JPH035645A - Ultrasonic humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a sanitary ultrasonic humidifier by a method wherein the water in city water level can be used inexpensively as the water for humidification by sterilizing microorganisms bred in the water for humidification in such a way that a weak direct current is let to flow at low voltage in the water for humidification and an anode in wire-shape is used. CONSTITUTION:When water for humidification is poured into a feed water tank 9 and the tank is loaded on a fixed location, the water for humidification with a constant water level is supplied in a water vessel 2 in the condition that the amount of water is controlled by a feed valve 10. Then, an ultrasonic oscillator 3 is oscillated by an electric circuit 15 in a mainbody and by this oscillation the water for humidification in the vessel 2 is atomized in an atomizing chamber 4 and the atomized water is blown off as humidified air from a blow-off hole 6 for humidified air by the air which is sucked from an air suction hole 5 and supplied through a wind flow passage 7 by a blower 8. On the other hand, when a current is conducted from the circuit 15 to an electrode part 11 an electric voltage is applied between an anode 11a and a cathode 11b which are wire-shaped and fixed at intervals of 1-10mm and an electric current of 50-500mA flows and at that time microorganisms near the part 11 are influenced by an electric field and are sterilized by the direct or indirect electrode reaction for cells, that is, electron migration reaction between cells and electrodes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an ultrasonic humidifier that takes measures to sterilize microorganisms generated within the main body.

Conventional technology In recent years, as social interest in health and hygiene has increased,
There is also an increasing demand for prevention of harmful effects caused by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi that breed in the humidifying water of ultrasonic humidifiers.

Conventionally, as a countermeasure against microbial contamination of the humidifying water of an ultrasonic humidifier, it is common sense to increase the frequency of cleaning the humidifier body and water tank, and to use water with as little microbial contamination as possible, such as tap water, as the humidifying water. Functionally, there are those that incorporate an ultraviolet lamp into the main body (for example, Utility Model Application Publication No. 138928/1983), or that administer a disinfectant to the humidifying water (for example, 57-8
6692).

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional configuration as described above, it is necessary to increase the frequency of cleaning the humidifier, and to improve the quality of the humidifying water, since tap water is the only water available in general households. With the exception of boiling water, it cannot be said that the water has a particularly low concentration of microorganisms, and in any case, it is time-consuming, inconvenient, and goes against the user's preferences.

In addition, when incorporating ultraviolet lamps, strict electrical insulation is essential if you try to attach them directly inside an aquarium or tank, which is not easy considering the space available. In addition, if you try to sterilize the inside of an aquarium or tank with UV rays from outside without putting it directly into the aquarium or tank, it will likely be necessary to change a part of the aquarium or tank to an ultraviolet-transparent material, which will require more time and effort during processing. There is no need for a significant cost increase, and in addition, administering disinfectants to humidifying water poses other safety issues, as the disinfectant is released into the room together with the atomized water. Ta.

The present invention has been made with the above-mentioned problems in mind, and a first object of the present invention is to safely sterilize microorganisms in humidifying water of a humidifier with a simple operation.

The second purpose is to ensure the sterilizing effect regardless of the quality of the humidifying water.

The third purpose is to improve the efficiency of energy consumed for sterilization.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the first object, the first means of the present invention includes a humidifier main body having a water tank for storing humidifying water, and an ultrasonic vibrator disposed at the bottom of the water tank. an atomization chamber provided in the upper part of the aquarium; an air passage connecting an air inlet and a humidified air outlet provided in the main body via the atomization chamber; and a blower provided in the air passage. and one or more wire-like anodes and one or more cathodes are provided in the water tank, and at least a portion of the anodes are in contact with the cathodes.
A structure comprising electrode parts fixed with an insulator at intervals of 10 m, an electrode circuit configured to flow a current of 60 to 600 mA through the electrode parts, and a humidification circuit that operates the ultrasonic vibrator. It is.

A second means for achieving the second object is that the electrode circuit of the first means is constituted by a constant current circuit.

A third means for achieving the third purpose is the first or second
It is constructed by adding a timer circuit to the electrode circuit of the means.

Effect: With the configuration of the first means, when humidifying water is supplied to the aquarium, the ultrasonic vibrator is vibrated in the humidifying circuit, and the blower is operated, the humidifying water in the aquarium is atomized and sprayed from the humidifying air outlet to the outside of the main body. be done.

Then, a DC voltage is applied to the mid-pole portion by the electrode circuit, and a current of 5 to 60 mA flows between at least one or more wire-like anodes and at least one or more cathodes via humidifying water. At this time, microorganisms in the humidifying water are sterilized by the electric field and current between the electrodes.

With the configuration of the second means, when a constant current circuit is added to the first means, the applied voltage is reduced when the quality of the supplied humidifying water is poor, that is, when the electrical conductivity is high, and conversely when the water quality is good. In other words, when the electrical conductivity is low, the applied voltage is increased and a constant current can be constantly passed, thus making the sterilization effect constant.

Due to the configuration of the third means, when a timer circuit is added to the first or second means, microorganisms in humidified water usually double in number over 1 to 2 hours, so the timer circuit allows By creating a sterilization interval in which electricity is turned off for a certain period of time, energy-saving operation can be achieved without sacrificing the sterilization effect.

Embodiment First, an embodiment according to the first means of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, a water tank 2 in which an ultrasonic vibrator 3 for atomizing humidifying water is installed inside a main body 1 of the humidifier.
will be installed. An atomization chamber 4 is continuously provided above the water tank 2, and the atomization chamber 4 connects an air inlet 5 provided in the main body 1 and a humidified air outlet 6 via an air path 7. , a blower 8 is provided in the middle of the air path 7. A water supply tank 9 is detachably connected to the water tank 2 via a water supply valve 10. An electrode part 11 is disposed in this water tank 2, and a power supply line 11d is extended to the air passage 7 through a shield 12, and these are connected to a specific current to the electrode part 11 provided in the air passage 7. It is connected to an electrode circuit 13 that supplies . Ultrasonic transducer 3
The oscillation circuit 14a of the ultrasonic vibrator 3 is located in the air passage 7 directly below the
There is a humidifying circuit 14 including the humidifying circuit 14, the electrode circuit 13, and a power supply section 15a that supplies power to the two circuits.
A main body electrical circuit 15 is provided.

The electrode part 11 has a diameter of 0.2 rtrm.
A net of S304 was used as a cathode 11b, bent into a rectangular prism shape with internal dimensions of 5 x 16 x 200 IllI, and both ends and the middle part were fixed with an ABS resin electrode fixture 11c. Inside the quadrangular prism-shaped electrode 11b, a diameter of 1 cm and a length of 30 mm is placed.
Anode 1 was made by platinum-plating three wire-like titanium materials with a length of 0 m.
1a, and both ends thereof are fixed with electrode fixtures 11c. At this time, the cathode 11b and the anode 11a are fixed to the electrode fixture 11c so that they are parallel to each other with a distance of 2 mm, but the electrode fixture 11c does not obstruct the flow of humidifying water, and the cathode 11b The 5US304 net does not obstruct the flow of water.

With the above structure, when enough humidifying water is filled in the water supply tank 9 and placed at a predetermined position on the main body 1, a constant level of humidifying water is supplied into the water tank 2 while being regulated by the water supply valve 1o. be done. The ultrasonic transducer 3 is activated by the main body electric circuit 15.
vibrates at 1.7W, and due to the vibration, the humidifying water in the water tank 2 is atomized in the atomization chamber 4, and the blower 8
The air supplied through the intake air path 7 is blown out as humidified air from the humidified air outlet e. The amount of humidification is 500 CQ/HrT.

On the other hand, when the electrode section 11 is energized by the main body electric circuit 15, a voltage is applied between the anode 11a and the cathode 11b of the 5US304 net. When tap water is used as humidifying water, its electrical conductivity is approximately 150 to 200 μS/crI, and a voltage of 100 mA is applied between electrodes separated by at least two distances via this water.
DCs~10V is applied to flow.

At this time, microorganisms near the electrode section 11 are affected by the electric field and are sterilized by direct and indirect electrode reactions of cells, that is, electron transfer reactions between cells and electrodes.

As for the specific sterilizing power, by using the electrode part 11 in the humidifying water of 11, it is possible to sterilize 90 to 100% in 2 to 8 hours. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the microbial contamination of the humidified air blown out from the ultrasonic humidifier can be reduced by 90 to 100%.
It can be prevented.

Note that the anode 11a is made of titanium plated with platinum.
It may be made of ferrite, lead dioxide, or titanium, aluminum, iron, etc., with platinum vapor deposited on it, or of course it may be made of platinum or gold alone. Similarly, the cathode 11b is made of SUS in this embodiment, but may be made of the same material as the anode, or may be made of copper, galvanized iron plate, or the like.

In addition, although the cathode 11b had a net shape, the anode 11
It is also possible to make it into a wire shape similar to that in a and hold it in parallel with two holes between the poles.

The sterilizing effect appears at a current value of around 50 mA, but
If the current exceeds 0.00 mA, wear and contamination of the electrode section 11 will begin to increase, so it is better to set the current to 500 mA or less.

Furthermore, by forming the anode 11a into a wire shape, the cost can be reduced to one-tenth to one-tenth compared to when the anode 11a is formed into a flat plate. In addition to the simple cost of materials, making a flat plate requires a mold and pressing process, whereas making a wire requires only cutting, which is a major factor in material loss and process reasons. Further, by forming the electrode portion 11 into a wire shape, the ability to accommodate the size of the electrode portion 11 is increased.

The distance between the electrodes is preferably 1 to 10 cm, but if it is less than 1+o+,
Accuracy becomes a problem when assembling the electrode portion 11, and conversely, if the voltage is 10 cm or more, a large voltage must be applied, so 2 W is best, but other values may be used.

Next, an embodiment according to the second means of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 4 and 5. Incidentally, the same parts as in the embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention are given the same numbers and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 4, a humidifying water load (Rx) of the electrode section 11 is connected to a constant current circuit 46, and a constant current control is performed in the constant current circuit 46 according to a change in the resistance of the humidifying water load Rx. A transistor 41, a current control resistor (R1) 42 that generates a comparison voltage in proportion to the flowing current, and a reference voltage generation circuit 43 that generates a reference voltage and compares the voltage with the current control resistor (R1) 42. The current control resistor (R1) 4
2 and a comparator 44 that applies and compares the voltage generated by the reference voltage generating circuit 43 and outputs the result to the pace of the transistor (T r 1) 41.
Connected to a.

The operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below. Note that voltage, current, and resistance are expressed using the following symbols for explanation.

Engineering. : Output current vo : Output voltage R1 : Current control resistance Rx : Interelectrode resistance vt = Comparison voltage (voltage between terminals of R1) ■REF: Reference voltage ■B : Comparison circuit output potential (=pace potential of Tr141) Current setting resistor The voltage vt between the terminals of R1 is v, = R1·min.・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
・・・・■ will be hailed.

When t > VREF, the output voltage VB of the comparator circuit 46 becomes thicker, and the transistor of the current control circuit 4θ (
Since the pace potential VB of T r 1) 41 increases,
Collector electrician. decreases. At the same time, from formula 0, vt
will also decrease.

Next, when vt < vREF, the output voltage VB of the comparison circuit 45 decreases, and the base potential VB of the transistor 410 of the current control circuit 46 decreases, so that the collector current I. increases. At the same time, vt also increases from formula 0.

In this way, the output current stabilizes when vt"VREF"""""""""■. It settles down when it reaches a certain value.

In this case, ■,■ expression is vt"vREF"R1".

IO”VHB:y/R1・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
・It becomes ■. In other words, engineering. is controlled so that it takes the value of the 0 expression. Regarding specific numbers, this time VREF =
1, TV, R1='17fl, ■. As a result, the current was controlled at 100 mA.

Ion-exchanged water used as humidifying water usually has a rate of 1 to 6 μs/cr before being supplied to the main body, that is, immediately after ion-exchange.
When water is supplied to the water tank 2 of the main body, the water pressure is approximately 10 μS/cm. Also, although there are regional differences in city water, it is 10° to 600μS/a.
r, degree. In other words, the humidifying water quality is 10 to 5.
However, by using the current control circuit 46 of this embodiment, the current flowing through the electrode section 11 for sterilization could be maintained at 100 μS/cm.

This situation is also shown in Figure 5.

An embodiment according to the third means of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 6 to 9. Incidentally, the same parts as in the embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention are given the same numbers and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, the timer 61 is connected to the relay switch 62, and during humidification, the switch Sw is in contact with the contact S1 and the electrode circuit 13 is not energized, so sterilization is not performed, and the humidifier is OFF, that is, the switch Sw is set to 82. However, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 7, the timer 61 turns off the pb contact 62 after a hour of energization, and the energization stops. This is because the sterilization according to this embodiment has an effect of approximately 10% in 8 hours, and to prevent contamination and consumption of the electrode section 11 due to energization. When the stopped state continues for 8 hours, the electrode circuit 13 is energized again for sterilization.

Figure 8 shows the bactericidal effect. According to this example, about 50 cells were sterilized 2 hours after the start of sterilization, and 100% sterilization effect was achieved around 8 hours.

FIG. 9 shows a sterilization growth curve when humidified water was left standing. If left for 8 hours, the original number of bacteria will be reduced to about 20 to 30.
It can be seen that the cells proliferate 0 times. The microorganisms in the humidifying water take 1 to 2 hours to double in size, depending on the type. For example, if there is one bacterium in one hammer initially, it will multiply to 2' (~16) to 2 (~256) bacteria after 8 hours.

Therefore, it is clear that once sterilized, microorganisms will not increase even if sterilization is stopped for a while. Therefore, by using a timer circuit to set up a sterilization interval in which electricity is turned off for a fixed period of time after sterilization is completed, energy-saving operation can be achieved, electrode wear and contamination can be prevented, and sterilization can be carried out efficiently.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the description of the embodiments above, according to the present invention, since a weak direct current is passed through humidifying water at a low voltage, it is possible to easily connect the anode to a wire without taking much time and effort. As a result, it is possible to sterilize microorganisms that grow in humidified water at low cost, without changing the space or material of the humidifier body, and without safety concerns such as chemical scattering, using tap water level water as humidifying water. This makes it possible to provide a sanitary ultrasonic humidifier that can prevent microbial contamination of the humidified air blown out.

Furthermore, by applying a constant current necessary for sterilization depending on the condition of the humidifying water used, a constant sterilizing efficiency can always be maintained regardless of changes in the quality of the humidifying water.

In addition, by setting the required energization time based on the growth curve of microorganisms, effective sterilization can be achieved while saving energy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an ultrasonic humidifier showing an embodiment of the first means of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a detailed view of the electrode section of the embodiment, and Fig. 3 is an electric circuit block of the embodiment. Figure 4 is the same figure 2.
5 is a constant current circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the third means, FIG. 5 is an output data of the same embodiment, FIG. 6 is a timer circuit diagram of an embodiment of the third means, and FIG. 7 is a time chart of the same embodiment. , FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show sterilization data of the same example.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A humidifier main body having a water tank for storing humidifying water, an ultrasonic vibrator disposed at the bottom of the water tank, an atomization chamber provided at the top of the water tank, and a humidification chamber provided through the atomization chamber. an air passage connecting an air inlet and a humidified air outlet provided in the main body; and a blower provided in the air passage;
an electrode part provided in the water tank, in which one or more wire-like anodes and one or more cathodes are opposed to each other, and at least a part of the anode is fixed to the cathode with an insulator at a distance of 1 to 10 mm; An ultrasonic humidifier comprising: an electrode circuit configured to flow a current of 50 to 500 mÅ through the electrode portion; and a humidifying circuit that operates the ultrasonic vibrator. (2) The ultrasonic humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the electrode circuit is constituted by a constant current circuit. (3) Claim 1 or 2 in which a timer circuit is added to the electrode circuit.
The ultrasonic humidifier described.