JPH02192529A - Humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a humidifier to be closely fitted to a surface of a heat exchanger having a certain curvature and fixed and to prevent an increased pressure loss as well as a reduction of a humidifying efficiency by a method wherein some humidifying elements having hollow porous members and spacer plates wound around a flexible core member and a flexible frame member enclosing these humidifier elements are provided. CONSTITUTION:A hollow porous member 21 having porous sheets of hydrophilic polymer overlapped to each other and having their ends adhered or heat melted to each other is provided with a water supplying port and a water drain port 24 at both ends communicating with the hollow part. This hollow porous member 21 and the corrugated film-like spacers 25 are overlapped to each other, wound around the flexible core member 3 so as to form the humidifying elements. The frame member 2 is made of rubber of fixing hooks 4 made of spring material or the like is fixed to the frame 2 of the humidifier 1, the other end is engaged with a part of a refrigerant pipe 6 of a heat exchanger 5 so as to make a close contact of the humidifier with the heat exchanger 5. The hollow porous member 21 or spacer members 25 are of sheet of polymer and they may be freely bent.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a humidifier that is incorporated into air conditioning equipment and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, there has been a demand for humidifiers that are compact and capable of high humidification.

Furthermore, in order to improve comfort in air conditioners, heat exchangers having a certain curvature are increasingly being employed, and there has been an increasing demand for humidifiers that can be incorporated into the heat exchangers.

An example of the conventional humidifier mentioned above will be explained below with reference to the drawings.
This will be explained with reference to Publication No. 1.

Figure 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional humidifier installed on a heat exchanger, and Figure 4 is an exploded view of a general hollow porous member that constitutes the humidifier shown in Figure 3. be.

21 is a hollow porous member formed into a rectangular shape by overlapping sheets 22 made of a hydrophobic polymer material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, fluororesin, etc. and bonding or heat-sealing the ends; A water supply port 23 and a drain port 24 communicating with the hollow portion 22c are provided at both ends 22a and 22b. Note that the sheet 22 is a porous material made of a hydrophobic polymer material, and allows water vapor (gaseous water molecules) to freely pass through, but liquid water (liquid water molecules)
In order to prevent any particles from passing through, countless micropores with a diameter of 1 μm or less are provided. 26 is the hollow porous member 2 that is overlapped when the hollow porous member 21 is rolled up.
This is a film-like spacer plate formed in a wave shape and rolled up around the hollow porous member 21 so as to form a ventilation path between the spacers.

26 is a heat exchanger such as an air conditioner. Reference numeral 27 denotes a rigid frame member, which is closely attached to 26 with a connecting member. 28
is a core material having the rigidity of a square prism, and the hollow porous member 2
1 and the spacing plate 26, and the end portion 21a or 2 having the water supply port 23 or the drain port 24 of the hollow porous member 21
1b is wound around the core material 28 and along the core material 28.

The humidifier configured as described above has a rigid frame member 27.
It is installed in a heat exchanger 26 located at the outlet of dry air from an air conditioner or the like. Then, by connecting the water supply port 23 of the hollow porous member 21 to a water supply device and supplying water into the hollow part of the hollow porous member 21, only water vapor passes through the micropores of the sheet 22 of the hollow porous member 21. It is released into the ventilation duct and humidifies the dry air.

The drain port 24 is kept closed during humidification, and is opened to drain water when not in use for a long period of time.

Since the humidifier configured as described above is rolled up and has a rectangular shape, when it is installed in a rectangular casing when it is incorporated into an air conditioner or heater, most of the square parts where the hollow porous member 21 does not exist are This does not occur, and the central core material 28 becomes a part where the hollow porous member 21 does not exist, but this area is also very small compared to the conventional one. Further, since the shape of the roll is proportional to the aspect ratio of the core material 28, a humidifier of a desired size can be obtained by determining the aspect ratio of the core material 28 according to the dimensional ratio of the attachment part of the air conditioner or heater.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, since the above configuration uses a rigid frame material and core material, it is difficult to install it closely to a heat exchanger with a curvature, which has become mainstream in recent years. could not. Therefore, the dry air that has passed through the heat exchanger becomes partially turbulent, resulting in a large pressure loss when it passes through the humidifier.

Furthermore, since the humidifier is not in close contact with the heat exchanger, the dry air may flow without being humidified, or the dry air may not flow uniformly throughout the humidifier, resulting in a significant reduction in the amount of humidification. Furthermore, it also had an intelligence point that required a large installation space.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a humidifier that does not increase pressure loss, reduce the amount of humidification, or increase the installation space.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the humidifier of the present invention includes a rectangular hollow porous member having a water supply port at one end and made of a hydrophobic polymer material, and this hollow porous member. A humidifying element having a spacer plate having a corrugated cross-sectional shape and overlapped with a member wrapped around a flexible core material, and a flexible frame material surrounding the humidifying element. It is.

Function: Since the frame material and core material of the present invention have flexibility due to the above-described configuration, they can be installed closely to a heat exchanger having a curvature, and the dry air rectified by the heat exchanger is rectified. Since the humidifier is connected in the same state, pressure loss does not become large.
Furthermore, since the dry air flows uniformly throughout the humidifier, the amount of humidification does not decrease. Furthermore, the installation space is also reduced.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, a humidifier according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the same parts as those of the conventional example will be given the same numbers and the description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram when a humidifier 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a heat exchanger 5 having a curvature. In FIG. 1, 2 is a flexible frame material such as rubber or plastic elanuttomer, and 3 is a core material that is also flexible. Reference numeral 4 denotes a hook that is made of elastic metal such as a spring material. Reference numeral 6 indicates a part of the refrigerant piping (illustrated by imaginary lines) of the heat exchanger 5. The hook 4 has one end attached to the frame material 2 of the humidifier 1, and the other end hooked onto a part of the refrigerant piping 6 of the heat exchanger 6 as shown in FIG.
is installed in close proximity to the heat exchanger 6.

Note that since the hollow porous member 21 and the spacer plate 25 have a sheet-like structure made of a polymer material, they can be bent freely.

The humidifier installed as described above has a hollow porous member 21
By connecting the water supply port 23 to a water supply device and supplying water into the hollow portion of the hollow porous member 21, only water vapor passes through the pores of the sheet 22 of the hollow porous member 21 and is released into the ventilation path. Humidify dry air.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the rectangular hollow porous member 21 having the water supply port 23 at one end and made of a hydrophobic polymer material, and the cross section overlapped with the hollow porous member 21 A humidifying element in which a spacer plate 26 having a corrugated shape is wound around a flexible core material 3 made of rubber, plastic elastomer, etc., and a flexible core material 3 made of rubber, plastic elastomer, flexible metal tube, etc. surrounding the humidifying element. By providing a certain frame material 2, it can be installed closely to a heat exchanger having a curvature, and since the dry air rectified by the heat exchanger passes through the humidifier in a rectified state, pressure loss can be reduced. Can be made smaller.

Since dry air still flows uniformly throughout the humidifier, the amount of humidification does not decrease. Furthermore, the installation space can also be reduced.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a humidifying element in which a hollow porous member and a spacer plate superposed thereon are wound around a flexible core material, and a flexible frame material surrounding the humidifying element. By providing the humidifier, it becomes possible to attach the humidifier in close contact with the surface of the heat exchanger having a curvature, so that the direction of the dry air entering the humidifier is less disturbed and the pressure loss is low.

In addition, since the heat exchanger and humidifier are in close contact with each other, there is little air leakage and no deterioration in humidification efficiency occurs, and the installation space is small.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention when it is attached to a heat exchanger, Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of only the hook in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a diagram of a conventional humidifier. FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a general hollow porous member constituting the humidifier shown in FIG. 3. 2... Frame material, 3... Core material, 21...
... Hollow porous member, 25 ... Spacing material. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and one other person

Claims (1)

[Claims] A rectangular hollow porous member having a water supply port at one end and made of a hydrophobic polymer material, and a spacing plate with a corrugated cross section overlapped with this hollow porous member are used as a flexible core material. A humidifier comprising a humidifying element wrapped around the humidifying element and a flexible frame material surrounding the humidifying element.