Humidifier capable of precisely adjusting humidification amount

Abstract

To provide a humidifier capable of precisely adjusting a humidification amount.SOLUTION: A humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an ultrasonic vibrator for generating high-frequency vibration, a vibrator IC for controlling the ultrasonic vibrator with two or more duty cycles fixedly set at different activation percentages, and a humidification amount determiner for determining a target humidification amount, wherein the vibrator IC controls the ultrasonic vibrator by combining one or more duty cycles according to the target humidification amount. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optimal humidity according to a user's request by more precisely adjusting a humidification amount through control of an ultrasonic vibrator in which duty cycles set at different activation percentages are combined.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a humidifier capable of precisely adjusting the amount of humidification, and more particularly to a humidifier capable of more precisely adjusting the amount of humidification by controlling an ultrasonic vibrator in combination with duty cycles set at different activation percentages. [Background technology]

[0002] Humidifiers are home appliances that maintain dry indoor air at an appropriate humidity level to create a comfortable environment. Indoor air can become particularly dry in winter and in summer when air conditioners are in use, which can lead to dry skin, respiratory problems, and allergies. Humidifiers play an important role in preventing these problems and maintaining a healthy indoor environment. Humidifiers also help promote plant growth and are useful for preventing deformation of furniture and musical instruments. Humidifiers with a variety of functions and designs are now available on the market, allowing users to choose a product that suits their needs and environment.

[0003] Humidifiers are categorized into various types based on the humidification method. The main types are evaporative, heated, ultrasonic, and combined humidifiers. Evaporative humidifiers expose a water-filled filter or pad to the air and use a fan to pass air through it to promote evaporation. This natural evaporation method consumes little energy, but has drawbacks such as the need for regular filter replacement and slow humidification. Heat-based humidifiers boil water to create steam and release it into the air. This has a sterilizing effect and allows for quick humidification, but they consume a lot of energy and pose a risk of image contamination during use. Ultrasonic humidifiers use ultrasonic vibrators to break down water into tiny droplets and release them into the air. Ultrasonic humidifiers are energy-efficient, quiet, and capable of quick humidification. Unlike heated humidifiers, they do not pose a risk of image contamination, making them popular these days.

[0004] Ultrasonic humidifiers consist of an ultrasonic vibrator and a vibrator IC. The ultrasonic vibrator receives an electrical signal and generates high-frequency vibrations, which break down water into fine particles. The vibrator IC controls the ultrasonic vibrator and adjusts its operation through various duty cycles. Once the ultrasonic vibrator breaks down water into fine particles through high-frequency vibrations, these particles are released into the air to regulate indoor humidity.

[0005] Conventional ultrasonic humidifiers use a fixed duty cycle to adjust the amount of humidification. The duty cycle refers to the percentage of time that the vibrator is active during a given period. A 50% duty cycle means that the vibrator is active for half the period and inactive for the other half. Conventional humidifiers adjust the amount of humidification by selecting one of several fixed duty cycles. For example, a low humidification level is set to 50%, a medium humidification level to 62%, and a high humidification level to 95%. This method of adjusting the amount of humidification using several fixed duty cycles has drawbacks, such as difficulty in precisely adjusting the amount of humidification, limited humidification levels, and inefficient energy use. A fixed duty cycle makes it difficult to set the exact amount of humidification desired by the user, and providing only several fixed duty cycles makes it difficult to adjust the amount of humidification to suit various environments.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for the development of a humidifier that allows users to more precisely adjust the amount of humidification they desire. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The present invention is intended to solve the problems of the prior art mentioned above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a humidifier that can more precisely adjust the amount of humidification by controlling ultrasonic vibrators in combination with fixed duty cycles that have different activation percentages. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A humidifier according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an ultrasonic vibrator that generates high-frequency vibrations, a vibrator IC that controls the ultrasonic vibrator with two or more duty cycles that are fixedly set with different activation percentages, and a humidification amount determination unit that determines a target humidification amount, and the vibrator IC controls the ultrasonic vibrator by combining one or more duty cycles depending on the target humidification amount.

[0009] At this time, the vibrator IC adjusts the average humidification amount for a set unit time by combining one or more duty cycles, and the humidification amount of the humidifier can be adjusted to a target humidification amount through the average humidification amount. In addition, the vibrator IC may include a control unit that controls the ultrasonic vibrator based on the calculation result of the average humidification amount according to the operation time of each duty cycle in the duty cycle combination. Preferably, the calculation results in the number below <1> It is calculated based on

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[0010] According to the present invention, the amount of humidification can be more precisely adjusted by controlling ultrasonic vibrators that combine fixed duty cycles with different activation percentages, thereby providing optimal humidity according to the user's request. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a functional block diagram of a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 10A, 10B, and 10C are diagrams illustrating an example of a fixed duty cycle of a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a vibrator IC according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table of average humidification amounts according to duty cycle combinations according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a duty cycle combination according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of control by a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The technical terms used in the description of the present invention are merely used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. Furthermore, the technical terms used in the present invention have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Unless otherwise defined, they should not be interpreted in an overly inclusive or narrow sense. Furthermore, if the technical terms used in the present invention are incorrect terms that do not accurately express the idea of ​​the present invention, they should be replaced with technical terms that can be correctly understood by a person skilled in the art.

[0013] Furthermore, singular expressions used in the present invention include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as "comprise" or "include" should not be interpreted as including all of the multiple components or multiple steps described in the invention, but should be interpreted as meaning that some of the components or some of the steps may not be included, or that additional components or steps may be further included.

[0014] Furthermore, the attached drawings are provided to facilitate understanding of the concept of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the concept of the present invention.

[0015] Hereinafter, the humidifier capable of precisely adjusting the amount of humidification (hereinafter referred to as the 'humidifier') according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(a), (b), and (c) are diagrams illustrating examples of fixed duty cycles of a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] A humidifier according to one embodiment of the present invention is for more precisely adjusting the amount of humidification. To this end, the humidifier according to this embodiment may be configured to include a humidification amount control unit 10 that is operated to determine the amount of humidification, a humidification amount determination unit 30 that determines a target amount of humidification, a vibrator IC 50 that controls vibrations so that humidification is provided according to the target amount of humidification, and an ultrasonic vibrator 70 that generates high-frequency vibrations for humidification.

[0018] The humidification amount control unit 10 is an interface that allows the user to directly set a target humidification amount, and allows the user to select one of many levels of humidification amount. At this time, the number of humidification amount levels that the user can select can be provided at least in excess of the number of fixed duty cycles.

[0019] The humidification amount control unit 10 can be realized in various ways.

[0020] For example, the humidification amount control unit 10 may include an analog dial. The user can set the desired humidification amount by turning the dial. The dial displays a range from minimum to maximum humidification amount, allowing the user to intuitively select the desired humidification amount. The signal transmitted to the humidification amount determination unit 30 changes depending on the rotation angle of the dial, and the humidification amount determination unit 30 can determine the target humidification amount based on this signal.

[0021] In another example, the humidification amount control unit 10 may include a digital button. The user can press the "+" and "-" buttons to set the desired humidification amount in stages. In a specific example, the humidification amount can be set to increase or decrease by 5% with each click of the button. In this case, a separate digital display is provided so that the currently set humidification amount can be checked in real time.

[0022] In another example, the humidification amount control unit 10 may include a touch screen interface. The user can intuitively set the humidification amount through the touch screen, and in a specific example, the user can adjust the humidification amount using a slider or directly input the desired humidification amount numerically.

[0023] In another example, the humidification amount control unit 10 may include a voice recognition function. The user can set the humidification amount through a voice command. For example, the desired humidification amount can be set through a command such as "humidification amount 50%." The voice recognition system recognizes the user's command and transmits it to the humidification amount determination unit 30, which then adjusts the target humidification amount.

[0024] In another example, the humidification amount control unit 10 can be linked to a mobile application. The user can remotely set the humidification amount through the smartphone application. The current humidification amount can be monitored in real time through the application and adjusted as needed. In addition, a function to automatically adjust the humidification amount during a specific time period can be implemented using the smartphone's schedule function.

[0025] Meanwhile, the humidification amount determination unit 30 can receive operation information regarding the humidification amount from the humidification amount operation unit 10, set a target humidification amount based on the received operation information, and provide the set target humidification amount information to the vibrator IC.

[0026] At this time, the target humidification amount information can be provided in the unit form of the activation percentage of the duty cycle, and for this purpose, the humidification amount determination unit 30 can perform the task of converting the operation information provided from the humidification amount operation unit 10 into the corresponding activation percentage.

[0027] The transducer IC 50 can control the ultrasonic transducer 70 at two or more duty cycles that are fixedly set with different activation percentages.

[0028] Here, the duty cycle refers to the percentage of time that the oscillator is activated during a given period, and the number of duty cycles of the humidifier and the activation percentage of each duty cycle are fixed.

[0029] (a), (b), and (c) in Figure 2 are examples of duty cycles. Looking more closely at Figure 2, three duty cycles can be configured. As shown in Figure 2(a), the first duty cycle (hereinafter referred to as the 'first duty cycle') can be configured with a 50% activation percentage. The first duty cycle with a 50% activation percentage is activated for 50% of the oscillation period (C) and inactivated for the remaining 50%. As shown in Figure 2(b), the second duty cycle (hereinafter referred to as the 'second duty cycle') can be configured with a 62% activation percentage. The second duty cycle with a 62% activation percentage is activated for 62% of the oscillation period (C) and inactivated for the remaining 38%. As shown in Figure 2(c), the third duty cycle (hereinafter referred to as the 'third duty cycle') can be configured with a 95% activation percentage. The third duty cycle, with an activation percentage set at 95%, is activated for 95% of the vibration period (C) and inactivated for the remaining 5%. The number of duty cycles and the activation percentage setting values ​​are only examples, and various duty cycles can be used depending on the field to which the present invention is applied.

[0030] However, for the sake of convenience, the following description will be given using an example in which the number of duty cycles is three, and the activation percentages of each duty cycle are 50%, 62%, and 95%, as shown in Figures 2(a), 2(b), and 2(c).

[0031] In this case, the transducer IC 50 can control the ultrasonic transducer 70 by combining one or more duty cycles depending on the target humidification amount. Specifically, the transducer IC 50 can control the ultrasonic transducer 70 to operate at a first duty cycle during a first time period of the unit time, control the ultrasonic transducer 70 to operate at a second duty cycle during a second time period of the unit time, and control the ultrasonic transducer 70 to operate at a third duty cycle during a third time period of the unit time. Here, the sum of the first to third times is the same as the unit time, and each of the first to third times may be greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to the unit time. For example, if the unit time is 10 seconds, the sum of the first to third times is 10 seconds, and each of the first to third times may be greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 10 seconds.

[0032] In this way, the vibrator IC50 adjusts the average humidification amount for a set unit time by combining one or more duty cycles, and can adjust the humidification amount of the humidifier to the target humidification amount through the average humidification amount, which will be described in detail later.

[0033] The ultrasonic vibrator 70 is controlled by the vibrator IC 50 to generate high frequency vibrations, thereby breaking down water into fine particles.

[0034] Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of a vibrator IC according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of an average humidification amount table according to a duty cycle combination according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of a duty cycle combination according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of control by a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] The resonator IC 50 will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS.

[0036] As described above, the oscillator IC50 adjusts the average humidification amount for a set unit time by combining one or more duty cycles, and can adjust the humidification amount of the humidifier to a target humidification amount through the average humidification amount.

[0037] For this purpose, the vibrator IC 50 may include a storage unit 51 that stores the calculation results of the average humidification amount according to the operation time of each duty cycle in the duty cycle combination, and a control unit 55 that controls the operation of the ultrasonic vibrator 70 based on the calculation results stored in the storage unit 51.

[0038] The storage unit 51 stores the average humidification amount according to the operating time of each duty cycle. Specifically, the calculation results of the average humidification according to the operating time of each duty cycle can be stored in table format as shown in FIG. 4.

[0039] In this case, a separate calculation unit 100 may be provided to calculate the average humidification amount according to the operation time of each duty cycle. Here, the calculation unit 100 may be configured separately from the humidifier, but is not limited thereto. If necessary, the calculation unit 100 may be configured within the humidifier.

[0040] The calculation unit 100 can calculate the average humidification amount according to the operation time of each duty cycle in combination with the duty cycle.

[0041] Preferably, the calculation part is implemented by the following mathematical formula: <1> Based on this, the average humidification amount for each duty cycle can be calculated.

[0042]

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[0043] where H is the average humidification amount, a i is the activation percentage for each duty cycle (i=1, 2, …n), x iis the operating time of each duty cycle (i=1, 2, ... n), and T can mean unit time.

[0044] The control unit 55 can receive the target humidification amount determined by the humidification amount determination unit 30, and when the target humidification amount is received, it can select the average humidification amount that is closest to the target humidification amount based on the table stored in the storage unit 51, and control the ultrasonic vibrator 70 based on the operating time of each duty cycle for calculating the selected average humidification amount.

[0045] Using the table of FIG. 4 as an example, when the control unit 55 receives a target humidification level of 59% from the humidification level determination unit 50, it searches for and selects the average humidification level that is closest to 59% based on the table stored in the storage unit 51. At this time, there may be two average humidification levels that are closest to the target humidification level. In this case, one of the two average humidification levels closest to the target humidification level will be higher than the target humidification level, and the other will be lower than the target humidification level. In this case, to reduce energy consumption, the control unit 55 may select an average humidification level lower than the target humidification level. Meanwhile, the control unit 55 that selects the closest average humidification level of 59% may control the ultrasonic vibrator 70 based on the operating time of each duty cycle for calculating the average humidification level of 59%. That is, as shown in the example of FIG. 5, the control unit 55 may control the ultrasonic vibrator 70 at the first duty cycle for the first 8 seconds of a 10-second unit time and at the third duty cycle for the remaining 2 seconds. At this time, the control unit 55 repeatedly performs control by unit time during which the humidifier operates according to the target humidification amount.

[0046] Depending on the field to which the present invention is applied, the calculation unit 100 may directly calculate the duty cycle combination and the operation time of each duty cycle in the duty cycle combination so as to generate an average humidification amount corresponding to the target humidification amount.

[0047] With the above-described configuration, the humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention can more precisely adjust the amount of humidification, thereby providing the optimum humidity level according to the user's request.

[0048] Meanwhile, when the control unit 55 controls the ultrasonic transducer 70 with two or more duty cycles within a unit time, it can control the ultrasonic transducer 70 with the same duty cycle continuously without time separation. That is, the control unit 55 can control the ultrasonic transducer 70 in a 10-second unit time by continuously controlling the ultrasonic transducer 70 with the first duty cycle for 8 seconds and then controlling it with the third duty cycle for 2 seconds, rather than separating the first duty cycle, such as by using the first duty cycle for 4 seconds, the third duty cycle for 2 seconds, and then the first duty cycle for 4 seconds. This simplifies control by allowing the same duty cycle to be performed as continuously as possible, thereby minimizing control errors and minimizing duty cycle conversions, thereby reducing power consumption.

[0049] 6, the control unit 55 divides the control period according to the unit time into a first period (T1) and a second period (T2) and can alternately perform control according to the first period (T1) and control according to the second period (T2). In this case, the first period (T1) and the second period (T2) can be configured to have mutually inverted control procedures. That is, when the control unit 55 controls the ultrasonic vibrator 70 based on the operating time of each duty cycle to calculate an average humidification amount of 59% as in the above example, the first period (T1) can be configured with a first duty cycle of 8 seconds and a third duty cycle of 2 seconds, while the second period (T2) can be configured with a third duty cycle of 2 seconds and a first duty cycle of 8 seconds. In this way, if the control by the first period and the second period is performed alternately, the control is performed in a sequence such as the first duty cycle 8 seconds, the third duty cycle 4 seconds, and the first duty cycle 8 seconds, so that the duty cycle change can be further minimized.

[0050] The above description is merely illustrative of the technical concept of the present invention, and various modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the technical concept of the present invention. The scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical concepts within the scope of the claims should be interpreted as being within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 10 Humidification amount control section 30 Humidification amount determination section 50 Resonator IC 51 Preservation Department 55 Control Unit 70 Ultrasonic vibrator 100 Calculation Unit

Claims

1. an ultrasonic transducer that generates high-frequency vibrations; A transducer IC that controls the ultrasonic transducer with two or more duty cycles that are fixedly set with different activation percentages; and a humidification amount determination unit that determines a target humidification amount; The oscillator IC controls the ultrasonic oscillator by combining one or more of the duty cycles according to the target humidification amount.

2. 2. The humidifier of claim 1, wherein the vibrator IC adjusts an average humidification amount for a set unit time by combining one or more of the duty cycles, and adjusts the humidification amount of the humidifier to the target humidification amount through the average humidification amount.

3. The vibrator IC includes:

3. The humidifier according to claim 2, further comprising a control unit for controlling the ultrasonic vibrator based on a calculation result of an average humidification amount according to an operation time of each duty cycle in the duty cycle combination.

4. The calculation results are calculated based on the following formula: [Equation 1] Here, H is the average humidification amount, a i is the activation percentage for each duty cycle (i=1, 2, ...n), x i 4. The humidifier according to claim 3, wherein i is the operation time of each duty cycle (i=1, 2, . . . n), and T is the unit time.

5. The vibrator IC includes: a storage unit for storing a table based on the calculation results, 5. The humidifier of claim 4, wherein the control unit determines the operation time of each duty cycle according to the average humidification amount that is closest to the target humidification amount based on the stored table.

6. The humidifier comprises: The humidification amount control unit may be operated by a user.

2. The humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the humidification amount determining unit determines the target humidification amount based on the operation result of the humidification amount operating unit.

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