JPS6178459A - Ultrasonic atomizer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an ultrasonic atomizer without being affected by the variation in load such as water droplets generated at a contact point and having good atomizing efficiency, by keeping away the contact point of the end edge of a water supply nozzle and the vibration plate of a horn from the vibration part of said vibration plate. CONSTITUTION:In such a state that a vibration plate 18 is vibrated by the vibration of an ultrasonic vibrator 13, the liquid in a bottle 16 is guided to the notch part 35 of the vibration plate 18 under its own wt. by the capillary phenomenon of a liquid supply groove 25 through the communication groove 41 at the most forward end parts of a water supply nozzle 17. Because the non-notch part 34 and notch part 35 of the vibration plate 18 are different in resonant frequency, the non-notch part 34 is driven and vibrated but the notch part 35 is not vibrated. Hereupon, the liquid guided to the notch part 35 is drawn in the vibrating non-notch part 34 and supplied to the entire surface of the non-notch part 34 by two routes as shown by arrows R, S. At this time, the liquid accumulated at the intersecting points P, Q of the notch part 35 and the end edge of the triangular most forward end part 39 imparts no effect on vibration.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an ultrasonic atomizer used for humidifying the upper respiratory tract, inhaling medicinal solutions, and the like.

(b) Conventional technology Conventional ultrasonic atomizers consist of a rigid metal body with a large diameter part and a small diameter part, with an ultrasonic vibrator fixed to the large diameter part and an atomizing part in the small diameter part. A horn that integrally forms a diaphragm, a bottle for storing liquid to be atomized, and a water absorption band for guiding the liquid from the bottle to the horn, and the liquid in the bottle is guided through the water absorption band. There is a system that atomizes the liquid in the atomization section by guiding the liquid through the atomization section of the horn and driving the ultrasonic wave @motor.

Ultrasonic atomizers that use this type of water absorption band supply liquid using only capillary action, so the liquid is not supplied properly and efficiently, and the liquid remains in the bottle and may be left unattended. In order to overcome these drawbacks, the inventors of this application proposed an ultrasonic atomizer that supplies the liquid in the bottle using a separate water supply nozzle. did.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention When supplying liquid using the above water supply nozzle, since a liquid supply groove and an outside air introduction groove are provided, liquid is supplied by both capillary action and the liquid's own weight. The advantage is that the liquid is supplied efficiently and smoothly, but if the connection between the tip of the water supply nozzle and the horn's diaphragm is not appropriate, the liquid may not be reliably supplied to the atomizing surface of the horn's diaphragm. Water droplets (N) accumulate at the contact point between the edge of the diaphragm and the water supply nozzle,
Since that part is in the vibrating part of the diaphragm or in the vicinity of the vibrating part, there is a problem in that the water droplets act as a load and affect the vibration, lowering the atomization efficiency.

This invention has the advantage of keeping the contact point between the edge of the water supply nozzle and the diaphragm of the horn away from the vibrating part of the diaphragm, and producing ultrasonic mist with high atomization efficiency that is not affected by load fluctuations such as water droplets generated at the contact point. The purpose is to provide a

(d) Means and operation for solving the problems The ultrasonic atomizer of the present invention has the tip of the water supply nozzle divided into two parts with the liquid supply groove as the boundary, and one part is divided into two parts by the vibration of the horn. The other part is in contact with the side of the notch of the plate, the other part is provided in a tapered shape so as to protrude from the one part, and extends on the surface of the diaphragm, and both side edges of the tapered part are He is trying to intersect with the notch part of the said diaphragm.

In the ultrasonic atomizer of this invention, liquid is supplied from the tip of the water supply nozzle to the surface of the diaphragm, but water droplets adhere to the contact point between the edge of the tapered part of the water supply nozzle and the surface of the diaphragm. However, since the tip of the water supply nozzle is tapered and the point of attachment of water droplets is located in the notch of the diaphragm, it is kept quite far from the vibration position of the diaphragm, and the presence of water droplets is mostly due to the mist on the diaphragm. Does not affect chemical reaction.

(e) Examples Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic inhaler in which the present invention is implemented. This ultrasonic inhaler 1 includes a main body part 2 and a liquid supply part 3.
and a suction section 4.

The main body part 2 has an outer shape formed by a main body case 5 and a bottom lid 6, and has an oscillation circuit board 11 inside which is mounted with a power supply board 7, a power jack 8, a battery 9, and an electronic circuit part IO such as an oscillation circuit.
, a microswitch 12 as a power switch, a drive board 14 for the ultrasonic transducer 13, and the like are housed. Note that 15 is a switch cover.

A liquid supply unit 3 and a bottle 1 that stores water or a chemical solution to be atomized.
6 and a water supply nozzle 17 for guiding the liquid in the bottle 16 to the atomization section of the horn, which will be described later. A more specific structure of this liquid supply section 3 will be described later.

The suction section 4 is a rigid metal body with a conical shape, and has a large diameter end and a small diameter end, an ultrasonic vibrator 13 is attached to the large diameter end, and a diaphragm (atomization section) 18 is formed at the small diameter end. It consists of a horn 19, a suction nozzle 20, and a sanitary cap 21.

In addition, the main body case 5, bottom cover 6, switch cover 15
The sanitary cap 21 is made of ABS resin, and the bottle 16, water supply nozzle 17, and suction nozzle 20 are made of styrene resin.

The liquid supply part 3, the suction nozzle 20, and the sanitary cap 21 are configured to be detachably attached to the upper inclined wall 5a of the main body case 5.

Further, the horn 19 is held on the upper inclined wall 5a so that the diaphragm 18 faces the suction nozzle 20 side.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing only the liquid supply section 3 and the horn 19, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the enlarged portion. The bottle 16 has a rectangular shape in side view and an inverted U-shape in front view, and is made of transparent styrene resin as described above.

Further, a cylindrical nozzle insertion opening 23 is provided on the bottom plane.

Further, the nozzle insertion port 23 is configured such that the water supply nozzle 17, which is covered with a tube 24 made of an elastic material such as rubber, is inserted from below. In the inserted state, the tube 24 is tightly attached to the inner wall of the nozzle insertion opening 23 of the bottle 16, thereby preventing liquid leakage and preventing the water supply nozzle 17 from falling off from the bottle 16.

The water supply nozzle 17 is provided with two liquid supply grooves 25 and 25 in the axial direction for guiding the liquid in the bottle 16 to the outside using gravity and capillary action, and is provided with two liquid supply grooves 25 and 25 on the same line as the liquid supply grooves 25. A slightly deeper outside air introduction tI26 is provided in order to introduce into the bottle 16 the same volume of outside air that the liquid was drawn out of the bottle, and furthermore, the suction liquid is temporarily drawn in the circumferential direction perpendicular to t125.26. A plurality of grooves 27 having a chamber function are provided to store the contents.

The tip 28 of the water supply nozzle 17 is made long so that the liquid supply groove 25 for water supply is sufficiently immersed in the liquid in the bottle 16. The water supply nozzle 17 is provided with flanges 29 and 30 for fitting the tube 24 therein, and the lower flange 30 is provided for positioning the water supply nozzle 17 and the nozzle insertion opening 23. The lower end 31 of the water supply nozzle 17 is attached so as to come into contact with the atomizing section of the horn 19, that is, the diaphragm 18. The lower end 3 of this water supply nozzle 17
1 and the diaphragm 18 will be described later.

The horn 19 has a conical shape as described above, and the ultrasonic transducer 13 is bonded to the end face of the large diameter end 32 and the small diameter end 3
A diaphragm 18 is integrally formed on 3. Vibration plate 18
The upper part of the disk shape is notched, and the outer periphery is formed from a non-notched part 34 having an arc shape and a chord-shaped notch part 35. That is, the diaphragm 18 has non-cut portions 3 having different distances from the center.
4 and a notch 35.

The lower end 31 of the water supply nozzle 17 has two liquid supply grooves 25.
25 as a boundary, it is divided into two parts 36.37, and one of the leading edge parts 38 of these picture parts 36.37 is formed into a trapezoid shape with a tapered diagonal tip with a notch (the fourth
(see figure), the other leading edge portion 39 is formed in a tapered triangular shape. The notch 40 of one of the most extreme parts 38 is brought into contact with the side of the notch 35 of the diaphragm 18 closer to the atomization surface, and the other most extreme part 39 is brought into contact with the side of the notch 35 of the diaphragm 18 that is closer to the atomization surface. It protrudes and extends toward the surface of the non-cut portion 34, that is, the atomization surface. Note that a groove 141 is also provided along the notch 40 of the leading edge portion 38, and communicates the two liquid supply grooves 25 and 25.

When operating this ultrasonic inhaler 1 to perform an inhalation action, remove the sanitary cap 21 from the bottle 16 shown in FIG.
Bring your mouth to the vicinity and operate the switch cover 15 to turn on the micro switch 12. As a result, the ultrasonic vibrator 13 starts vibrating, and the horn 19 transmits the vibration to the diaphragm 18. On the other hand, the liquid in the bottle 16 is guided to the notch 35 of the diaphragm 18 via the communication groove 41 of the tip end portion 38, 39 of the water supply nozzle 17 due to its own weight and the capillary action of the liquid supply groove 25. Since the non-notched portion 34 and the notched portion 35 of the diaphragm 18 have different resonance frequencies, the non-notched portion 34 is driven and vibrates, but the notched portion 35 does not vibrate.

The liquid led to the notch 35 is pulled into the non-notch 34 by the vibration of the non-notch 34, and is distributed over the entire surface of the non-notch 34 through two paths, as shown by the arrow R1S in FIG. liquid is supplied. The supplied liquid is above! Driven by kinetic energy and atomized. Atomized liquid is arrow A
(See Figure 1).

During the atomization operation, outside air corresponding to the volume of the liquid drawn out in the bottle 16 is introduced into the bottle 16 through the outside air introduction 126,
Further, a relatively large amount of liquid is supplied by the two liquid supply lines 'a25, 25, and the liquid is temporarily stored in the groove 27, so that the liquid is smoothly supplied according to the amount of atomization.

Even if many water droplets accumulate at the intersection points R and Q between the notch 35 and the edge of the triangular tip end portion 39, there is a considerable distance from these points P and Q to the non-notched portion 34. It has no effect on vibration.

In the above embodiment, the tip end of the water supply nozzle has a tapered triangular shape, but the shape of the tip end of the water supply nozzle is not limited to a triangle;
Water supply nozzles having various tapered tip portions such as those shown in (b) and (c) may be used.

(f) Effects of the Invention According to the ultrasonic atomizer of the present invention, the notch of the diaphragm of the horn and both ends of the tapered portion at the tip of the water supply nozzle intersect with each other, so that the water supply nozzle The water droplets generated at the contact point between the leading edge of the diaphragm and the diaphragm are kept away from the vibrating part, and the adhesion of water droplets or their fluctuations do not have any effect on the vibration of the diaphragm, which improves efficiency. Good atomization can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic inhaler in which the present invention is implemented, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the liquid supply part and horn portion of the ultrasonic inhaler of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the ultrasonic inhaler according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a front view of the enlarged portion, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the tip of the water supply nozzle, and FIG. 5 is a front view showing another example of a tapered shape of the tip of the water supply nozzle. 13: Ultrasonic vibrator, 16: Bottle, 17: Water supply nozzle, 18: Vibration plate, 19: Horn,
25: Liquid supply groove, 34: Non-cut portion of diaphragm, 35
: Notch part of diaphragm, 38/39: Cutting edge part of water supply nozzle, 40: Notch part of cutting edge part Patent applicant Agent: Tateishi Electric Co., Ltd.
Patent Attorney Shigeru Nakamura Figure 5 (G) Cb) (C)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A horn that integrally forms a diaphragm with an ultrasonic transducer fixed to the large diameter part and a partially cut out part of the small diameter part, a bottle for storing the liquid to be atomized, and a liquid supply groove. a water supply nozzle having a water supply nozzle, and guiding the liquid in the bottle through the liquid supply groove of the water supply nozzle to the surface of the diaphragm of the horn,
In an ultrasonic atomizer that atomizes liquid on the surface of the diaphragm by driving the ultrasonic vibrator, the tip portion of the water supply nozzle is divided into two parts with the liquid supply groove as a boundary, One part is in contact with the side of the notch of the diaphragm of the horn, the other part is provided in a tapered shape and protrudes from the one part, and is extended on the surface of the diaphragm. An ultrasonic atomizer characterized in that both side edges of the portion intersect with the notch of the diaphragm.