JPH084092Y2 - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an air purifier that removes fine dust such as cigarette smoke in indoor air and blows clean air.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, as this type of air cleaner, a high voltage generator,
It is known that the control unit controls the operation of an electric dust collecting type air purifying mechanism including a discharge electrode, an electrostatic / activated carbon filter, and a blower based on a detection signal from a gas sensor that detects a gas component in indoor air. There is.

The gas sensor can detect even slight air pollution due to cigarette smoke with high sensitivity, but its resistance value is greatly affected by ambient temperature and humidity, and the resistance value changes with time.
The above-mentioned control by the detection signal of the gas sensor is generally performed not on the basis of the absolute value of the detection signal but on the basis of the relative value obtained by time-differentiating the detection signal. That is, the input detection signal (sensor resistance value that increases with contamination) is sampled for a certain period of time (tens of minutes), and the minimum sampling value of them is stored in the control unit as a comparison reference value. The air pollution level is determined by comparing the reference value with each sampling value within the next fixed time, and the comparison reference value is sequentially replaced with the minimum sampling value within the next fixed time, and the air level is changed according to the determined air pollution level. It controls the operation of the purification mechanism and issues a pollution alarm.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> However, since the conventional air purifier described above detects the degree of contamination of indoor air with a gas sensor and performs the above-described operation control based on the relative value of the detection signal, There are some problems and drawbacks.

In other words, the gas sensor has an initial energization characteristic in which the sensor resistance value is greatly reduced for a few minutes immediately after the power is turned on. Therefore, the normal dirt level cannot be detected during that period, and control by the detection signal is not possible. I can't. In addition, since the control method is based on the relative value of the detection signal, the comparison reference value of the degree of contamination is not stored immediately after the power is turned on, and as a result, even if the gas sensor remains for several tens of minutes after the power is turned on. Even if a significant contamination of indoor air is detected and a corresponding detection signal is output to the control unit, the control unit cannot determine the contamination state, do not start the operation of the air purification mechanism, or do not issue the pollution alarm. There is a problem.

Also, after a considerable amount of time has passed since the power was turned on and cigarette smoke was filled in the closed chamber, and the gas sensor detected this and the cleaning operation started, after 10 to 20 minutes from the cleaning operation, the particle components of the smoke in the air Most of them are removed, but the gas components such as CO ₂ generated by the combustion of tobacco cannot be removed by the air purification mechanism and remain. Therefore, the gas sensor has a drawback that it continues to detect gas components for several hours until ventilation of indoor air through a gap between a door and a window proceeds, and unnecessary purification operation is continued. Of course, this drawback can be solved by providing the control unit with a timer that cuts off the cleaning operation within several tens of minutes, but this time, if many people smoke and a large amount of smoke is filled, the cleaning will be insufficient. The timer works as it is and the operation is stopped, and the dirt level immediately before the stop is stored in the control unit as a normal comparison reference value, so the cleaning operation does not restart until the pollution by cigarette smoke becomes considerably severe. The problem arises.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to focus on a scattered light type smoke sensor that detects particle components in the air, and by using a new control system that also uses the absolute value of the detection signal, the drawbacks and problems of control using only a gas sensor An object of the present invention is to provide an air purifier that can perform the solved automatic operation.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the air purifier of the present invention is an air purifying mechanism that removes fine dust in sucked indoor air and blows clean air, and the operation of this air purifying mechanism. In the one provided with a control unit for controlling, a gas sensor for detecting a gas component in the indoor air and a scattered light smoke sensor for optically detecting a particle component in the indoor air are provided, and the control unit has a power supply. Initial control means for controlling the start and stop of the purification operation of the air purification mechanism based on only the detection signal of the scattered light type smoke sensor for a certain period of time immediately after the injection, and the scattered light type smoke sensor during the purification operation. A control hand during operation that stops the purifying operation of the air purifying mechanism based on the detection signal of only the air conditioner, and notifies that the room is ventilated when only the gas sensor detects the gas component for a predetermined time. A step is provided.

<Operation> When the power of the air purifier is turned on, the initial control means of the control unit is not based on the detection signal of the gas sensor having an inconvenient initial energization characteristic for a certain period immediately after that, and the scattered light type smoke is not generated. The start and stop of the purification operation of the air purification mechanism is controlled based only on the detection signal of the sensor. The scattered light smoke sensor accurately detects the particle component in the air, and the control unit starts and stops the operation of the air purification mechanism according to the degree of contamination indicated by the absolute value of the detection signal. However, even if the dirt level is high, the cleaning operation is not stopped. Further, after the elapse of the above-mentioned fixed time, the control unit controls the cleaning operation based on the detection signals of both the gas sensor and the scattered light smoke sensor, but the detection signal of only the scattered light smoke sensor is constant during the cleaning operation. When the value becomes less than or equal to the value, the operating control means of the control unit stops the purification operation of the air purification mechanism. Therefore, even if the combustion gas due to smoking remains in the closed chamber and the gas sensor outputs a high detection signal, the purification operation is reliably stopped when the particle component of smoke falls below a certain value in the purification operation,
There is no useless purifying operation. Further, the operating control means of the control unit, even when the cleaning operation is stopped as described above, when only the gas sensor detects a gas component for a predetermined time, since it notifies to urge the user to ventilate the room,
The user can surely know the filling of the gas component, and the safety during use is greatly improved.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an illustrated example.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of an air purifier. This air purifier optically detects a gas sensor 1 for detecting a gas component in indoor air and a particle component in the indoor air. A scattered light type smoke sensor 2 and a built-in air purification mechanism (not shown) that electrically removes fine dust such as cigarette smoke contained in the room air sucked from the front suction port 3 and blows it out from the air outlet 4 as clean air. A control (not shown) that controls the air purification mechanism based on the detection signals from both the sensors 1 and 2, and an operation that inputs an operation signal to the control unit and displays the display signal from the control unit by lighting. It is composed of the display unit 5. The air purification mechanism is the same as the conventional one, which includes a high voltage generator, a discharge electrode, an electrostatic / activated carbon filter, and a blower.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operation / display unit 5 has an operation mode changeover switch 6 and a stop switch 7 for stopping the operation as an operation unit. The operation mode switch 6 is
Each time the button is pressed, the operation mode is (a) automatic operation in which the control section automatically switches between the start and stop of the purification operation (electrical dust removal operation of the air purification mechanism) and the strength and weakness of the air volume of the blower according to the degree of contamination. Mode, (b) manual operation mode in which purification operation is performed at high air volume, (c) manual operation mode in which purification operation is performed at low air volume, and the operation mode is sequentially switched and any indicator lamp 8a corresponding to the switched operation mode, 8b and 8c are lit up. Further, the operation / display unit 5 is a display lamp 9a, which serves as a display unit for lighting and displaying the cleanliness level and the three contamination levels which are calculated and determined by the control unit based on the detection signals of the gas sensor 1 and the scattered light smoke sensor 2, respectively. 9b, 9c, 9d; 10a, 10b,
In addition to 10c and 10d, the ventilation alarm lamp 11 is turned on by a display signal output from the control unit when only the gas sensor 1 detects the contamination even after the cleaning operation for 30 minutes.

As shown in FIG. 3, the scattered light type smoke sensor 2 includes a cylindrical dark box 12 having openings 12a and 12b with light shielding plates at the top and bottom, and a light emitting diode for irradiating the air in the dark box 12 with infrared rays.
13 and a light receiving diode 14 for receiving infrared rays scattered by fine dust in the air.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the main part centering on the control unit of the above embodiment. The control unit is a one-chip microcomputer driven by a regulated 5V DC power supply (not shown).
A drive signal is output every 0.5 seconds to a drive circuit 16 for a light emitting diode 13 composed of a transistor, a capacitor, and a resistor, and an amplifier circuit 17 and a peak hold circuit 18 are connected to two A / D conversion input ports. Then, the voltage signal from the light receiving diode 14 and the voltage signal v from the gas sensor 1 in which the resistance value R _S of the sensitive body changes according to the concentration of the gas component are input, and the operation mode selector switch 6 and the stop Upon receiving an operation signal from the switch 7 (see FIG. 2), the display circuit 19 is passed through to display lamps 8a to 8c, 9a to 9d, 10a to 1
A display signal is output to 0d and the ventilation warning lamp 11 (see FIG. 2), and a control signal is output to the air purification mechanism via the purification device drive circuit 20.

The microcomputer 15 samples the voltage signal v from the gas sensor 1 9 times every 2 seconds according to a program given in advance, and uses the intermediate value thereof to correspond to the gas concentration in the air by the following equation. Calculate the resistance value R _S of the sensor.

R _S = (5 / −1) × R _L And the rate of change of the R _S value from the resistance value R _S calculated every 2 seconds and the R _S value during cleaning stored in the built-in memory Is calculated, and whether the degree of contamination by the gas component is clean, 1, 2, or 3 is determined based on this change rate. Further, according to the level of the voltage signal corresponding to the particle component concentration in the air from the light receiving diode 14, the degree of contamination by the particle component is clean, 1,
Judge whether it is 2 or 3.

Further, the microcomputer 15 has initial control means and operating control means as program software. The initial control means determines the degree of contamination based on only the voltage signal from the light receiving diode 14 for 3 minutes immediately after the power is turned on (see step S3 in FIG. 5), and whether the degree of contamination reaches level 3 Depending on whether or not the air volume is strong and the air volume is weak, a cleaning operation is started, and if the degree of contamination is clean, a control signal for stopping the cleaning operation is output to the cleaning device drive circuit 20 (see steps S4 and S5 in FIG. 5). ). Further, the control means during operation, when only the voltage signal from the light receiving diode 14 represents the cleanliness of the degree of dirt after 10 minutes from the start of the cleaning operation, outputs a control signal for stopping the cleaning operation to the cleaning device drive circuit. Output to 20 (Step S in FIG. 5)
9, S5), and when only the voltage signal from the gas sensor 1 does not indicate the cleanliness of the dirt level 30 minutes after the start of the cleaning operation, a display signal is output to the display circuit 19 (step S17 in FIG. 5). , 18). Note that a microcomputer
The degree of fouling due to gas components and particle components judged by 15 is
One of the indicator lamps 9a to 9d and
It is output to 10a-10d.

The automatic operation by the microcomputer 15 of the air purifier having the above-mentioned configuration will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Now, when the automatic operation mode is selected by the operation changeover switch 6 of the operation / display unit 5, the microcomputer
In step S1, it is determined whether or not 3 minutes have elapsed after the power of the air purifier was turned on in step S1, the process proceeds to step S2 if determined to be negative, and to step S6 if determined to be affirmative.
In step S2, it is determined whether or not the cleaning operation is in progress, and if it is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S3, in which the degree of contamination of the indoor air is determined based on only the detection signal from the scattered light smoke sensor 2, and when it is determined that there is contamination. The process proceeds to step S4 to switch the air volume to strong or weak depending on the degree of contamination to perform the cleaning operation, and when it is determined to be clean, the process proceeds to step S5 to stop the cleaning operation. If step S2 fails, go to step S13,
Similarly, only when it is determined that the pollution is based on only the detection signal from the scattered light smoke sensor 2, the process proceeds to step S14 to start the cleaning operation and start the count of the 10-minute timer that limits the continuous cleaning operation time. .

On the other hand, when 3 minutes have passed after the power was turned on, the routine proceeds to step S6, where it is determined whether or not the cleaning operation is being performed. If it is determined that it is not contaminated, the process proceeds to step S5 to stop the cleaning operation, while if it is contaminated, the process proceeds to step 8 to determine whether or not it is contaminated based on the detection signal of the scattered light type smoke sensor 2. If it is not contaminated in step S8, only the gas sensor detects contamination, so proceed to step S9 to check if the 10-minute timer has counted up, and if not, proceed to step S4 above, while if it is affirmative Proceeding to step S10, the counting of the 30-minute timer that limits the pollution detection duration of the gas sensor is started, and then the purification operation is stopped in step S5. If the cleaning operation is not being performed in step S6, the process proceeds to step S11 to determine whether or not the gas sensor 1 has previously detected contamination. If not, the process proceeds to step S12 to determine whether the gas sensor 1 is contaminated. Only when it is determined that it is contaminated, the process proceeds to step S14 to start the cleaning operation and the counting of the 10-minute timer, while if the result is positive in step S11, the process proceeds to step S15.

In step S15, it is determined whether or not the scattered light smoke sensor 2 detects contamination. If the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S14 to start the purification operation and the 10-minute timer count, while if not, the process proceeds to step S16. Then, it is determined whether the gas sensor 1 detects contamination. Then, since only the gas sensor 1 detects the contamination only when it is determined to be positive in step S16, the process proceeds to step S17, and it is checked whether or not the 30-minute timer has counted up. Since the contamination, that is, the filling of the gas component is continuously detected for 30 minutes, the flow proceeds to step S18 to urge the ventilation of the room, and the ventilation alarm lamp 11 is turned on.

Thus, in the above embodiment, the microcomputer
With the 15 software, the absolute value of the detection signal of only the scattered light type smoke sensor 2 does not depend on the relative value (time differential value) of the detection signal of the gas sensor 1 having an inconvenient initial energization characteristic for 3 minutes immediately after the power is turned on. Judge the degree of contamination of the indoor air and start the cleaning operation of the air purification mechanism according to the judgment result.
In addition to stopping and switching the air volume, the cleaning operation is stopped when the cleaning detection of only the scattered light type smoke sensor 2 continues for 10 minutes during the cleaning operation. The air purification mechanism can be accurately controlled, and wasteful purification operation can be eliminated to save energy.

Further, in the above embodiment, the software of the microcomputer 15 turns on the ventilation alarm lamp 11 in order to promote the ventilation of the room when only the gas sensor 1 continues to detect the pollution for 30 minutes or more while the cleaning operation is stopped. Therefore, there is an advantage that the filling of the gas component can be surely known and the safety during use is significantly improved. Further, since the display lamps 9a to 9d and 10a to 10d display the degree of contamination due to the determined gas components and particle components at every level, the degree of contamination of the room can be known at a glance.

In the above embodiment, the ventilation alarm lamp 11 is used to promote ventilation in the room, but this may be used as an alarm buzzer that emits an alarm sound.

Further, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment.

<Effect of Device> As is clear from the above description, the air cleaner of the present invention is provided with the gas sensor for detecting the gas component in the air and the scattered light smoke sensor for detecting the particle component, and the air purifying mechanism. An initial control means for controlling the start and stop of the purification operation based on only the detection signal of the scattered light type smoke sensor for a certain period immediately after the power is turned on,
During the cleaning operation, the cleaning operation is stopped based on the detection signal of only the scattered light type smoke sensor, and an operating control means is provided for notifying that the room is ventilated when only the gas sensor detects a gas component for a predetermined time. As a result, the air purification mechanism can be accurately and appropriately controlled according to the degree of fouling of the room immediately after the power is turned on, and wasteful purification operation can be eliminated, which can greatly contribute to energy saving. Even when the cleaning operation is stopped, when the gas component is full, the user can be informed to urge the ventilation of the room, and the safety during use can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of the air cleaner of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a detailed front view of the operation / display unit of the above embodiment,
FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view of the scattered light type smoke sensor of the above embodiment,
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the main part of the above embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the automatic operation of the microcomputer of FIG. 1 ... Gas sensor, 2 ... Scattered light smoke sensor, 5 ... Operation / display section, 6 ... Operation mode selector switch, 13 ... Light emitting diode, 14 ... Light receiving diode, 15 ... Microcomputer, 20 ... ... Purification device drive circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An air purifier equipped with an air purifying mechanism for removing fine dust in the sucked indoor air to blow clean air, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the air purifying mechanism. With a gas sensor for detecting the above, and a scattered light type smoke sensor for optically detecting particle components in the room air, the above control unit, the detection signal of the above scattered light type smoke sensor only for a certain time immediately after the power is turned on. Initial control means for controlling the start and stop of the purifying operation of the air purifying mechanism based on only the above, and the purifying operation of the air purifying mechanism is stopped based on the detection signal of only the scattered light type smoke sensor during the purifying operation. At the same time, an air purifier characterized by being provided with an operating control means for notifying that the room should be ventilated when only the gas sensor detects a gas component for a predetermined time.