JPH08229432A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an air cleaner which can be miniaturized without decreasing deodorizing and dust-collecting abilities. CONSTITUTION: In a collector 3 arranged on the leeward side of an ionizer, an electrode 13 of the high voltage side and an electrode 14 of the earth side are alternately arranged by a const. interval in the up and down direction in a case 12 and by applying a high voltage between a terminal 15 of the high voltage side and a terminal 16 of the earth side through a high voltage generator, an electric field layer is formed between each electrode 13 of the high voltage side and each electrode 14 of the earth side to collect electrically charged fine particles charged by means of the ionizer. The electrode 13 of the high voltage side used for this collector 3 is formed into a flat plate shape prepd. by covering a slender conductive plate with an insulating body and the electrode 14 of the earth side is formed into a wavy shape by folding alternately a slender flat plate-shaped active carbon sheet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air purifier, and is particularly suitable as an on-vehicle air purifier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general air purifier comprises an ionizer that charges dust, a collector that collects the charged dust, a deodorizing filter that absorbs odors, and the like. They are arranged in series along. However, the deodorizing filter is made by processing a material such as carbon fiber or activated carbon into a honeycomb shape or a fiber sheet shape, and becomes a ventilation resistor, which causes a large pressure loss. In view of this, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-210051, a deodorizing mechanism is added to the collector portion by using a conductive carbon fiber sheet for the ground electrode of the collector portion, thereby eliminating the conventional deodorizing filter and reducing pressure loss. Purifiers have been proposed.

[0003]

However, in the air purifier disclosed in the above publication, the ground electrode using the conductive carbon fiber sheet is flat and the insulating layer is provided on one side. Therefore, in order to improve the deodorizing ability and the dust collecting ability, it is necessary to increase the surface area of the ground electrode itself and increase the thickness or width dimension of the collector portion, which causes a problem of increasing the size of the device. The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an air purifier that can be downsized without lowering the deodorizing ability and the dust collecting ability.

[0004]

The present invention has the following features to attain the object mentioned above. In claim 1,
An ionization part for charging fine particles contained in the passing air, and an ionic field disposed on the leeward side of this ionization part to form an electric field layer between at least a pair of electrodes, and to charge the charged fine particles in the air passing through the electric field layer. In an air purifier provided with a dust collecting unit that electrically collects dust, the dust collecting unit is made of a deodorizing material in which the electrode on the side for collecting the charged fine particles has conductivity among the pair of electrodes. In addition, the electrode itself made of the deodorizing material secures a space forming the electric field layer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an ionization part for charging fine particles contained in the passing air and an ionic field disposed on the leeward side of the ionization part to form an electric field layer between at least a pair of electrodes,
In an air purifier provided with a dust collecting part that electrically collects charged fine particles in the air passing through the electric field layer, the dust collecting part collects the charged fine particles from the pair of electrodes. It is characterized in that the electrode on the side is made of a composite material in which a conductive material and a deodorant material are combined, and that the electrode itself made of the composite material secures a space forming the electric field layer.

According to a third aspect, in the air purifier according to the first or second aspect, the electrodes made of the deodorizing material or the composite material are alternately folded back so as to form a corrugated shape along the other electrodes. By so doing, the space is secured between the other electrode.

According to a fourth aspect, in the air purifier according to the first or second aspect, the electrode made of the deodorizing material or the composite material has a polygonal shape with another electrode or the electrode itself. The space is secured by being formed in a plurality of passages that form

According to a fifth aspect, in the air purifier according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the pair of electrodes are spirally wound in a flow direction of air. .

[0009]

[Operation and effect of the invention]

(Claim 1) The charged fine particles charged in the ionization section are electrically collected in the dust collection section. Here, since the electrode that collects the charged fine particles is made of a conductive deodorizing material, the odor contained in the collected charged fine particles is adsorbed by the deodorizing material to be deodorized. Further, a space forming an electric field layer is secured by the electrode itself for collecting the charged fine particles (hereinafter, referred to as a dust collecting side electrode). That is, the dust collecting side electrode is not simply arranged in parallel with the other electrode, but also as a spacer for forming an electric field layer between the other electrode and securing a space forming the electric field layer. It is functioning. However, it goes without saying that the dust collecting side electrode and the other electrode are insulated. Therefore, since the surface area of the dust collecting side electrode is increased as compared with the case where the dust collecting side electrode is arranged in parallel with the other electrode,
The deodorizing ability and the dust collecting ability can be improved, and the deodorizing life and the dust collecting life can be extended. In other words, even if the dust collecting portion is downsized, it is possible to obtain the deodorizing ability and dust collecting ability equivalent to those of the conventional one. As a result, the size of the entire air purifier can be reduced.

(Claim 2) The electrode on the dust collecting side may be formed of a composite material of a conductive material and a deodorizing material.

(Claim 3) When the dust collecting side electrode has a corrugated shape, the surface area of the electrode can be expanded several times as compared with the case of a flat plate shape. The dust capacity can be greatly improved.

(Claim 4) In order to secure the space forming the electric field layer by the dust collecting side electrode itself, the dust collecting side electrode may be formed in a plurality of passage shapes (for example, honeycomb shape).

(Claim 5) By winding the pair of electrodes in a spiral shape, the number of parts of the dust collecting portion can be significantly reduced, and thus the cost can be reduced.

[0014]

Embodiments of the air purifier of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a front view of a collector used in an air purifier. The air purifier 1 of the present embodiment is an ionizer 2 for charging fine particles (dust) in the passing air.
(Ionization unit of the present invention) is provided on the leeward side of the ionizer 2 and includes a collector 3 (dust collection unit of the present invention) that electrically collects charged fine particles charged by the ionizer 2 (see FIG. 2). ).

The ionizer 2 includes a case 4 made of resin, a needle-shaped high-voltage side electrode 5 and a plate-shaped ground side electrode 6 arranged in the case 4, and a high-voltage side to which the high-voltage side electrode 5 is connected. It is composed of a terminal 7, a ground-side terminal 8 to which the ground-side electrode 6 is connected, and the like. The case 4 is opened in a rectangular shape to form an air passage through which air passes.

The high voltage side electrode 5 and the ground side electrode 6 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the case 4 is alternately arranged in the up-down direction at a constant interval. However, the high voltage side electrode 5 is 1
This needle-shaped electrode member is provided by alternately folding back and forth on both sides of the case 4, and similarly, the ground-side electrode 6 is provided by alternately folding back one plate-shaped electrode member on both sides of the case 4 by left and right. . Needless to say, the high voltage side electrode 5 and the ground side electrode 6 are insulated.

The high voltage side terminal 7 is fixed to one side wall of the case 4 and is connected to the power supply line 10 of the high voltage generator 9 (see FIG. 7). The ground side terminal 8 is
It is fixed to the other side wall of the case 4 and grounded via a ground wire 11 (see FIG. 7). This Ionizer 2
Between the high voltage side electrode 5 and the ground side electrode 6 by applying a high voltage (for example, 5 KV) between the high voltage side terminal 7 and the ground side terminal 8 via the high voltage generator 9. Then, a corona discharge is generated to charge the particles in the air passing through the case 4 (positive charge).

The collector 3 includes a resin case 12, a high voltage side electrode 13 arranged in the case 12, a ground side electrode 14, a high voltage side terminal 15 to which the high voltage side electrode 13 is connected, and a ground side electrode. 14 is connected to the ground side terminal 16 and the like. The case 12 has the same shape as the case 4 of the ionizer 2 and opens in a rectangular shape to form an air passage through which air passes.

The high voltage side electrode 13 is an elongated conductive plate 13a.
(For example, aluminum foil) is covered with an insulator 13b (for example, polypropylene resin) to form a flat plate shape (see FIGS. 3 and 4), and the conductive plate 13a is exposed only on one end side. The ground-side electrode 14 is formed by alternately folding back and elongating an activated carbon sheet of a thin flat plate material and has a corrugated shape as shown in FIG. It is fixed. However, one end of the ground side electrode 14 is fixed at a distance from one end of the insulator 13b in order to prevent a short circuit with the high voltage side. The other end of the ground side electrode 14 is a free end without being fixed to the insulator 13b. The high voltage side electrodes 13 and the ground side electrodes 14 are alternately arranged in the vertical direction in the case 12, as shown in FIG.

The high-voltage side terminal 15 is vertically arranged along the inner surface of one side wall of the case 12, and
It is taken out to the outside at the upper part of 2 and is connected to the power supply line 17 of the high voltage side electrode 13 (see FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 5, each high voltage side electrode 13 has a conductive plate 1 exposed on one end side.
3a is electrically connected in a state of being pressed against the high voltage side terminal 15. The ground side terminal 16 is
It is arranged vertically along the inner surface of the other side wall of the case 12, and is taken out to the outside at the upper part of the case 12 so that the ground wire 1
It is grounded via 8 (see FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 6, each ground electrode 14 is electrically connected in a state where the other end, which is a free end, is pressed against the ground terminal 16.

The collector 3 receives the high voltage (for example, 1 KV) between the high-voltage side terminal 15 and the ground-side terminal 16 via the high-voltage generator 9 so that the high-voltage side electrode 13 and the high-voltage side electrode 13 are connected to each other. An electric field layer is formed between each ground side electrode 14 and electrically collects the charged fine particles charged by the ionizer 2.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the air blown by a blower (not shown) passes through the corona discharge field of the ionizer 2, the fine particles contained in the air are charged. The polluted air containing the charged fine particles flows into the collector 3 from the ionizer 2, and the charged fine particles are collected and purified by the respective earth side electrodes 14 in the collector 3. At the same time, since each earth side electrode 14 is formed of an activated carbon sheet having a deodorizing function, the earth side electrode 1
The odor contained in the fine particles collected in 4 is adsorbed on the activated carbon sheet to be deodorized.

(Effects of Embodiment) Air purifier 1 of this embodiment
According to this, since the earth side electrode 14 of the collector 3 is made of an activated carbon sheet and has a deodorizing function, it is not necessary to use a deodorizing filter separately. Further, the earth-side electrode 14 having the deodorizing function, that is, the activated carbon sheet is alternately folded back into a wavy shape. For this reason, the surface area of the plate-shaped high-voltage side electrode 13 is several times (about 3 times).
.About.4 times), the deodorizing ability and the deodorizing life of the activated carbon sheet also improve as the surface area increases. Similarly,
Since the surface area of the electrode as the earth side electrode 14 is increased, the dust collecting ability and the electrode life can be improved. In other words, if the deodorizing ability and the dust collecting ability equivalent to the conventional ones are sufficient, the thickness or the width of the collector 3 can be reduced and the size can be reduced.

Further, since the ground side electrode 14 is formed in a wavy shape to secure a space for forming an electric field layer by the ground side electrode 14 itself, the insulating layer is processed into a protruding shape as in the conventional case. It is not necessary to secure a space, and the workability can be greatly improved.

Since the air purifier 1 does not require the deodorizing filter as described above, it is effective when used in combination with, for example, a vehicle air conditioner. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the blower 21 is arranged in the duct 19 that guides the blown air into the vehicle interior (upwind side of the evaporator 20).
Thus, the air blown into the vehicle interior can be purified. In this case, since the deodorizing filter is not required, the dimension in the air blowing direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 8) can be set small, and therefore the installation can be performed even in the duct 19.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 9 is a front view of a collector 3 according to the second embodiment. The collector 3 of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 9, the high voltage side electrode 13 and the ground side electrode 1
4 and 4 are spirally wound and housed in the case 12. In the first embodiment, a plurality of high-voltage side electrodes 13 and a plurality of ground-side electrodes 14 are alternately stacked, but according to the configuration of this embodiment, the high-voltage side electrodes 13 and the ground-side electrodes 14 are arranged. In both cases, since one continuous electrode material can be used, the number of parts can be significantly reduced. Thereby, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment,
It is possible to reduce costs due to the reduction in the number of parts.

The structures of the high voltage side electrode 13 and the ground side electrode 14 themselves are the same as in the first embodiment. That is, the high-voltage side electrode 13 includes the elongated conductive plate 13a and the insulator 13b.
The ground-side electrode 14 is formed by alternately folding back an activated carbon sheet, which is an elongated flat plate material, to form a corrugated shape (see FIG. 3).

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the ground electrode 14 according to the third embodiment. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the ground-side electrode 14 is formed into a plurality of passages. That is, other than the corrugations shown in the first and second embodiments, any structure may be used as long as the surface area of the ground electrode 14 is increased and the ground electrode 14 itself can secure a space forming an electric field layer. Although the passage cross-sectional shape is rectangular in FIG. 10, it may be other shapes (for example, honeycomb shape).

[Modification] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the activated carbon sheet which is a single material is used as the material of the earth side electrode 14, but as shown in FIG. 11, it does not have conductivity (or conductivity). Deodorizing material 14a and conductive material 14b
The ground-side electrode 14 may be formed of the composite material 14 'including the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a collector.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between an ionizer and a collector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a high voltage side electrode and a ground side electrode.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a high-voltage side electrode (AA sectional view of FIG. 3).
Is.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a connection state between a high-voltage side electrode and a high-voltage side terminal.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a connection state between a ground side electrode and a ground side terminal.

FIG. 7 is an electric circuit diagram of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram when an air purifier is combined with a vehicle air conditioner.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a collector (second embodiment).

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a ground electrode (third embodiment).

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a ground electrode (modification).

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Air Purifier 2 Ionizer (Ionizing Part) 3 Collector (Dust Collecting Part) 13 Collector High Voltage Side Electrodes (Pair Pair) 14 Collector Earth Side Electrodes (Pair Pair)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ionization part for charging fine particles contained in passing air, and an air field which is disposed on the leeward side of the ionization part and forms an electric field layer between at least a pair of electrodes, and air which passes through the electric field layer. In an air purifier provided with a dust collecting section for electrically collecting charged fine particles therein, the dust collecting section is configured such that, of the pair of electrodes, an electrode on a side collecting the charged fine particles has conductivity. An air purifier characterized by comprising a deodorizing material which has, and wherein the electrode itself made of the deodorizing material secures a space forming the electric field layer. 2. An ionization part for charging fine particles contained in passing air, and an air field which is arranged on the leeward side of the ionization part and forms an electric field layer between at least a pair of electrodes, and air which passes through the electric field layer In an air purifier provided with a dust collecting section for electrically collecting charged fine particles therein, in the dust collecting section, an electrode on a side collecting the charged fine particles of the pair of electrodes is made of a conductive material. An air purifier characterized by comprising a composite material of a deodorizing material and a deodorant material, wherein the electrode itself made of the composite material secures a space forming the electric field layer. 3. The air purifier according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electrodes made of the deodorizing material or the composite material are alternately folded back along another electrode so as to form a wave shape. An air purifier characterized in that the space is secured between the other electrode. 4. The air purifier according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electrode made of the deodorizing material or the composite material is a plurality of electrodes formed between itself and another electrode, or the electrode itself has a polygonal shape. The air purifier is characterized in that the space is secured by being formed in a passage shape. 5. The air purifier according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pair of electrodes are spirally wound in a direction of air flow. .