Aircraft-installed hand dryer and aircraft lavatory unit

Abstract

An aircraft-installed hand dryer including an air for air conditioning supplied from an air conditioning equipment inside a cabin of an aircraft applied as an air for drying.

Claims

1. An aircraft lavatory unit comprising a supply piping connected to an air conditioning facility inside a cabin of an aircraft, an aircraft-installed hand dryer using an air for air conditioning supplied from the supply piping as an air for drying, a faucet supplying water, and a dispenser supplying a washing agent, wherein discharge portions of the faucet and the dispenser are integrated with a same body portion as the nozzle of the aircraft-installed hand dryer, and the body portion has a flat mounting portion provided on a whole area of an upper surface thereof.

2. The aircraft lavatory unit according to claim 1, comprising a valve provided on the supply piping, wherein an air blow of the air for drying is turned on and off by opening and closing the valve.

3. The aircraft lavatory unit according to claim 2, further comprising a controller controlling the opening and closing of the valve, and a contactless sensor, wherein the controller sets the valve to an opened state in a state where the contactless sensor detects that an object exists in a vicinity of a nozzle blowing out the air for drying.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a lavatory unit installed in an aircraft.

(2) FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view illustrating a relevant portion of a washbasin unit 20.

(3) FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a supply system supplying air for drying to a hand dryer according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(4) FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an outline of a lavatory unit installed in an aircraft.

(5) As illustrated in FIG. 1, a lavatory unit 10 installed in an aircraft has a washbasin unit 20, a mirror unit 30 and a toilet unit 40 disposed in an interior thereof.

(6) A hand dryer according to the present invention described later is assembled into the washbasin unit 20, and air for air conditioning is supplied into the lavatory unit 10 from an air conditioning equipment inside a cabin of an aircraft.

(7) FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view illustrating a relevant portion of the washbasin unit 20.

(8) As illustrated in FIG. 2, the washbasin unit 20 includes a faucet unit 210 and a sink 220.

(9) The faucet unit 210 includes a dispenser 211 dispensing soap or other washing agents, a faucet 212 supplying water, and a hand dryer 213 supplying air for drying wet washed hands.

(10) The dispenser 211, the faucet 212 and the hand dryer 213 are respectively equipped with a contactless sensor (not shown), such as an optical sensor or a capacitance sensor, detecting the presence of an object when an object, such as a hand of a user, is placed near the respective devices, so that the washing agent, the water, the air and so on will only be supplied when the object is present.

(11) The water for washing hands, the liquid or foamed soap, and the air for drying can be supplied without the user directly touching the respective devices, by adopting the above-described arrangement. Further, advantages such as enabling to suppress space for placing paper towels and the like and reducing waste can be realized by adopting the hand dryer.

(12) FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a supply system supplying the air for drying to the hand dryer according to the present invention.

(13) As illustrated in FIG. 3, a supply piping 11 connected to an air conditioning equipment on board the aircraft is introduced to the lavatory unit 10 from the outside, and air for air conditioning supplied from the air conditioning equipment (gasper air) is supplied into the piping.

(14) The supply piping 11 is branched into a lavatory air conditioning piping 12 and a hand dryer piping 13 within the lavatory unit 10, and the respective piping is connected to an air outlet (not shown) within the lavatory unit and to the hand dryer 213 illustrated in FIG. 2.

(15) Further, valves 14 and 15 are respectively disposed on the piping 12 and 13, and based on the command from a controller 16, the valves operate to adjust the supply quantity of air for air conditioning within the lavatory or switch the on and off of the hand dryer.

(16) As described with reference to FIG. 2, a contactless sensor 17 is provided on the hand dryer 213.

(17) While the sensor 17 detects the presence of an object, the output from the sensor 17 is transmitted to the controller 16, and air for drying is supplied from the hand dryer 213 by the controller 16 issuing an on command to the valve 15.

(18) By adopting such configuration, the air for air conditioning can be diverted without any modification as the air for drying supplied to the hand dryer, so that there is no need to provide additional air blower means or heating means for the air for drying, and as a result, the power consumption of the whole aircraft can be suppressed since there is no additional power consumed for blowing air.

(19) Further, by detecting the on and off of the hand dryer using a contactless sensor, power consumption other than in a state where power is required can be suppressed, and there is no need for the user to touch a switch or the like with his/her washed hands, so that this configuration is also advantageous from the viewpoint of sanitation.

(20) In the example described above, the faucet, the dispenser and the hand dryer are integrated to a single faucet unit, but it is possible to provide the discharge outlets on independent members and arrange the outlets at different positions.

(21) Moreover, since the upper surface of the faucet unit is configured as a flat mounting space, a space for placing small articles such as cosmetics and pouches can be ensured.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(22) 10 Lavatory unit 11 Supply piping 12 Piping for lavatory air conditioning 13 Hand dryer piping 14, 15 Valve 16 Controller 17 Sensor 20 Washbasin unit 210 Faucet unit 211 Dispenser 212 Faucet 213 Hand dryer