Drying device and sanitary washing apparatus equipped with the same

Abstract

A drying device in accordance with the invention is characterized by including: an air blowing portion for blowing pressurized air so as to dry a surface to be dried by a jet of pressurized air whose abutment area to the surface to be dried is narrower than the surface to be dried; and a moving unit for moving the air blowing portion while the jet is being blown such that the jet blown from the air blowing portion sequentially sweeps a substantially entire surface of the surface to be dried, wherein the moving unit includes a first moving device for moving the air blowing portion in a state in which a blowing direction of the jet is being maintained so as to form a predetermined angle with respect to a moving direction of the air blowing portion and a second moving device for moving the air blowing portion in a direction different from that of the moving direction.For example, this first moving device moves in an advancing / retracting direction of the air blowing portion, and the second moving device deflects the blowing direction of the jet.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to a drying device for drying a wet surface by blowing air and a sanitary washing apparatus equipped with the same.BACKGROUND ART[0002]In a sanitary washing apparatus for washing the private parts of the human body, various functions have been devised to realize washing which corresponds to users' preferences. The user performs washing of the private parts by using the sanitary washing apparatus using the various functions, and effected removal of drops of water attached to the private parts with paper such as toilet paper. In recent years, however, a drying device has been proposed as a substitute for the paper such as toilet paper (e.g., refer to patent document 1). FIG. 21 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of a conventional sanitary washing apparatus equipped with a drying device. FIG. 22 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of this conventional sanitary washing apparatus.[0003]As shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021]For example, this first moving device moves in an advancing / retracting direction of the air blowing portion, and the second moving device deflects the blowing direction of the jet.

[0022]According to the invention, the waterdrops attached to the surface to be dried in a wide range can be blown off without being spread even with a small jet of air, so that the surface to be dried can be dried efficiently in a short time without enlarging the size of the drying device.

Problems solved by technology

In addition, if the capacity of the air compressor 13 is made large, not only does the vibration noise become large, but also it constitutes a cause of increased cost.

Furthermore, if the high-pressure air accumulator is separated from the air compressor and is installed outside the main body case, it becomes conspicuous, so that the appearance of the toilet becomes aggravated.

With this method, however, the area of air blown also becomes small, so that there has been a problem in that it becomes impossible to sufficiently remove the waterdrops on the surface to be washed which is wet in a wide range, and there has been a problem in practical application.

In addition, the waterdrops which were not peeled off the surface to be washed by a jet of air from a fixed direction undesirably move to a stagnant portion of the jet of air and remain as attached to the surface to be washed.

Further, there has been an additional problem in that the waterdrops are spread to the periphery by the jet of air, enlarging the wet area.

However, although it is not clear from the description of the above-described configuration, it appears that this device deflects the blowing direction of air three-dimensionally.

However, there has been a problem in that in a case where actual drying operation is performed by deflecting the blowing direction of the air nozzle on the basis of this description, if attention is focused on the relationship between the angle at which the blown air is applied and the surface to be dried, the waterdrops at the peripheral portion among the waterdrops after washing are further blown away and spread toward the surrounding parts.

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