JPH0595813A - Hair dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly heat the whole of hair without any excess or shortage by detecting an infrared ray transmitted from the hair, and causing a user to recognize that detected hair temperature reaches the predetermined level. CONSTITUTION:When hair temperature does not reach the prescribed heating temperature, the green LED 32 of a hair temperature recognition means 30 lights. When hairs exposed to the hot air A reache the prescribed heating temperature, the red LED 31 of the means 30 lights or flashes. Thus, a user can recognize that the hairs exposed to the hot air A reache the prescribed temperature, and directs the hot air A to other hairs. As a result, the whole of the hairs can be quickly heated without any excess or shortage. In this case, a part of the air delivered from a fan 14, or the cold air C, when caused to flow into a sub-passage 18 before heated by a heater 15, maintains ambient temperature for the infrared sensor 21 of a hair temperature detection means 20 and electronic parts related thereto at a constant level. Thus, the temperature detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 21 can be made higher.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hair dryer for heating hair with warm air, and more particularly to a hair dryer having a function of detecting hair temperature.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a hair dryer having a function of detecting a hair temperature, there is a hair dryer which detects infrared rays emitted from the hair by a sensor, which is disclosed in JP-A-57-168605.
It is disclosed in the publication. By detecting the hair temperature, it is possible to prevent the hair from being excessively heated.

[0003]

However, JP-A-57 / 57
In the hair dryer disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 168605,
When the detected hair temperature becomes high, the output of the heater is reduced to prevent the hair from being excessively heated. Although this protects the hair, it cannot be determined that the hair has been heated sufficiently. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that the heating is insufficient, or hot air is applied to the same portion more than necessary, which is not convenient.

Further, in the hair temperature detecting means using an infrared sensor, the temperature is measured with reference to the ambient temperature, but the warm air discharged from the hair dryer hits the head and stays in the vicinity of the discharge opening of the hair dryer for a while. Therefore, the ambient temperature rises. Also, the ambient temperature rises due to radiant heat from the heater, conductive heat, and heat generated by the hair temperature detecting means itself. As a result, the measured temperature becomes inaccurate, which makes it difficult to accurately heat the hair.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hair dryer capable of quickly heating the entire hair without excess or deficiency.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hair dryer according to the present invention comprises a dryer body which heats air sucked by a fan into warm air by a heater and discharges the hair, and hair heated by the hot air discharged from the dryer body. Temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the hair by detecting infrared rays emitted from the hair with a sensor, and hair temperature recognition for making the user recognize that the hair temperature detected by the hair temperature detection means has reached a predetermined temperature. It is characterized by having means.

For the hair temperature detecting means, a diverting means for diverting the cool air discharged from the fan of the dryer body and before passing through the heater to the hair temperature detecting means, and the cold air is taken into infrared rays by an infrared sensor. It is preferable to provide a cool air discharge path for discharging along the front surface of the infrared intake window, and a correction unit for detecting the temperature of the infrared sensor and correcting the hair detection temperature based on the detected sensor temperature.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing a mechanical structure of an example of a hair dryer embodying the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an electric structure thereof.

The dryer body 10 has a body 12 which forms an air passage 11 therein. At the rear of the air passage 11,
A fan 14 driven by the motor 13 is provided. The fan 14 draws in air from both sides to let the ventilation passage 1
Send to 1. The air sent to the ventilation passage 11 is heated to warm air by the heater 15 and is discharged from the ventilation passage 11. Fine filters are attached to the air intake ports provided on both sides of the body 12. Body 12
A grip 16 is attached to the rear part of the rear part, and a switch 17 is attached to the grip 16.

The hair temperature detecting means 20 is an infrared sensor 2
Has 1. The infrared sensor 21 is mounted on the substrate 22 together with other electronic components, and is arranged in the sub-ventilation passage 18 arranged in parallel below the ventilation passage 11. Then, in order to detect the temperature of the hair, infrared rays emitted from the hair are detected through an infrared ray intake window 23 in which an infrared filter, a lens and the like are fitted. A portion of the cold air that has been discharged from the fan 14 and has not been heated is introduced into the auxiliary air passage 18 through the introduction port 19a at the rear portion. The cool air introduced into the sub-ventilation passage 18 passes through the sub-ventilation passage 18 and reaches the discharge port 19 in the front part.
It is discharged from b to the outside of the auxiliary ventilation passage 18. The cool air discharged from the discharge port 19b to the outside of the auxiliary ventilation passage 18 is guided by the guide 19c.
Thus, the infrared filter, the lens, etc. fitted in the infrared intake window 23 flow along the front surface to shield them.

The hair temperature recognition means 30 includes a red LED 31.
And has two sets of indicators, one set of which is a green LED 32. The two sets of indicators are attached to both sides of the body 12, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the red LED 31 and the green LED 32 are controlled by an infrared sensor output detection circuit 33 using the infrared sensor 21.

The output of the infrared sensor 21 is the operational amplifier 3
It is amplified by 3a and input to the comparator 33b, where it is compared with the reference level. The reference level corresponds to the intensity of infrared rays that the infrared sensor 21 receives from the hair when the hair is properly heated. When the signal input from the infrared sensor 21 to the comparator 33b is higher than the reference level, the output of the comparator 33b becomes H level, and when the signal is lower than the reference level, the comparator 3
The output of 3b becomes L level. When the output of the comparator 33b is L level, the green LED 32 is driven by the drive transistor 33c, and when the output of the comparator 33b is H level, the red LED 31 is driven by the drive transistor 33d. 33e and 33f are current limiting resistors.

The infrared sensor output detection circuit 33 operates the switch 17 provided on the grip 16 to operate the heater 15
On / off control is also performed. As the power supply circuit 34 of the infrared sensor output detection circuit 33, a voltage drop resistor 34a, a rectifying diode 34b, a three-terminal regulator 34c, a smoothing capacitor 34d, and a ripple absorbing capacitor 34e are provided.

In the hair dryer having such a structure, the air sucked into the ventilation passage 11 by the fan 14 is heated by the heater 15 into the warm air and is discharged from the ventilation passage 11, and the warm air is applied to the hair. Causes the hair to be heated. At this time, the infrared rays emitted from the hair
It is detected by the infrared sensor 21 of the hair temperature detecting means 20. Thereby, the hair temperature is detected. Then, when the hair temperature does not reach the predetermined heating temperature, the green LED 32 of the hair temperature recognition means 30 is turned on. Green LED 32
Are provided on both sides of the body 12, one of them is reflected in the mirror, so that the user can recognize that the hair to which the warm air is applied has not reached the predetermined heating temperature.

When the hair to which warm air is applied reaches a predetermined heating temperature, the red LED 31 of the hair temperature recognition means 30 is turned on or blinks. Thereby, the user can recognize that the hair to which the warm air is applied has reached the predetermined heating temperature, and applies the warm air to the other hair. As a result, excessive heating of the hair is avoided, damage to the hair is prevented, and insufficient heating is avoided. Further, when the hair reaches a predetermined heating temperature, the output of the heater 15 is not reduced, so that the heating is performed quickly. Therefore, the inconvenience of applying warm air to the same portion longer than necessary is also eliminated. The level at which the red LED 31 lights up can be adjustable.

At this time, a part of the air discharged from the fan 14 flows into the auxiliary ventilation passage 18 before being heated by the heater 15. The cool air that has flowed into the auxiliary ventilation passage 18 keeps the ambient temperature of the infrared sensor 21 of the hair temperature detecting means 20 and the electronic components related thereto constant. Therefore, the detection accuracy of the hair temperature by the infrared sensor 21 increases. Fan 1
Since the air sucked by 4 is purified by the filter, it prevents dust and the like from adhering to the hair temperature detecting means 20 and deteriorating its function. Further, the cold air discharged from the auxiliary ventilation passage 18 flows along the front surface of the infrared filter, the lens, etc. fitted in the infrared intake window 23, and prevents dust and mist-like hair styling liquid from adhering thereto. Also by these, reduction in accuracy of detecting hair temperature can be suppressed. Then, by increasing the accuracy of detecting the hair temperature, the user can more accurately recognize that the hair to which the warm air is applied has reached the predetermined heating temperature.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing another electrical configuration. As shown here, the buzzer 35 can be used instead of the light emitting type indicators such as the red LED 31 and the green LED 32, or both can be used together. When using the buzzer 35, even when not using a mirror,
It is recognized that the hair temperature has reached the predetermined heating temperature.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing another electrical configuration. The output of the infrared sensor 21 is amplified by the operational amplifier 33g and input to the comparator 33h. The amplification degree is changed by the resistance ratio of the resistors 33i and 33j,
It is adjusted by adjusting the resistance value of the resistor 33j. The potentiometer 33k sets the upper limit of the hair heating temperature, and changes the DC voltage that is the reference of the infrared sensor 21. A temperature sensor 25 for detecting the temperature of the infrared sensor 21 is provided. As the temperature sensor 25, a thermistor, a posistor, a transistor, a diode or the like is used. The output of the temperature sensor 25 is amplified by the operational amplifier 33m and input to the comparator 33h. At this time, in order to cancel the characteristic change of the infrared sensor 21 due to the ambient temperature change, the correction circuit 33n corrects the non-linear characteristic or the like according to the output of the temperature sensor 25. The comparator 33h is the comparator 33b of FIG.
Corresponding to the red LED 31 and green L depending on the output
Control indicators such as ED32.

The infrared sensor 21 used here is composed of, for example, a thermopile. In this method, a large number of thermocouple elements are connected in series, the hot junction side is heated by incident infrared rays, and the cold junction side is made substantially equal to the ambient temperature. When the hair dryer is in operation, infrared rays emitted from the hair heated by the warm air enter the infrared sensor 21, and the hot contact side is heated. As a result, a temperature difference occurs between the hot junction and cold junction of each thermocouple element,
A potential difference occurs. Since each thermocouple element is connected in series, the total voltage of the potential difference is output. At this time, if the ambient temperature of the infrared sensor 21 rises, the output voltage of the infrared sensor 21 drops even if the intensity of the incident infrared rays is constant. Therefore, the infrared sensor 21 changes its characteristics according to the change of the ambient temperature.

The infrared sensor output detection circuit 33 shown in FIG. 4 has a correction means for correcting the characteristic change of the infrared sensor 21 due to the ambient temperature change.
It enables accurate hair temperature detection without being affected by the ambient temperature. The correction means and the flow dividing means are also effective for a general heater output control type hair dryer, that is, a hair dryer of a type that lowers or stops the output of the heater when the hair temperature reaches a predetermined temperature. ..

[0021]

As described above, in the case of the hair dryer according to the present invention, the fact that the hair temperature detected by the hair temperature detecting means has reached the predetermined temperature is immediately recognized by the user, so that the hair is overheated or heated. Not only will the shortage be prevented, but the inconvenience of applying the wind to the same area for longer than necessary will be eliminated. Therefore, the entire hair can be quickly heated without excess or deficiency.

In addition, a diverting means for diverting the cold air discharged from the fan of the dryer body and before passing through the heater to the hair temperature detecting means, and the cold air on the front surface of the infrared intake window for introducing infrared rays into the infrared sensor. If a correction means for detecting the temperature of the cold air discharge path for discharging along with the infrared sensor and correcting the detected hair temperature based on the detected sensor temperature is provided, the accuracy of detecting the hair temperature by the infrared sensor is increased, The heating state is recognized more accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing a mechanical structure of an example of a hair dryer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an electrical configuration.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing another electrical configuration.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing still another electrical configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Dryer Main Body 11 Ventilation Path 14 Fan 15 Heater 18 Secondary Ventilation Path 20 Hair Temperature Detection Means 21 Infrared Sensor 30 Hair Temperature Recognition Means 31 Red LED 32 Red LED 33 Infrared Sensor Output Detection Circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A dryer main body which heats air sucked by a fan into warm air by a heater and discharges it, and a temperature of hair heated by the hot air discharged from the dryer main body, and infrared rays emitted from the hair. It is characterized by further comprising: a hair temperature detecting means for sensing and detecting by a sensor; and a hair temperature recognizing means for recognizing to the user that the hair temperature detected by the hair temperature detecting means has reached a predetermined temperature. Hair dryer. 2. The hair dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a flow dividing unit that divides the cool air discharged from the fan of the dryer body and before passing through the heater to the hair temperature detecting unit. 3. The hair dryer according to claim 2, further comprising a cool air exhaust passage for exhausting the cool air along the front surface of an infrared ray intake window that takes in infrared rays into an infrared ray sensor of the hair temperature detecting means. .. 4. The hair dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a correction unit that detects a temperature of an infrared sensor of the hair temperature detection unit and corrects the hair detection temperature based on the detected sensor temperature.