CN117512944A

CN117512944A - Cleaning device, cleaning system and cleaning method

Info

Publication number: CN117512944A
Application number: CN202310800876.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 藤森正成; 林正二; 梅泽功一; 京谷浩平
Original assignee: Hitachi Global Life Solutions Inc
Current assignee: Hitachi Global Life Solutions Inc
Priority date: 2022-08-01
Filing date: 2023-07-03
Publication date: 2024-02-06
Also published as: JP2024019850A

Abstract

The invention provides a cleaning device, a cleaning system and a cleaning method, which can clean a local stain attached to a cleaning object without using mechanical force. The cleaning device (10 a) is characterized by comprising a cleaning tank (11) for accommodating a cleaning object (15) and a cleaning liquid (14), and a light source (12), wherein the cleaning object (15) is immersed in the cleaning liquid (14), and light is irradiated from the light source (12) to the cleaning object (15).

Description

Cleaning device, cleaning system and cleaning method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a cleaning device, a cleaning system and a cleaning method.

Background

A washing machine is used to clean a textile product such as clothing. The washing machine is to dip the object to be washed in water, and spin/agitate the water to remove the attached dirt. In the case of commercial washing machines, organic solvents are also commonly used instead of water. The source of the stain removal effect in such cleaning methods is mechanical. The movement is transmitted to the fibers by mechanically moving a liquid such as water or an organic solvent, and the stains are peeled from the fibers by a mechanical force. In the vertical washing machine, fibers are immersed in a relatively large amount of liquid, and the fibers are moved and contacted with each other by the rotation of the liquid to clean stains. On the other hand, in a drum-type washing machine, fibers are placed in a small amount of liquid, and in addition to the movement of the fibers through the liquid accompanying the rotation of the drum, an effect of removing stains by an impact generated by dropping the fibers from above the drum is considered. Although the actions of the two are somewhat different, the cleaning effect by mechanical force is common.

In general, a rotational force is used as a mechanical force in a washing machine. The stirring blade provided at the lower part of the washing tank and the washing tank itself are rotated by the motor, so that the liquid in the washing tank is rotated to transmit mechanical force to the fibers. Although the motor has been silenced with the development of motor technology, noise from a motor main body, an inverter (inverter) driving circuit, and surrounding movable parts is large, and the motor cannot be silenced so as to be placed in a room where a person can relax. Further, since the movable portion rotates in a region occupying a large part of the device volume, vibration of the device cannot be avoided. Therefore, there are problems such as limited installation places and limited washing time.

The fiber to be washed is put into a washing tank, washed with a detergent, rinsed a plurality of times, and dehydrated, and the washing is completed. During this time, dehydration is also carried out after washing with a detergent or after rinsing. Therefore, the form of the fibers greatly changes when the fibers are put into the washing tank and the final dehydration is completed. Then, when the laundry is automatically dried and stored, the entangled laundry or the twisted laundry needs to be unwound for external drying after washing. At present, this work is performed manually, and it is difficult to automate the work after dehydration or after automatic drying.

In addition, various mechanical forces such as bending, stretching, and friction are applied to the fibers during the removal of stains by the mechanical force, which becomes a cause of fiber damage. At the same time as such damage occurs, fragments of the fibers are diffused into the washing liquid, and finally discharged from the washing machine. In the case of proteins derived from animals and plants such as cotton and silk, the proteins can be decomposed by microorganisms or the like, but synthetic fibers such as polyester are not decomposed. They eventually become microplastic for discharge into the ocean. That is, in the current washing, since the mechanical force necessary for removing the stains is applied, the fiber discharged material is excessively generated, and as a result, the micro plastic is discharged to the environment.

In general, in washing by mechanical force, a detergent is dissolved in a washing liquid to promote a peeling effect, and washing is performed. The main component of the detergent is a surfactant, and the detergent is composed of organic molecules with high polymers such as alkyl groups as main chains. After washing, the detergent is discharged from the washing machine together with the liquid, and is transported to a treatment plant through a drain. The detergent is decomposed mainly by biodegradation treatment together with soap and synthetic detergent, but aeration treatment for feeding oxygen to microorganisms is required in the process. Among the sewage treatment processes, the water treatment process including the aeration treatment is the most power consuming process, and as a result, drainage of the detergent from the washing machine leads to an increase in power consumption.

In general washing machines, it is necessary to completely put the fibers to be washed in a washing tank to perform washing. Accordingly, the entire fiber is a washing object, and for example, even a clothes with dirt in a local area needs to be washed. With the whole cleaning, parts which are not required to be cleaned must be cleaned, which leads to an increase in the amount of detergent and the generation of fiber fragments due to mechanical force. If cleaning can be performed by limiting only the spot where the stain is attached and the periphery thereof, it is possible to reduce the amount of the detergent required, prevent unnecessary fiber damage, reduce the amount of water involved in cleaning, and reduce the electric power involved in the treatment of cleaning or drainage.

As described above, there are various problems in the cleaning device using mechanical force. As a conventional example of a cleaning device that does not use mechanical force, patent document 1 below is known. Patent document 1 discloses a cleaning device including: a solution tank for storing a cleaning solution comprising an aqueous solution in which a substance that generates hydroxyl radicals by ultraviolet irradiation in the presence of water is dissolved; an application unit that attaches a cleaning liquid to a surface of a body to be cleaned; and an ultraviolet light source that irradiates ultraviolet light emitted from an ultraviolet light emitting diode having an emission wavelength of 250nm or less onto the cleaning liquid attached to the surface of the object to be cleaned. According to patent document 1, the following is described: the cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the surface of the object 1 by the application unit (nozzle) 21, and the ultraviolet light source (ultraviolet light emitting diode) 31 irradiates ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 250nm or less to the cleaning liquid 14 attached to the surface of the object 1, so that OH radicals are generated in the cleaning liquid 14, and organic stains on the surface of the object 1 are decomposed by the action of the OH radicals.

Patent document 1: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2017-109146

Disclosure of Invention

In patent document 1, various articles such as an air cleaner, an air conditioner, a toilet, a bathtub, a sink for a face or a sink, a drain pipe, and a ventilator, on the surface of which organic stains are likely to adhere are assumed as the object 1 to be cleaned, but clothing made of fibers and the like are not assumed as the object to be cleaned. In addition, when the object to be cleaned is clothing, there is a case where removal of local stains adhering to the clothing is desired, but patent document 1 does not study cleaning of local parts of the object to be cleaned 1.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cleaning device, a cleaning system, and a cleaning method capable of cleaning a part of a cleaning object with a target of stains adhering thereto without using mechanical force or suppressing the use of mechanical force as much as possible.

One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a cleaning device comprising: a cleaning tank that accommodates a cleaning object and a cleaning liquid; and a light source for irradiating the cleaning object with light from the light source in a state where the cleaning object is immersed in the cleaning liquid.

Another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a cleaning system including the cleaning device of the present invention and a control unit for controlling operations of the respective configurations of the cleaning device.

Another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a cleaning method comprising: setting a cleaning object in the cleaning tank; supplying a cleaning liquid to the cleaning object; and irradiating the cleaning object with light from the light source in a state where the cleaning object is immersed in the cleaning liquid.

More specific constructions of the invention are described in the scope of the claims.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cleaning device, a cleaning system, and a cleaning method capable of cleaning a local stain adhering to a cleaning target without using mechanical force.

The problems, structures, and effects other than those described above will be apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

Drawings

Fig. 1A is a schematic view showing a cleaning apparatus according to example 1.

Fig. 1B is a schematic view showing a cleaning apparatus according to example 1.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the cleaning system of embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the cleaning apparatus of example 2.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the cleaning system of embodiment 2.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing a cleaning apparatus according to example 4.

Detailed Description

[ example 1 ]

[ cleaning device and cleaning System ]

(1) Structure of cleaning device

Fig. 1A and 1B are schematic views showing a cleaning apparatus of example 1. As shown in fig. 1A, a cleaning apparatus 10a of the present invention includes a cleaning tank 11 that accommodates a cleaning object 15 and a cleaning liquid 14, the cleaning liquid 14 supplied to the cleaning tank 11, and a light source 12. The cleaning object 15 is immersed in the cleaning liquid 14, and the light 13 is irradiated from the light source 12 to the cleaning object 15.

An opening/closing door 17 is provided to the cleaning tank 11, and the cleaning object 15 is put into and taken out of the cleaning tank 11 through the opening/closing door 17. As shown in fig. 1B, cleaning liquid 14 is supplied to cleaning tank 11 through liquid supply pipe 18 connected to cleaning tank 11. Further, the liquid is discharged from the cleaning tank 11 through a liquid discharge pipe 19 connected to the cleaning tank 11.

Although not shown, the light source 12 includes a moving mechanism and is configured to be movable in the direction of the arrow shown in fig. 1A. In the example shown in fig. 1A, since the one-dimensional light source (linear light source) is disposed on the surface (rectangle) of the stationary cleaning object 15 in the short-side axis direction, the light 13 can be irradiated to any portion of the surface of the cleaning object 15 (the surface of the cleaning object 15 opposite to the surface contacting the bottom surface of the cleaning tank 11) as long as the light source can move along the long-side axis of the rectangle shown by the arrow 16. The light source 12 scans a predetermined region according to the selection condition, and irradiates the predetermined portion of the cleaning object 15 with light 13.

A linear light source is used here, but a point light source or a surface light source may be used. In the case of a point light source, a degree of freedom in the biaxial direction is required for movement of the light source in order to irradiate the arbitrary surface of the cleaning object 15 with light. In addition, when a light source having the same light intensity and energy per unit area is used, a longer time is required for the light irradiation to be performed over a wide range. On the other hand, when light irradiation is performed in a narrow area, light irradiation can be performed only in an area where a point light source is required, whereas when the line light source is constituted by one light source such as one discharge lamp, useless light irradiation is required, and energy consumption increases. In the case where a linear light source is constituted by a collection of point light sources such as LEDs, it is necessary to control the turning on and off of each light source separately in order to avoid wasteful power consumption. Therefore, a disadvantage arises in that the light source driving circuit becomes complicated. In the same manner as in the case of the area light source, the area light source has an advantage of a processing time in the case of performing light irradiation over a wide range, and in the case of performing partial light irradiation, the point light source has an advantage of being able to reduce energy consumption or to simply constitute a control circuit for lighting the light source. Accordingly, the light source 12 preferably selects a point light source, a line light source, or a surface light source according to the purpose.

Preferably, the cleaning tank 11 is made of metal. When the inner surface of the cleaning tank 11 is made of metal, the light reflected by the metal surface irradiates the cleaning object 15, and therefore the portion not directly irradiated by the light source can be cleaned. Therefore, a surface having a glossy metallic surface is preferable. In addition, if a material that transmits the light used sufficiently, for example, glass or transparent resin is used for the bottom surface, the light source 12 can be disposed on the bottom surface side. This facilitates design and operability in the case where the upper surface of the cleaning tank 11 is used as the opening/closing door 17. The light source 12 may be disposed on both sides of the opening/closing door 17 (front surface side of the cleaning object 15) and the bottom surface side (back surface side of the cleaning object 15). In this case, the cost of the generating member and the control mechanism increases, but the cleaning force can be easily improved by the light irradiation from both the front surface side and the rear surface side of the cleaning object 15, compared to the rear surface side cleaning by the transmitted light based on the light irradiation from the one side. Further, by disposing the light sources 12 on both sides, the light source having a lower irradiation intensity can be provided as compared with the single-side irradiation. In the case where an LED (Light Emitting Diode: light emitting diode) is used as the light source 12, since a high-output ultraviolet LED is expensive, the cost can be suppressed while maintaining a certain cleaning force. In addition, the heat design has the advantage of suppressing the heat generation from one light source 12, dispersing the heat generation source, and the like.

(2) Access to and drainage from objects to be cleaned

As described above, the fiber-like objects 15 are taken in and out through the opening/closing door 17 shown in fig. 1B. The opening/closing door 17 is opened in a state where the light irradiation by the light source 12 is stopped, and the cleaning object 15 is left to stand so that the cleaning surface (surface) of the cleaning object 15 is exposed to the light source 12. The cleaning liquid 14 is supplied through a supply pipe 18, and is discharged through a discharge pipe 19. The supply pipe 18 is connected to a tank (not shown) for storing the cleaning liquid 14, and supplies a predetermined amount into the cleaning tank 11 by a pump (not shown) or the like. By providing a flowmeter or a valve in the middle of the path and controlling the supply amount of cleaning liquid 14, the liquid amount can be adjusted with high accuracy. The drain pipe 19 is also connected to a valve (not shown), and can control the storage and discharge of the liquid into and from the cleaning tank.

(3) Supplying a cleaning liquid to the cleaning object

As shown in fig. 1A and 1B, in the present embodiment, an example in which the cleaning liquid is supplied via 1 pipe (supply pipe 18) is shown, but there are cases in which the supply is preferable by other methods. For example, in the case of the structure shown in fig. 1A in which the light source 12 is disposed above the cleaning tank 11, a nozzle can be provided in the vicinity of the light source 12. For example, the cleaning liquid can be supplied from the upper portion of the cleaning object 15 by using a flexible pipe and connecting the tank via a valve. In this method, since the supply location of the cleaning liquid 14 is also variable by moving the nozzle head, the supply location and amount of the cleaning liquid 14 to the cleaning object 15 can be easily managed in detail by combining the supply method of the liquid selected by the nozzle, for example, dripping, spraying, and jetting. As shown in fig. 1B, even when the cleaning liquid 14 is supplied from the wall surface of the cleaning tank 11, the supply mode can be changed by attaching a nozzle to the tip of the pipe. However, since the installation site of the tube is fixed, it is difficult to control the liquid supply site.

(4) Principle of cleaning

In this embodiment, as cleaning liquid 14, a substance that generates radicals by irradiation with light from light source 12 is used. The cleaning apparatus of the present embodiment can oxidize and decompose stains (hard-to-decompose molecules, etc.) on the surface of the cleaning object 15 using the radical having a strong oxidizing power. The decomposition using radicals in this way is called advanced oxidation treatment (Advanced Oxidation Process). Examples of the substance generating radicals include hydrogen peroxide, and a liquid containing the hydrogen peroxide may be used. For example, a hydroxyl radical can be generated by using sodium carbonate hydroperoxide (sodium percarbonate) or the like. The concentration depends on the degree of stains on the object to be cleaned and the time taken for cleaning, and in the case of hydrogen peroxide, the concentration may be about 1 to 3% by mass (w/w%, hereinafter abbreviated as%) to 15% at the maximum. If the concentration is higher than 15%, there are cases where the fibers are damaged or the color of the laundry becomes remarkable depending on the types of the fibers and the stains constituting the object to be cleaned 15. In the case of a liquid containing hydrogen peroxide, the hydrogen peroxide concentration in the liquid is adjusted to the same extent as the hydrogen peroxide concentration.

The wavelength of light source 12 also depends on the type of cleaning fluid 14, but in order to generate hydroxyl radicals from hydrogen peroxide, the range of visible light to ultraviolet light is selected. However, since the hydroxyl radical generation efficiency of the light on the long wavelength side is poor or the light cannot be generated, a wavelength shorter than 450nm is preferable. On the other hand, although the generation efficiency of hydroxyl radicals is high on the short wavelength side, the damage to the fiber to be cleaned is also large, and therefore, the long wavelength side longer than 350nm is preferable. Depending on the type of the stain, the damage may be large even at a wavelength around 350nm, and therefore a wavelength longer than 360nm is more preferable. From the viewpoints of mechanical strength, size, power efficiency, and lifetime, the light source is not suitable for a discharge tube lamp, but is suitable for an LED or an LD (laser diode). In the case of an LED, in this wavelength range, a light source of 5nm to 405nm in units of 365nm can be easily obtained. In this embodiment, 365nm and 405nm light sources are used. For comparison, a black fluorescent lamp was used, and a 352nm light source was also used.

[ cleaning System ]

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the cleaning system of embodiment 1. The cleaning system 20a shown in fig. 2 is a cleaning system including the cleaning apparatus 10a described above. Specifically, a device for controlling the operation of each part of the cleaning device 10a is shown.

The liquid supply/discharge pipe is connected to a valve, and can control the supply and discharge of liquid. The supply side is further connected to a pump via a flowmeter, and finally to a chemical tank. The liquid in the tank is pressurized by a pump and sent out to a pipe, and the flow rate is controlled by a valve while monitoring the flow rate by a flowmeter. If the diameter of the piping is determined, the flow rate can be controlled by controlling the pressure of the pump, and therefore, in this case, a flowmeter is not required. In addition, if the pump is a pump capable of setting the flow rate to zero, a valve is not required.

The water supply pump and the water supply valve are connected to a washer control unit via a control signal line 21, and the washer control unit outputs a control signal in accordance with a washing condition to supply a predetermined liquid amount to the washing container or to control discharge of the washing liquid after washing. The flowmeter transmits the measured value through a signal line so that the washer control portion reads the flow rate of the liquid. Tap water may be supplied to the washing container for washing the laundry with the chemical solution or rinsing the laundry. In fig. 2, a tap water supply pipe 24 for supplying tap water to the water supply valve is connected. In this case, a three-way valve is used as the valve.

The power supply line is omitted in fig. 2, but the power supply line is provided with wiring for supplying power received through the outlet of the cleaning machine to each part. The light source attached to the cleaning vessel is connected to a power source for the light source via a power wiring 22. The light source driving circuit is connected with a light source power supply, and controls the light source power supply to form current and voltage waveforms required for lighting the light source. The light source driving circuit is also connected with the cleaning machine control part. The cleaning device receives a control command for turning on and off the light source in accordance with the cleaning process, and appropriately supplies power to the light source in accordance with the command.

[ experiment ]

The cleaning effect of the object to be cleaned 15 was verified by changing the type of the stain, the wavelength of the light irradiated from the light source 12, the irradiation time of the light, and the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide. As the cleaning target 15, 5 kinds of artificial contaminated cloths (cotton cloth having stains composed of a fat and oil mixture simulating sebum and a pigment, stains composed mainly of coal and mineral oil, stains having blood changed with time, stains composed mainly of milk and cocoa butter, and stains having red wine changed with time) defined in IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission ) 60456 were used to evaluate the cleaning force. The 1 kind of artificial pollution cloth is put into a cleaning container, and hydrogen peroxide with the concentration adjusted to 3% is used as liquid medicine to be supplied into the cleaning container. The chemical solution is supplied until the artificial contaminated cloth is completely immersed. Then, light is irradiated from the upper portion of the container with a predetermined light source. A light source with a wavelength of 405nm was irradiated with light at 800mW for 5 minutes, a light source with 365nm was irradiated with light at 100mW for 60 minutes, and a light source with 352nm was irradiated with light at 1.3mW for 62 hours. After the light irradiation, the cleaning liquid 14 is discharged, and tap water is introduced into the cleaning tank 11 and discharged, thereby performing rinsing. Rinsing was performed 3 times. Then, the artificially contaminated cloth was taken out of the container, and left to stand in the room so as not to be irradiated with sunlight, and dried overnight. The reason why the sun light is not irradiated is to prevent a color change other than cleaning by quantifying the cleaning power by the color measurement described later. In addition, no mechanical force is applied to move the artificial contaminated cloth, agitate the chemical solution, shake the cleaning container, or the like, both at the time of light irradiation and during rinsing. This is done for all artificial contaminated cloths.

The results of comparing the cleaning forces are summarized in table 1. The cleaning power was compared according to the color of the cloth before and after cleaning. First, the colors of each artificial contaminated cloth before and after cleaning are measured, and color coordinates in the color space of l×a×b are obtained. The distance Δe from the color space coordinates of the unused cotton cloth was calculated from the respective color coordinates, and the ratio thereof was set as an index of the cleaning power. By the cleaning, the stain is removed, and the color of the artificial contaminated cloth becomes closer to the color coordinates of the unused contaminated cloth as the color of the artificial contaminated cloth becomes closer to the unused cotton cloth, so that the ratio also becomes a value close to zero. On the other hand, when the stain is not removed so much by cleaning, the distance in the color space is a value close to the distance between the original artificially contaminated cloth and the unused cotton cloth, and therefore the ratio is a value close to 1. This ratio is therefore referred to as the residual stain rate (%).

[ Table 1 ]

Stain spots	Wavelength of 352nm	Wavelength 365nm	Wavelength of 405nm
				Sebum/pigment	61％	71％	58％
Coal/mineral oil	91％	96％	60％
				Blood	9.6％	16％	59％
Milk/cocoa	6.8％	63％	84％
				Red wine	3.8％	3.6％	98％

As shown in table 1, although there was some variation depending on the type of the stain, the residual rate of the stain at the light source wavelength of 352nm was excellent, and the order of 365nm and 405nm was followed. However, in the 352nm light, the cotton cloth to which the stain that causes the change of blood with time was attached was damaged. When the concentration of hydrogen peroxide is increased and the light irradiation time is prolonged without changing the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the stain remaining rate is improved even with a 365nm and 405nm light source, with respect to an artificially contaminated cloth having stains that cause blood to change with time and stains containing milk and cocoa butter as main components. In particular, the residual rate of the stain at 365nm was equivalent to 352 nm.

Next, the detergency was confirmed with the presence of a stain on hand. As the stain, 7 kinds of spicy oil, sauce, chocolate syrup, lipstick, curry, and meat paste were selected. The selected materials for removing the lipstick from the stains are fully attached to the surface and the back of the cotton cloth and placed for a period of time, and then are clamped and pressed by a dry non-woven fabric to remove residues which do not permeate the fabric. Drying overnight to obtain the polluted cloth. The lipstick was applied so that one side of the cotton cloth was covered with a region of approximately 3cm square. Materials other than lipstick are also coated to the same extent. This is because a region having a fixed area is required to obtain a color from the reflection spectrum of light when quantifying the cleaning force. Then, the washing was performed in the same manner as in the above method, and the washing power was further quantified. Table 2 shows the residual rates of the stains when the cleaning light was irradiated for 1 hour, 3 hours, and 5 hours, respectively, with the wavelength of the light irradiated at 365 nm. As shown in table 2, although the effect on lipstick was low, the detergency of the present method was confirmed under the condition that the residual rate of stains was about 10% for other stains.

TABLE 2

The residual rate of each stain was evaluated by setting the wavelength of the irradiated light to 352nm and the hydrogen peroxide concentration to 3%, 10%, 15%, and the results are shown in table 3. As shown in table 3, although the effect on lipstick was low, the detergency of the present method was confirmed under the condition that the residual rate of stains was about 10% for other stains.

TABLE 3

Stain spots	H ₂ O ₂ 3％	H ₂ O ₂ 10％	H ₂ O ₂ 15％
				Spicy oil	11％	12％	12％
Sauce juice	10％	5％	4％
				Sauce	7％	11％	9％
Chocolate	27％	22％	15％
				Lipstick	89％	73％	80％
Curry	13％	9％	5％
				Meat paste	5％	3％	3％

[ example 2]

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing a cleaning apparatus according to example 2. The cleaning apparatus 10b of the present embodiment is an example of a method of observing stains on a cleaning object and cleaning laundry based on information obtained therefrom. The difference from the cleaning apparatus 10a of fig. 1 is that the driving mechanism of the light source is changed to the 2-axis XY. A table 52 for carrying movement in a direction orthogonal to the one movement axis is connected to the table 51 for carrying movement. A head 53 is connected to the head 52, and is movable in the 2-axis direction to indicate an arbitrary position on the floor of the cleaning tank 50. Although omitted in fig. 3, a light source for light irradiation and a nozzle for spraying a chemical liquid are attached to the head 53, and a camera for observing the lower part of the head is attached thereto. These required control and auxiliary classes are led out of the cleaning vessel so as not to interfere with the movement of the table.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the cleaning system of embodiment 2. The control lines, the power lines, and the piping are connected to the camera, the light source, and the nozzle via the XY table, respectively. The signal line of the camera includes not only camera control but also a data line transmitting a photographed image. In addition, instead of the XY table, an articulated arm may be used.

After the fiber to be cleaned is put into the cleaning tank 50, an instruction to start cleaning is input through the condition input unit. After switching the input of the three-way valve to the liquid medicine tank, the pump is driven to supply the liquid medicine from the nozzle of the head part into the cleaning container. If a 1-fluid nozzle capable of spraying only by the pressure of the liquid is used as the nozzle, the structure and control are easy. Further, the points to be noted are chemical resistance, liquid supply amount per unit time, liquid spray pattern at the time of supply. When hydrogen peroxide is used as the chemical liquid, the chemical liquid is acidic, and on the other hand, a hydroperoxide such as sodium percarbonate becomes weakly alkaline.

As in the case of the local cleaning described in example 3 described later, in the case of limiting the liquid supply place, the liquid amount per unit time is preferably small and the spray area can be limited, but in the case of cleaning by immersing the object to be cleaned by accumulating the liquid in the entire cleaning tank, it is preferable to pay attention to the supply amount regardless of the spray pattern (pattern). However, if the supply amount is increased, the capacity of the pump needs to be increased correspondingly, and thus the cost, the floor space, the operation sound, and the like are simultaneously considered.

Here, 3% hydrogen peroxide is used for the cleaning liquid 14. After a predetermined chemical solution is injected into the container, the pump is stopped and the supply is stopped. The amount of chemical solution to be supplied may be determined by a camera to determine whether or not the fibers are sufficiently impregnated, or may be determined based on the conditions instructed by the condition input unit. Next, the inside of the container is scanned by a table, an image of the object to be cleaned is acquired by a camera, and stains on the object to be cleaned are identified. Here, a UV light source prepared for cleaning is also used as a light source for a camera, and a normal camera for capturing a visible light image is used. Since the cleaning object uses a plain cloth, a visually identifiable stain can be easily identified. In this example, a 3cm diameter sauce was used for cotton cloth. If a stain is identified, the table head is moved to that position and light irradiation is performed. In this embodiment, a bulb-shaped UV light source integrated with a UV-LED4 element having a wavelength of 365nm is used. The light intensity at a distance of 6cm from the light source to the object to be cleaned was about 40mW/cm ² The spot diameter of the light was 6cm. Using this light source, the stain was irradiated with light for 1 hour. Thereafter, through a rowThe water valve discharges the cleaning liquid, and the valve on the water supply side is switched to tap water, and water is supplied from the nozzle to perform rinsing. After removal and drying, the residual rate of the stain was quantified by the method described above, and found to be 10%.

Since a conspicuous stain is attached to a local portion of the plain cotton, the stain can be easily recognized based on the contrast of the acquired image, and the cleaning place can be specified and maintained by storing the XY coordinates of the table. As another method for determining stains, there is a method of displaying an acquired image and designating a location by a user. For example, a display device is provided in the condition input unit of fig. 4 at the same time, and the acquired image is displayed thereon. Grid-like lattices are displayed superimposed on the displayed image, and the positions of the lattices are selected. Alternatively, there is a method of directly inputting a place using a touch panel in a display device. Such a method for a user to determine a location has the following advantages: even for the clothes with patterns and colors other than the plain colors, the possibility of wrongly determining the spot with the stains is low, and a mechanism for identifying the stains is not needed.

As another method, there is a method of identifying stains by acquiring images of a cleaning object in advance in a state where stains are not attached and comparing them. A storage device is attached to a cleaner control unit to store an image of a state where stains are not attached. In this method, there are the following advantages: trace stains which are missed by the eyes of the human can be detected, and stains which are not completely removed in each cleaning are accumulated to a certain degree or more. In the latter case, since cleaning is required under a condition that the cleaning force is higher than that of the conventional case, the history of cleaning can be stored in accordance with the acquisition of the image.

By acquiring an image obtained by a visible light camera in color, the characteristics of stains can be distinguished in color. Using this information, the type of the stain is estimated, and cleaning conditions suitable for the stain are selected. It is difficult to accurately determine the type of stains from only the visible light image, but the accuracy of determination can be improved as the accumulation amount increases by associating the places, colors, densities, patterns, and the like of stains obtained from the image with the fibers to be cleaned and accumulating information. For example, by displaying an image of a stain to a user, presenting and selecting a stain candidate, or inputting a stain type, a combination of characteristics of the stain and input information can be used as learning data, and thus statistical determination and determination based on machine learning can be performed. In addition, a white LED is prepared as a light source in addition to UV light, and when a camera is used for photographing, a visually observed image can be obtained if the LED is used as a light source. Since an image of a different color from the UV light source can be obtained, information useful for estimating stains can be added. Further, when an image pickup device having sensitivity in the UV region is used and UV light is used as a light source, information different from that in the case of observation with visible light can be obtained, and therefore, the image pickup device is useful for identifying and specifying stains.

A determination unit for analyzing the acquired image, estimating dirt based on the information obtained in this way, and determining the cleaning condition is required, but in this embodiment, the present invention is provided in the cleaner control unit. The determination unit mainly receives the image acquired through the camera control unit, stores the image in the storage unit, and analyzes the image. The analysis is constituted by an arithmetic unit or the like that executes the following algorithm: the image processing is performed on the image alone obtained as described above, and algorithms such as an algorithm for extracting a location estimated as a stain and its characteristics, an image processing for estimating a location and a type of a stain from a comparison with an already obtained image, a statistical processing, and a machine learning processing are extracted. When the stain can be estimated, the cleaning conditions corresponding to the stain stored in advance are selected and delivered to the cleaner control unit. If the fiber type information of the cleaning object can be obtained, appropriate conditions can be stored in advance together with the stain information, and cleaning can be performed with high cleaning power and with less damage to the fibers. The fiber information may be a method of registering each laundry in advance and specifying the laundry from the image, a method of inputting as a condition by the user, or the like.

When a hyperspectral camera is used for acquiring an image, a spectroscopic spectrum can be obtained for each pixel of the acquired image, and thus information with higher accuracy in specifying the type of stain can be obtained. The primary fibers are previously spectrally acquired and compared to facilitate the identification of the spot. By acquiring the image of the new product at the time of purchase in advance, not only the type of fiber but also information on the dye, pigment, and the like of the dyeing can be obtained, and therefore stains can be determined with higher accuracy. In contrast, by acquiring and storing spectra of substances that cause stains, identification of stain sites and identification of types can be performed. By preliminarily performing so-called interconnected household appliances with the cleaning machine, it is possible to improve the accuracy of specifying the type of dirt by updating the information of such fibers and dirt after that, and to add the cleaning conditions in accordance with the type of dirt. Hyperspectral cameras have the disadvantage of being extremely expensive, but as described herein, have the great advantage of being very accurate in stain determination.

[ example 3]

In this embodiment, a method of cleaning a part of a cleaning object with a small amount of cleaning liquid will be described with reference to the system shown in fig. 4. First, a cleaning object is placed in a cleaning tank. In this example, 100. Mu.L of spicy oil was dropped onto a kapok T-shirt to be used as a model stain. Next, the inside of the container is scanned by a camera, and stains on the cleaning object are detected. The camera-based detection method is as shown in example 2. Then, the head was moved to the position where the contamination was detected, and a small amount of chemical solution (3% hydrogen peroxide) was supplied from the nozzle. In this embodiment, a small-spray type solid conical nozzle is used to supply a small amount of chemical liquid to a narrow area. The pump was a flow pump, and the liquid was supplied to the nozzle at a pressure of 0.15MPa, and the flow rate was set at 90 mL/min. The pump was operated at this flow rate for 1 second, whereby approximately 3 to 4mL of the chemical solution was supplied toIs a region of (a) in the above-mentioned region(s). In this state, 365nm light was irradiated from the head to the spot in the same manner as in example 2. About the size of the stain before light irradiation>The light irradiation area is +.>All the stain attachment sites enter the light irradiation region. After leaving the laundry for 1 hour in this state, the laundry was taken out without performing a rinsing step, and the laundry was visually observed without the color of the stain. After leaving and drying, the residual rate of the stains was 2% as calculated in the method of example 1. In this method, since stains can be cleaned without dripping, the method is characterized in that local cleaning can be performed without draining.

[ example 4 ]

In examples 1 to 3, cleaning was performed in a state where the cleaning vessel was set to be horizontal. Next, an example of cleaning in a state where the object to be cleaned is vertical will be described with reference to fig. 5. A clamp 62 for hanging a clothes is mounted on the upper inner side of a housing 61 for accommodating clothes. The same procedure as described above was followed using a kapok T-shirt. T-shirt 64 is hung on hanger 63 and secured by hanging on clamp 62 within the garment box. Spots 68 were previously applied with sauce as model stains. The sauce was spread to 3cm square, and the excess liquid was wiped off with a nonwoven fabric to dry. The head 53 on which the camera for specifying the spot and the nozzle for applying the chemical liquid are mounted is fixed to an XYZ stage which is composed of single-axis moving mechanisms 65, 66, 67 that move in different axial directions so as to be movable to an arbitrary position in the clothing case. Here, the XYZ table is used as the head moving mechanism, but other methods such as a multi-axis movable arm moving mechanism may be used. In fig. 5, pumps, tanks, pipes, piping, valves, and the like used for supplying and discharging the chemical liquid and the like are omitted.

The procedure of example 2 and example 3 was repeated except that the XYZ stage and the camera were used to determine the position of the stain. After the spot position is determined, the head is moved to the spot position, and the chemical solution is sprayed to the spot position and the periphery thereof to wet the spot (69 in fig. 5). The liquid medicine is 3% hydrogen peroxide. In order to suppress the supply amount to a small amount, the pump is driven not by continuous driving but in an operation mode proportional to the input pulse. The amount of the liquid chemical was set to 0.5mL per 1 pulse, and the liquid chemical was supplied as an initial liquid chemical, and a 365nm light source mounted on the head was irradiated by spraying the liquid chemical in an amount of 5 pulses. Since the liquid medicine is less supplied and the T-shirt is kept vertical, the liquid medicine is infiltrated around the supplied portion, particularly, downward. Therefore, after the irradiation of light for 10 minutes, the irradiation of light was stopped temporarily, and after the 2 pulse amount of the chemical liquid was again sprayed, the irradiation of light was started again. This operation was repeated 5 times. When the T-shirt is observed, although the color of the stain permeated into the cloth is substantially removed, the mixture in the form of particles such as the perfume dispersed in the sauce remains on the surface of the cloth. Therefore, the liquid sprayed in this state is changed to tap water, and water is sprayed around the spot where the stain is attached, and rinsing is performed. After the residual particles were removed by rinsing, the water injection was stopped. The water drips down the cloth from the lower portion of the T-shirt to the lower portion of the laundry box, and is thus discharged from the drain valve. After leaving for a while, the mixture was taken out and dried overnight with little dripping. The cleaning power was measured, and as a result, the residual rate of the stains was 5%. The residual rate of the soil when the particles were dried without rinsing was 23%.

In the present embodiment, a method of cleaning stains attached to a part is disclosed as an example of a T-shirt, but the whole object to be cleaned can be cleaned by repeating the method of cleaning the part by changing the cleaning part of the object to be cleaned. In this way, by washing the clothes in a stationary state without using mechanical force, the clothes can be washed with a substantially quieter sound than in the conventional washing machine. In addition, since a surfactant or a detergent composed of an organic substance is not required, the treatment of the discharged liquid is easy, and the environmental load can be greatly reduced. In addition, there is an advantage that less electric power and less water are used than in the case of using a detergent. As disclosed in the present embodiment, since the laundry can be washed while being kept vertical, by configuring the mechanism for suspending the laundry to be washed in the laundry case to a structure corresponding to an automated conveyance system, it is possible to achieve a wide degree of automation of the washing operation as compared with the conventional washing machine. In addition, local cleaning without depending on hands can be easily realized, the load of the person can be reduced, and reduction in cleaning liquid and power consumption due to reduction in cleaning area can be realized. That is, it is possible to reduce the power consumption during the cleaning process and the drainage process, and to reduce the carbon dioxide emission amount associated with the process.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cleaning device, a cleaning system, and a cleaning method capable of cleaning a part of a target stain adhering to a cleaning object without using mechanical force.

The above-described embodiments and experimental examples are described to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the specific configurations described. For example, a part of the structure of the embodiment may be replaced with a structure of common technical knowledge of a person skilled in the art, and a structure of common technical knowledge of a person skilled in the art may be added to the structure of the embodiment. That is, the present invention can be deleted, replaced with another structure, or added to another structure within a range not departing from the technical idea of the present invention for a part of the structures of the embodiments and experimental examples of the present specification.

Symbol description

10a, 10b … cleaning apparatuses, 11, 50 … cleaning tanks, 12 … light source, 13 … light emitted from the light source, 14 … liquid in which a chemical for cleaning is dissolved, 15 … cleaning object, 16 … arrow indicating the moving direction of the light source, 17 … open/close door, 18 … liquid supply pipe, 19 … liquid discharge pipe, 20 … cleaning machine system, 21 … control signal line, 22 … power supply wiring for light source, 23 … in-out operation of the cleaned object, 24 … tap water supply pipe. The device comprises a moving mechanism in one axis direction of a 51 … XY table, a moving mechanism in the other axis direction of the 52 … XY table, a 53 … head, a 61 … clothes storage box, a 62 … clothes hanging clamp, a 63 … clothes hanger, a 64 … clothes, a moving mechanism in one axis direction of a 65 … XYZ table, a moving mechanism in the other axis direction of a 66 … XYZ table, a moving mechanism in the remaining one axis direction of a 67 … XYZ table, 68 … stains and 69 … liquid medicine.

Claims

1. A cleaning device is characterized in that,

the cleaning device is provided with: a cleaning tank that accommodates a cleaning object and a cleaning liquid; the light source is arranged in the cavity of the light source,

and irradiating the cleaning object with light from the light source while the cleaning object is immersed in the cleaning liquid.

2. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaning device,

the cleaning liquid generates radicals by light irradiated from the light source.

3. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaning device,

the wavelength of the light is greater than 350nm and less than 450nm.

4. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaning device,

the cleaning liquid is a liquid containing hydrogen peroxide, and the free radical is a hydroxyl radical.

5. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaning device,

the cleaning liquid is a solution containing hydrogen peroxide, and the concentration is more than or equal to 1w/w% and less than or equal to 15 w/w%.

6. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaning device,

the cleaning device is provided with a moving mechanism for moving the light source in the cleaning tank.

7. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaning device,

the cleaning device comprises: and a cleaning liquid jetting device that jets the cleaning liquid to an arbitrary portion of the cleaning object.

8. A cleaning system, comprising:

the cleaning device of any one of claims 1 to 6; and

and a control unit for controlling the operation of each structure of the cleaning device.

9. The cleaning system of claim 8, wherein the cleaning system comprises a cleaning system,

the cleaning system is provided with:

a stain portion specifying unit that obtains an image of the cleaning object and specifies a stain portion in the cleaning object;

a stain information estimating unit that estimates stain information of the cleaning target object including at least a stain amount in the stain portion;

a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies cleaning liquid to the stain site based on the stain information; and

a light irradiation unit that decides a parameter of the light irradiated to the spot based on the spot information,

the light irradiation unit adjusts at least any one of the intensity of the light irradiated to the cleaning object, the irradiation time of the light, the concentration of the cleaning liquid, or any combination thereof, based on the stain information.

10. A cleaning method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

setting a cleaning object in the cleaning tank;

supplying a cleaning liquid to the cleaning object; and

and irradiating the cleaning object with light from a light source in a state where the cleaning object is immersed in the cleaning liquid.