JPH05260A - Droplet generator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The present invention relates to a droplet generation device that is incorporated in an air conditioner or the like and is applied to a scent generation device that controls a scent environment such as a living space. An object of the present invention is to realize a droplet generation device that can quickly remove bubbles even if they have entered. A liquid storage container 3, a pressure chamber 11, a bubble removal passage 20 that communicates the storage container and the pressure chamber, a rod 22 that reaches the bubble removal passage, a closing member 23 that opens and closes the bubble removal passage, and a rod Urging means 21 and liquid supply passage 10
By having the discharge nozzle 4 coated with a liquid repellent substance and the pressure generating means 12 and 13, it is possible to prevent bubbles from entering with a small structure and to easily remove droplets even if they enter. Realize the device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a droplet generating device incorporated in an air conditioner, a so-called air conditioner or the like, and applied to a scent generating device or the like capable of controlling the scent environment of a living space or an office space. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Incorporating a scent generator into an air conditioner,
As a conventional air conditioner for controlling the scent environment, there is, for example, a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-127828.

As a method for ejecting a small amount of liquid, there is a piezo driven ink droplet ejecting device used in a drop-on-demand type ink jet head or the like.

A conventional droplet generating device applied to a scent generating device will be briefly described below with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional scent generator.
This scent generator is a cylinder 200 filled with multiple scents.
And the piping 3 of the cylinder 200 by the control circuit 500.
00 An electrically operated spray amount control valve 400 provided midway
Open and close to control the desired scent type and spray amount.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a conventional piezo-driving type ink droplet ejecting head. When an electric signal 9 is applied to both sides of the piezo plate 13 adhered to the vibration plate 12, the piezo plate 13 is displaced, and Due to the displacement of the vibrating plate 12 that cooperates with the ink, the ink in the pressure chamber 11 supplied through the supply passage 10 rapidly increases in pressure, and is smaller than the nozzle 4 provided on a part of the wall surface of the pressure chamber 11. Ink droplets are ejected.

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved] When the above-mentioned conventional droplet generator is applied to, for example, a scent generator, its target space is an office building, which is a large-scale device, and is generally a centralized fragrance management. The purpose is. For this reason, the device is large and expensive, and there is a problem that it is not possible to meet the preference of each individual.

A conventional ink droplet ejection head using a piezo oscillator can be used as, for example, the above-mentioned scent ejection device, but when air bubbles are inhaled, it cannot be ejected.
It is necessary to separately equip the device with a mechanism or means for removing bubbles, which has been a factor of cost increase.

Further, when removing the air bubbles, the liquid in the pressure chamber must be discharged to the outside together with the air bubbles. When an aromatic liquid is used as the liquid, leakage of the scent from the discharged aromatic liquid is intended. There is a problem of inhibiting a desired scent environment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a droplet generating device which is inexpensive and can be miniaturized and which prevents bubbles from being sucked into a droplet generating portion.

[0011]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a liquid container for containing a predetermined liquid,
A pressure chamber placed at a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container, a bubble removal passage that connects the storage container and the pressure chamber, and a liquid removal from the top outer side of the storage container to remove the bubbles. A rod that reaches the passage, a closing member that is located at a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container and that is provided at the tip of the rod to open and close the bubble removal passage, and always urges the rod upward. A coil spring, a supply passage located at a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container and supplying the liquid in the storage container to the pressure chamber, and a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container. A liquid drop provided with a discharge nozzle that is placed in a part of the wall surface of the pressure chamber and has an oil-repellent substance coating on the surface, and a pressure generating unit that causes a rapid pressure increase in the liquid in the pressure chamber. Proposing a generator A.

[0012]

According to the structure of the present invention described above, the liquid in the storage container is supplied to the pressure chamber through the supply passage. At this time, since the position of the discharge nozzle is lower than the liquid surface of the liquid in the storage container, a positive static pressure acts on the discharge nozzle, but since the surface is coated with an oil-repellent coating, There is no dripping from. When the pressure generating means is actuated in this state, the liquid in the pressure chamber causes a rapid pressure increase,
Liquid droplets are discharged from the discharge nozzle.

Further, when bubbles are sucked into the pressure chamber, the bubbles are accumulated in the vicinity of the bubble removing passage. Therefore, by moving the rod upward against the coil spring, the closed bubble removing passage is opened. . As a result, the bubbles in the pressure chamber move into the storage container through the bubble removal passage, and the bubbles in the pressure chamber are removed.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

The embodiments described in detail below are examples in which the droplet generating device of the present invention is applied to a scent generating device.

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 to 4 show the whole of a droplet generating device according to a first embodiment of the present invention applied to a scent generating device. In FIG. 1, each cassette type scent generating device is detachable. The device 1 has a storage container 3 in which an aroma liquid is stored.
And a main body 5 having a nozzle 4 for ejecting the minute liquid droplets of the aroma liquid. The scent generating device 1 includes a holder 2 for a cassette, which is also attached to a part of an air conditioner (not shown) and also serves as a contact for taking out lead electrodes, a contact for taking out leads from a piezo electrode (not shown), and a bottom plate. It is held by the PC board 6 that doubles as
It is fixed to the air conditioner by the spring pressure of the holder 2.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the metal storage container 3
The aroma liquid 8, for example, various esters having a scent of fruits and flowers, a mixed liquid thereof, and the like are stored in the storage container 3
A metal main body 5 is joined to the bottom of the device as a drive unit for ejecting minute liquid droplets of the aroma liquid 8 according to the electric signal 9.

A pressure chamber 11 having a conical upper portion is formed in the main body portion 5, and the pressure chamber 11 is communicated with a supply passage 10 for supplying an aromatic liquid 8 from the bottom portion of the storage container 3. ing. Further, it can communicate with the storage container 3 via a bubble removing passage 20 formed at the top of the pressure chamber 11.

Further, a rod 22 is provided which extends from the vent hole 7 provided at the top of the storage container 3 to the aroma liquid 8 and the bubble removing passage 20, and a conical closing member 23 is formed at the tip thereof. There is. A coil spring 21 is attached to the apex to constantly urge the rod 22 upward. As a result, the closing member 23 is locked in the bubble removing passage 20 and closes the bubble removing passage 20 in the normal state.

A vibrating plate 12 made of metal is joined to the bottom of the pressure chamber 11, and a piezo plate 13 is joined to the opposite surface.

A nozzle 4 for ejecting minute droplets of the aroma liquid 8 is provided on a part of the wall surface of the pressure chamber 11, and the surface of the nozzle 4 on the side in contact with air is oil repellent. A fluororesin-based coating film of a substance, particularly tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (commonly known as FEP) or tetrafluoroethylene polymer (commonly known as PTFE), or has a rational formula of CF ₃ (CF ₂ ) ₇ (CH ₂ ).
_{2 (CH 3) Si (CH} 2) 9 SiCl 3, CF 3 (CF 2) 3
(CH ₂ ) ₂ (CH ₃ ) ₂ Si (CH ₂ ) ₉ SiCl ₃ and CF ₃
An oil-repellent coating 14 is formed by a chemisorption monomolecular film formed of (CH ₂ ) ₂ (CH ₃ ) ₂ Si (CH ₂ ) ₁₅ SiCl ₃ or the like. The surface of the nozzle 4 is arranged so as to be the bottom of the recess 15 formed in the main body 5, and protects the surface of the nozzle 4 from external force. Further, in order to take out the electrode from the piezo plate 13 at the bottom of the main body 5, the insulating side of the lead electrode plate 16 formed of, for example, a single-sided copper-clad laminate is attached to the main body 5.
And the other end of the lead wire 17 that is pulled out from the electrode surface of the piezoelectric plate 13 by bonding or the like is connected to the copper foil side of the lead electrode plate 16.

Next, the operation of the fragrance generating apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. The fragrance generator 1 and the holder 2 and P attached to the air conditioner side (not shown)
When set between the C plates 6, the position of the nozzle 4 is set to 8
However, since the surface of the nozzle 4 is coated with the oil-repellent coating 14, the surface tension is about 25 dyne / cm. However, liquid does not drip from the nozzle 4 and a stable state in which a convex meniscus is formed at the opening of the nozzle 4 is maintained.

In this state, when an electric signal 9 is applied to both electrode surfaces of the piezo plate 13 via the holder 2 and the PC plate 6 by a drive control circuit via a remote controller (not shown) or the like, the piezo plate The displacement of 13 and the diaphragm 12 cooperating therewith causes a rapid pressure increase in the pressure chamber 11. As a result, a minute fragrance liquid droplet corresponding to the electric signal 9 is discharged into the air from the nozzle 4 and evaporates in the air as it is, or evaporates after adhering to a liquid receiver or a heating plate (not shown) and then smells. Generate.

The fragrance liquid 8 is supplied to the pressure chamber through the supply passage 10 by the static pressure of the fragrance liquid 8 and the action of the diaphragm 12 and the piezo plate 13 returning to their original positions. Since the generated negative pressure and the positive static pressure of the aromatic liquid 8 cancel each other, the pressure acting on the mechanics of the nozzle 4 is extremely small. For this reason, the recovery of the mechaniscus is quick, and the inhalation of air bubbles and unnecessary discharge do not occur.

The diameter of the hole that is opened at the top of the storage container 3 and into which the rod 22 is inserted is slightly larger than the diameter of the rod 22, and is a clearance that allows the rod 22 to slide. There is. This small gap minimizes the leakage of the scent when the scent generator 1 is at rest,
In addition, it functions as a vent hole 7 for changing only the static pressure of the fragrance liquid 8 to the volume change due to consumption of the fragrance liquid 8 and the pressure change of the storage container 3 due to temperature and atmospheric pressure.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the bubble 24 is sucked into the pressure chamber 11 for some reason, the bubble 24 is lighter than the fragrance liquid 8 and rises in the pressure chamber 11 and is closed by the closing member 23. Since it collects in the vicinity of the bubble removing passage 20, if you pick up the head of the rod 22 with your fingers and pull up slowly,
The rod 22 is pulled up against the coil spring 21, and the closing member 23 provided at the tip of the rod 22 is also pulled up into the storage container 3 as shown in FIG. Then, the bubble removing passage 20 formed at the top of the pressure chamber 11 is largely opened, and the bubble 2
The buoyancy 4 easily passes through the bubble removal passage 20 and moves to the storage container 3 side, and is removed from the pressure chamber 11. After that, when the finger gripping the head of the rod 22 is slowly returned to the original position, the rod 22 returns to the original position by the urging action of the coil spring 21, and at the same time, the closing member 23 provided at the tip of the rod 22 bubbles. The removal passage 20 is closed, and the original normal state shown in FIG. 2 is restored.

(Embodiments 2 to 3) FIG. 5 shows a partial cross section of a scent generator according to a second embodiment of the present invention in which the closing member 23 has a spherical shape, and FIG. 6 shows a downward biasing force on the rod 22. The sectional view of the scent generating device according to the third embodiment of the present invention in which the coil spring 21 to be provided is provided in the storage container 3 is shown. The configurations, operations, actions, and the like of these second to third embodiments are basically the same as those described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, and therefore description thereof is omitted here to avoid duplication. .

The remaining amount of the fragrance liquid 8 can be visually confirmed by using a transparent material such as plastics, glass, or ceramics in addition to metal for the constituent material of the scent generating device, especially for the storage container 3. . Further, the cost can be reduced by molding.

Since the above-mentioned scent generator is a cassette type,
It is also possible to select the scent that suits each person's taste by preparing many types of aroma liquids.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the scent generating device, but can be used as a liquid droplet generating device such as an ink jet recording device which requires high speed response.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the size can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.
Further, it is possible to prevent the inhalation of bubbles in the droplet generation portion, and even if the bubbles are inhaled, they can be easily removed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a droplet generation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention applied to a scent generation device.

[Figure 2] Cross-sectional view of the same scent generator

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the same scent producing device showing a state where bubbles are contained in the pressure chamber.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the same scent generating device showing an operating state when removing air bubbles from a pressure chamber.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a fragrance generator according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a scent generating device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7: Configuration diagram of a conventional scent generator

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a conventional inkjet head.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 fragrance generator 3 storage containers 4 nozzles 7 vents 10 supply passages 11 Pressure chamber 12 diaphragm 13 Piezo board 14 Oil repellent coating 20 Bubble removal passage 21 coil spring 22 rod 23 Closing member 24 bubbles

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazufumi Ogawa             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Mamoru Soga             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Norio Mino             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ikuo Akamine             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsuguo Kubo             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A liquid storage container for storing a predetermined liquid,
A pressure chamber that is located at a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container, a bubble removal passage that connects the storage container and the pressure chamber, and a bubble removal passage that passes through the liquid from the top outer side of the storage container. Reaching the position, a closing member that is located at a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container and that is provided at the tip of the rod to open and close the bubble removal passage, and a coil spring that constantly biases the rod upward. And a supply passage which is located at a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container and supplies the liquid in the storage container to the pressure chamber, and a position lower than the liquid level of the liquid in the storage container. Droplet generation provided with a discharge nozzle formed in a part of the wall surface of the pressure chamber and having a surface coated with an oil repellent substance, and pressure generating means for causing a rapid pressure increase in the liquid in the pressure chamber apparatus. 2. The droplet generating device according to claim 1, wherein the oil repellent substance coating film is formed of a tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer. 3. The droplet generating device according to claim 1, wherein the oil repellent substance coating film is formed of a tetrafluoroethylene polymer. 4. The oil repellent material film has a chemical formula CF.₃(CF₂)
₇(CH₂)₂(CH₃) ₂Si (CH₂)₉SiCl₃Form
The droplet generation according to claim 1, which is a chemisorption monomolecular film formed.
Raw equipment. 5. The oil repellent material film has a chemical formula CF.₃(CF₂)
₃(CH₂)₂(CH₃) ₂Si (CH₂)₉SiCl₃Form
The droplet generation according to claim 1, which is a chemisorption monomolecular film formed.
Raw equipment. 6. The oil repellent material film has a chemical formula of CF ₃ (CH ₂ )
_The droplet generation device according to claim 1, which is a chemisorption monomolecular film formed from ₂ (CH ₃ ) ₂ Si (CH ₂ ) ₁₅ SiCl ₃ . 7. The droplet generating device according to claim 1, wherein the pressure generating means is a piezo-type electromechanical converter. 8. The droplet generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bubble removing passage is always closed by a closing member except when a bubble removing operation is performed by a downward biasing force of a coil spring. 9. The droplet generator according to claim 1, wherein bubbles in the pressure chamber are removed by pulling up and returning the head of the rod. 10. The droplet generating device according to claim 1, wherein the closing member is spherical. 11. The droplet generating device according to claim 1, wherein the closing member has a conical shape. 12. The droplet generating device according to claim 1, wherein a coil spring is provided on the outer top of the storage container. 13. The droplet generating device according to claim 1, wherein a coil spring is provided in the storage container.