JP-7855890-B2 - light irradiation device

Inventors

• 小西 達也
• 大武 寛和
• 冨山 彩弥香
• 藤原 章裕

Assignees

• 東芝ライテック株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260511

Application Date

20220328

Claims (6)

1. A light source that emits light, A fan to blow air, A control unit that controls the operation of the light source and the fan, and shifts the timing of the fan's startup from the timing of the light source's startup, A fan power supply that operates the fan by supplying power to the fan, A switching element is provided between the fan and the power supply for the fan, which switches between supplying power to the fan and stopping the power supply. Equipped with, The control unit is connected to the switching element and controls the operation of the switching element, thereby controlling the switching between supplying power to the fan and stopping the supply of power to the fan. When the control unit is not running, the switching element will be in a state where the power supply to the fan is stopped. The light irradiation device is characterized in that the control unit controls the airflow of the fan by changing the control signal input to the fan so that the airflow of the fan increases in stages when the fan is started, and after inputting the control signal to the fan when the fan is started, controls the operation of the switching element and starts supplying power to the fan, thereby starting the fan while the control signal has been input to the fan.
2. The light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit starts the other light source and fan after the peak of the current flowing when one of the light source and the fan is started.
3. Equipped with multiple of the aforementioned fans, The light irradiation device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control unit further staggers the starting timing of each of the multiple fans.
4. The system further comprises a housing that houses the light source and the fan inside, The fan draws air into the housing and discharges the air drawn into the housing to the outside of the housing. The light irradiation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the light source irradiates ultraviolet light onto the air taken into the housing and sterilizes the air, thereby sterilizing the air while circulating it.
5. The light irradiation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , characterized in that the control unit starts the light source after starting the fan.
6. The light irradiation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , characterized in that the control unit starts the fan after starting the light source.

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a light irradiation device. There is a light irradiation device that comprises a light source and a fan for circulating air. This light irradiation device is used, for example, as an air purifier that disinfects air while circulating it in a room. The fan draws air into the housing that contains the fan and light source, and also expels the drawn-in air to the outside of the housing. The light source disinfects the air drawn into the housing by irradiating it with ultraviolet light. As a result, the air disinfected by the light emitted from the light source is expelled to the outside of the housing, allowing for air disinfection while circulating the air in a room. Furthermore, light irradiation devices can also be used as lighting fixtures, for example. The light source directs light towards a room or other area. The fan cools the light source and internal circuitry by blowing air (cooling air) towards them. Thus, in light irradiation devices equipped with a light source and a fan, the current consumption may increase and the temperature of internal components may rise during startup. Therefore, it is necessary to select components that can withstand the current consumption during startup and to implement measures such as heat dissipation. These measures contribute to the larger size of the device and increased manufacturing costs. For this reason, it is desirable to develop light irradiation devices equipped with a light source and a fan that can suppress the increase in current consumption during startup and the rise in temperature of internal components with a simple configuration. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-236987 This is a schematic block diagram showing a light irradiation device according to the embodiment.This graph schematically illustrates an example of the operation of the light irradiation device according to the embodiment.This is a schematic block diagram showing a modified example of the light irradiation device according to the embodiment. Each embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Please note that the drawings are schematic or conceptual, and the relationships between the thickness and width of each part, as well as the ratios of the sizes of the parts, are not necessarily identical to those of reality. Furthermore, even when representing the same part, the dimensions and ratios may differ between drawings. In this specification and in each figure, elements similar to those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations are omitted as appropriate. Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a light irradiation device according to an embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the light irradiation device 10 comprises a light source 12 for irradiating light, a fan 14 for circulating air, and a control unit 16 for controlling the operation of the light source 12 and the fan 14. The light irradiation device 10 is, for example, an air purifier that disinfects the air while circulating the air in a room. In the following explanation, we will use the case where the light irradiation device 10 is an air purifier as an example. The light irradiation device 10 further comprises a housing 18 that houses the light source 12 and the fan 14. The housing 18 houses, for example, the light source 12 and the fan 14, as well as other parts of the light irradiation device 10, such as a control unit 16. However, the control unit 16 may be provided separately from the housing 18 that houses the light source 12 and the fan 14, and may control the operation of the light source 12 and the fan 14 by communicating with the equipment inside the housing 18 via wired or wireless communication. The configuration of the housing 18 may be any configuration that houses at least the light source 12 and the fan 14. The configuration of the control unit 16 may be any configuration that can control the operation of the light source 12 and the fan 14. The fan 14 draws air into the housing 18 and discharges the air drawn into the housing 18 to the outside. The light source 12 irradiates the air drawn into the housing 18 with ultraviolet light, sterilizing the air while circulating it. This allows the light irradiation device 10 to sterilize air while circulating it, such as in a room. The light source 12 is, for example, a light-emitting diode (LED) capable of emitting ultraviolet light. The light source 12 may also be other light-emitting elements capable of emitting ultraviolet light, or a lamp capable of emitting ultraviolet light, such as a germicidal lamp. The light emitted by the light source 12 may further contain components other than ultraviolet light, such as blue light. The light source 12 can be any light source capable of emitting light containing at least ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light is, for example, light with a wavelength of 10 nm to 400 nm. Fan 14 operates, for example, on a DC power supp