JPH0762548B2 - humidifier - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a humidifier for supplying moisture to dry air in a room or the like to increase the humidity.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, living spaces are becoming more heat-insulating and classified from the viewpoint of energy saving, and higher air conditioning is required. Elements of air conditioning include temperature control, humidity control, control of harmful air components, and the like. Regarding temperature control, various satisfactory heating and cooling methods have been put into practical use. However, regarding humidity control and control of harmful components, a sufficiently satisfactory device has not been proposed yet.

Especially, the humidifier that controls the humidity is a natural evaporation type.
Although there are electric heating type, water spilling type, supersonic type, etc., the natural evaporation type has a small humidification capacity and the electric heating type has a disadvantage that running cost is high, and the water spray type has poor humidification efficiency and becomes large in size. There's a problem. Furthermore, the ultrasonic method is troublesome in maintenance, and has the drawback that fine particles of calcium carbonate are scattered.

Among these methods, the natural evaporation type humidifier has the lowest initial cost and running cost, and the highest practicality such as no scattering of calcium carbonate fine powder. In order to do so, the configuration shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has been conventionally used.
In FIG. 3, (1) is a hollow porous member disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-171337, and a sheet member composed mainly of a porous sheet of hydrophobic polymer is formed into a bag shape. It is designed to allow water vapor to pass through the inside and outside of the bag. Specifically, for example, a sheet made of synthetic resin such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polycarbonate, polyester, and fluororesin, which is configured to block passage of water and allow passage of water vapor. And a breathable fabric made of a woven fabric such as a plant fiber or a chemical fiber.

Further, with the above sheet breathable cloth, the holes are closed when they are entirely joined, so that the passage of water vapor is facilitated by partially spot joining at intervals of, for example, about 5 to 10 mm. (2) is a water supply port for supplying water into the bag of the hollow porous member, (3) is a spacing member housed in the hollow porous member, at both sides and the central portion of the hollow porous member, Cylindrical part (3A) extending in the longitudinal direction of the hollow porous member
And a thin plate-shaped part (3B) that joins each columnar part, the columnar part (3A) secures sufficient space in the hollow porous member, and the thin plate-shaped part (3B) and the hollow porous part. A water channel is formed between the elastic member and the elastic member. A highly flexible vinyl chloride resin, silicone resin, or the like is used as a constituent member of the spacing member, and is manufactured by extrusion molding.

(4) is a self-temperature control type heating element housed in the hollow porous member together with the spacing member, the surface of which is electrically insulated. The self-temperature control type heating element (4) is made of a conductive filler dispersed in a matrix material and has a positive temperature coefficient of resistance. As the conductive filler, fine fibers of carbon or metal are used, and carbon black is suitable for ensuring a high positive temperature coefficient of resistance. In addition, an organic compound having a low melting point is added as a third component in order to control the self-temperature control function, and a low molecular weight polyethylene wax is preferably used for this. The manufacturing method is 20 for polyolefin.
-30% by weight of carbon black and, if necessary, 10-30% by weight of low molecular weight polyolefin wax are added to a composition which is homogenized with a Banbury mixer, and then extruded with a T-die to control the self-temperature on the sheet. A mold heating element composition is formed and is cut into strips with a predetermined width. (5) is a copper foil electrode fixed on both ends in the width direction of the heating element composition by heat fusion, and (6) is a lead wire connected to this electrode, which is a hollow porous member (1).
Is led to the outside from an appropriate place and is connected to a power source (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a spiral type humidifier (10). The hollow porous member (1) shown in FIG. 3 is spirally wound via a corrugated separator (7) made of plastic, for example. A water supply pipe (8) connected to the water supply port (2) and a water tank (9) for supplying water for evaporation through the water supply pipe are provided above the water supply pipe.

In this way, by heating with the self-temperature control type heating element (4) in the hollow porous member, the humidifying ability can be greatly improved.

The arrow (A) in the figure indicates the water supply direction, (B) indicates the air introduction direction, and (C) indicates the air discharge direction.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The conventional humidifier is configured as described above, and there is a problem that the humidifying ability is significantly changed by turning on / off the self-temperature control type heating element provided in the hollow porous member.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to obtain a humidifier capable of finely controlling the humidification capacity in four stages.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The humidifier according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of electrodes on a planar heating element integrally formed with a spacing member housed in a hollow porous member capable of holding water and allowing water vapor to pass therethrough. In addition, a controller is provided for performing multi-stage control of selection and switching of power-on electrodes.

[Action]

In the present invention, for a humidifier that requires a controller,
For a plurality of electrodes of the planar heating element, the power ON electrode selection and switching can be performed in multiple stages to change and control the amount of heat generation, and since the spacing member and the planar heating element are integrally formed. The structure is simplified, and the work of assembling the heating element is facilitated.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hollow porous member of a humidifier showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which a self-temperature control type heating element (4) is incorporated in a hollow porous member (1) together with a spacing member (3). The self-temperature control type heating element (4) is provided with three electrodes (5A) (5B) (5C) at both ends and the center. (11)
Is a controller for controlling the self-temperature control type heating element (4). FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the control of the self-temperature control type heating element (4) of the humidifier (10), in which the power is turned on between the electrodes at both ends.
(X), the case where the power source is turned on between the center and one side electrode (Y), and the case where the power source is turned on between the center and each end electrode is shown (Z). In these figures, the amount of heat generated when the power is turned on is used as a reference between the electrodes at both ends of FIG.
When the power source is turned on between the center of (Y) and the electrode on one side, the distance between the electrodes is halved and the resistance is also halved. Furthermore, the amount of heat generated when the power is turned on between the center of (Z) and the electrodes at each end is 2 times that of (Y).
Double, that is, four times as large as in the case of (X).

Therefore, the controller (11) performs the above control, and the self-temperature control type heating element (4) is changed to (X), (Y), (Z), and the power is turned off, whereby the humidification amount can be controlled in four stages. .

In the above description, the spacing member (3) and the self-temperature control type heating element (4) are separately configured, and each of them is housed in the hollow porous member. The same effect can be expected even if the heating element also serves as the spacing member.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the present invention provides a planar heating element housed in a hollow porous member that retains water and allows water vapor to pass through, with a plurality of heating elements, and a controller for the required humidification amount. , The amount of heat generated is changed by selecting and switching the power-on electrode, so that the amount of humidification can be controlled in detail.
Further, since the spacing member and the planar heating element are integrally formed,
The structure is simple, the work of assembling the heating element is easy, and the inner surface of the moisture-permeable sheet is less likely to be damaged during the assembly.
Therefore, an inexpensive and highly reliable humidifier can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hollow porous member of a humidifier showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing control of a self-temperature control type heating element (4) of the humidifier (10). FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a hollow porous member of a conventional humidifier, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a humidifier in which the conventional hollow porous members are laminated in a spiral shape. In the figure, (1) is a hollow porous member, (3) is a spacing member, (4) is a self-temperature control type heating element, (5) is an electrode, (5A) and (5C) are electrodes at both ends, and (5B). Is the central electrode, (1
0) is a humidifier, and (11) is a controller. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hollow porous member in which a porous sheet of a hydrophobic polymer is formed in a bag shape, and a water supply port is provided on one side of the bag, and a water channel accommodated in the hollow porous member. And a planar heating element that heats water in the hollow porous member, and supplies air to the outer surface of the hollow porous member while supplying water into the hollow porous member from the water supply port. By flowing, in a humidifier that allows the water vapor that has passed through the hollow porous member to be contained in the air, a plurality of electrodes are provided in the planar heating element housed in the hollow porous member, A humidifier characterized in that a controller for performing multi-step control of selection and switching of power-on electrodes is provided for a plurality of electrodes, and the spacing member and the planar heating element are integrally formed.