.