JPH0593573U - Ultrasonic atomizer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide an ultrasonic atomization device suitable for mass production, which is provided with a horn that satisfies desired characteristics in terms of vibration loss, fatigue strength, and the like, and that has good workability and low cost. [Structure] An ultrasonic atomizer for atomizing a liquid supplied to an output part of the horn 4, which includes a vibrator 1 and a horn 4 which is connected to the vibrator 1 and which expands and outputs the vibration of the vibrator 1. In the apparatus, an ultrasonic atomizer in which the material of the horn 4 is aluminum or aluminum alloy, and the surface of which is subjected to rust-prevention treatment.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an ultrasonic atomizer that atomizes liquid by high-frequency vibration of the horn, and more particularly to the structure of the horn.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 For example, there is known an ultrasonic wave atomizing device used for a disinfecting device which atomizes a disinfecting liquid agent and sprays it on fingers (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-217265). In this type of ultrasonic atomizer, a horn is connected to a vibrator that generates vibration by applying a high-frequency signal, the horn expands the amplitude, and the output vibration of the horn atomizes the supplied liquid. To be done.

Conventionally, titanium or stainless steel has been generally used as a material for a horn in the above ultrasonic atomizer.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, titanium has excellent characteristics as a horn material, such as low vibration loss and high fatigue strength, but it has drawbacks such as high cost of the material itself and poor workability. Not suitable for. On the other hand, stainless steel has comparatively high fatigue strength and is suitable for mass production, but it is not desirable for equipment that requires large amplitude due to large vibration loss, such as the above-mentioned disinfection device.

The present invention pays attention to such problems, in particular, problems associated with the material of the horn, and satisfies desired characteristics such as vibration loss and fatigue strength, and also has good workability and low cost. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic atomizer suitable for mass production.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems An ultrasonic atomizing device according to the present invention, which meets this object, has a vibrator that generates vibration by applying a high-frequency signal, and has one end connected to the vibrator. An ultrasonic atomizer that includes a horn that expands the amplitude of the vibration generated from the vibrator from the other end and outputs the vibration, and atomizes the liquid supplied to the output part of the horn by the output vibration of the horn. , The material of the horn is aluminum or aluminum alloy, and its surface is subjected to rust prevention treatment.

Various well-known methods such as coating can be applied to the rust preventive treatment.

[0008]

[Action]

 In such an ultrasonic atomizer, aluminum or aluminum alloy is used as the material of the horn, which is different from the conventional one. Aluminum or aluminum alloy has a vibration loss as small as titanium, and the material cost is much lower than titanium. Moreover, the processing is easy, and both the processing speed and processing accuracy can be increased.

However, when a horn made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy is used as it is, since aluminum or an aluminum alloy is inferior in fatigue strength to titanium or stainless steel, a problem may occur in strength during long-term use. In the present invention, since the surface is rustproofed, stress corrosion cracking is prevented and the durability of the horn is greatly improved. As a result, the life of the horn is practically eliminated.

[0010]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an ultrasonic atomizer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes, for example, a Langevin type vibrator in which vibration is generated by applying a high frequency signal. The oscillator 1 is connected to an oscillator circuit 2 that emits a high frequency signal to cause the oscillator 1 to generate a predetermined high frequency vibration. The oscillator circuit 2 is driven by electric power supplied from a power supply 3 such as a household AC power supply.

A horn 4 is mechanically connected to the vibrator 1. The upper end of the horn 4 has the same diameter as the oscillator 1, the part following the upper part has a small diameter, the part following the small part has a larger diameter than the small part, and the part following the large part has a smaller diameter again. The small diameter portion extends to the lower end. The lower end of the horn 4 is formed into a vibration output portion 4a having a substantially conical shape. The upper end of the horn 4 is connected to the vibrator 1, and the amplitude of the vibration transmitted to the horn 4 is expanded (amplified) and output from the vibration output unit 4a as the output vibration of the horn 4.

The liquid to be atomized is supplied through the discharge pipe 5 toward the vibration output unit 4 a of the horn. The liquid is stored in the tank 6, sucked by the pump 8 via the suction pipe 7, discharged from the pump 8 and supplied to the vibration output unit 4a via the pipe 5.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a control device. The control device 9 is supplied with power by a main switch and sends a necessary drive signal to the oscillation circuit 2 and the pump 8. The timing for transmitting the drive signal may be determined according to the application of the ultrasonic atomizer. For example, a sensor 11 that detects that it is necessary to supply the atomized liquid may be provided according to the application, and the control device 9 may be controlled based on the signal from the sensor 11.

The material of the horn 4 is aluminum or aluminum alloy. Then, the surface is rustproofed. The anticorrosion treatment can be performed by various known methods. In this embodiment, rust-proofing treatment is applied by coating, and the entire surface except the joint with the vibrator 1 is subjected to cationic electrodeposition coating as rust-proofing treatment.

The ultrasonic atomizer as described above can be used in various applications where atomization of liquid is required. For example, it can be applied to a disinfection device that atomizes a disinfecting liquid agent and sprays it on fingers. An example of this is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a casing forming an outer shell of the main body of the disinfecting apparatus, and an opening 21a for inserting fingers 22 is formed on the front surface of the casing 21. The vibrator 1 and the horn 4 are attached to the upper part of the casing 21, and the liquid agent supplied into the liquid holding holder 23 is atomized by the vibration output portion 4a of the horn 4, and the atomized liquid agent 24 is used for the fingers 22. It is supposed to be sprayed towards.

The liquid agent is sucked from the tank 6 via the strainer 25 and the suction pipe 7 by the pump 8, and the liquid agent discharged from the pump 8 is supplied into the liquid holding holder 23 via the discharge pipe 5. It is like this.

Reference numeral 26 is a control box in which the control device 9 is housed, 10 is a main switch for turning on the power to the control device 9, and 11 is a sensor for detecting the insertion of fingers, respectively. It corresponds to. Further, 27 is a lamp for illuminating the hand, and 28 is a lamp for displaying the operation of the apparatus. 29 is a saucer for the used liquid agent, and 30 is a waste liquid tank.

In the ultrasonic atomizer shown in FIG. 1, the vibration loss of the horn 4 can be suppressed to an extremely small level by using aluminum or aluminum alloy as the material of the horn 4. In addition, the workability of aluminum aluminum alloy is far superior to that of conventional titanium and the like.

However, if the material of the horn 4 is only aluminum or aluminum alloy, the mechanical strength (fatigue strength) remains uneasy. In the present example, this anxiety was eliminated by applying a rust preventive treatment to the surface of the horn 4, more specifically, a cationic electrodeposition coating.

In order to confirm the effect of this rust preventive treatment, a comparative test was performed using the disinfecting apparatus shown in FIG. 2 with and without cationic electrodeposition coating on the horn. It was As a result, in the life test in which 3 seconds on and 3 seconds off were repeated without coating, the stepped portion on the lower side of the horn 40 (horn without coating) was repeated about 20,000 times as shown in FIG. A crack 41 was generated in the vicinity. However, the amplitude of the vibration output portion 40a at the tip of the horn at this time was about 20 μm.

The cause of the crack 41 of the horn 40 is presumed to be stress corrosion cracking in which corrosion on the surface of the horn 40 due to a disinfecting solution or the like and stress due to vibration overlap.

Under the same conditions, when the horn 4 coated with cationic light was tested, the life was about 10 times or more. In other words, the coating prevented stress corrosion cracking and extended the life to a level where there was no problem in practice.

Although cation electrodeposition coating was applied as the rust preventive treatment in the above-mentioned examples, the present invention is not limited to this, and other rust preventive treatments can be applied as long as the following conditions are satisfied. is there . Do not change the resonance frequency of the horn itself so much. Do not significantly increase the horn vibration loss. The processed film should not come off due to vibration or collision of liquid.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rust prevention treatment was performed on all surfaces except the joint surface with the vibrator, but the same effect can be obtained by partially performing the portion where stress corrosion cracking may occur. Be done.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, when the ultrasonic atomizer of the present invention is used, the horn is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, and its surface is rustproofed so that stress corrosion cracking and the like are extremely unlikely to occur. In addition, it is possible to make a device with excellent durability while ensuring excellent characteristics with low vibration loss, good processability, and low cost. Therefore, an ultrasonic atomizer suitable for mass production can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ultrasonic atomizer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a disinfection device using the device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the horn showing the test results when no anticorrosion treatment is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 oscillator 2 oscillator circuit 4 horn 6 tank 8 pump 9 controller

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A vibrator that generates vibration by applying a high-frequency signal, and a horn that has one end connected to the vibrator and that expands the amplitude of the vibration generated by the vibrator from the other end and outputs the vibration. In the ultrasonic atomizer that atomizes the liquid supplied to the output part of the horn by the output vibration of the horn, the material of the horn is aluminum or aluminum alloy, and the surface thereof is subjected to rust prevention treatment. Characteristic ultrasonic atomizer. 2. The ultrasonic atomizing device according to claim 1, wherein the rustproofing treatment is applied by painting.