IL48817A - Ionization device - Google Patents

Description

The present inventio relates to devices producing ionization of air particles and more particularly to a shield for use in conjunction with such Ionization devices are well known for use in enhancing environments in which human activities take for in reducing the uncomfortable effects of a highly pollenated atmosphere or an atmosphere which contains too few negative ions and a surplus of positive Breathing in positive ions tends to lower the oxygen level of the blood and increases the accumulation of serotonin a neuro hormone that induces respiratory ailments and Inhalation of negative ions increases the ability to absorb and utilize oxygen and reduces the level of thus eliminating all the of the positive Such inhalation is known to produce an uplifting effect as well as to increase a general sense of Conventional ionization hereinafter termed ionization devices of the comprise an ionization and means for coupling the electrode to a source of high The ionization electrode is typically in the form of a conductive needle or a very fine To produce negative air particles in the vicinity of a negative ionizatio electrode are ionized by electrons provided by the shields are provided in coaxial peripheral spaced disposition with respect to the ionization electrode for preventing accidental direct contact with the needle which could result in significant injury due to the high voltage Spurious contact between the high voltage electrode and various objects such as clothing or furniture can also cause damage to the One conventional type ionization device employs a generally tubular shield arranged coaxially about the ionization electrode and formed insulative The presence of such a shield results in the following Ions of the same sign as those being produced at the electrode tend to up along the surfaces of the The of these ions can result in the establishment of an electrostatic which inhibits th creation of such ions at the electrode and thus gradually reduces the producing efficiency of the There is also produced a further repulsive electric field generated by the ion cloud present in the immediate vicinity of the electrode and identically charged to the ions being produced This additionall impede ion second type of conventional ionization device employs a tubular shield formed of conductive material connected to and disposed in coaxial spaced relationship with respect to the ionization The use of a conductive shield involves the risk of arcing from the ionization electrode to the grounded shield in event of momentary shortening the electrical path betwee the shield and the electrode due to the presence of spurious material further difficulty arises in the use of conductive grounded shields in that ions produced by the ionization electrode tend to migrate to the grounded shield instead of becomin dis ersed in the atmos here as The present invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages of prior art ionization devices and provides an ionization shield which enhances rather than reduces the efficiency of the ionization thus resulting in the provision of an ionization device having higher ion producing efficiency than that of previously known devices of similar In accordance with the present invention there is provided an device of the kind specified shield means disposed in spaced relationship to the ionization electrode and defining a path to ground across a very high According to an embodiment of the invention the shield means comprises tubular cover member formed of a conductive material and connected across a very high resistance to According to an alternative embodiment of the invention the shield may be formed of an insulative material coated with a conductive material along at least part of the surface According to a third alternative embodiment of the invention the shield may be constructed of a conductor material or of an insulative material to which is added conductive ive It is a purpose of the present invention to provide shield means which reduce the electrostatic field in the vicinity of the shield by providing a relatively controlled flow of ions from the shield to in accordance with the the buildup of an electrostatic field in the ion cloud surrounding the ionization electrode is prevented by the controlled discharge of ions at the Further in accordance with the improvement the ionization electrode and ground greater in intensity than the field whic would exist the absence of any of This is believed to be due to the shortening of the distance between the ionization element and Thus the number of ions produced by the ionization element pe unit time is greater in the presence of a shield constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention than in an otherwise identical embodiment without a Experiments have shown that while prior art shields have the ion producing output of conventional ionizatio electrodes to to the output for an unshielded ionization devices constructed and operative in accordance with embodiment of the invention have outputs in the range of to of the output for an unshielded The invention will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a ionization device and operative i accordanc with an embodiment of the a schematic diagram of 2 alternative embodiment of an ionization device constructed operative in accordance with an embodiment of the 3 is a sectional illustration of an ionization device constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the 4 is a plot of ion production as function of resistance betwee the shield and Referring now to 1 there is shown in schematic a device for producing negative ions including an ionization electrode 10 in the form of a needle coupled by means of an electrical conductor 12 to a source of high voltage typically providing voltage of volts A generally cylindrical tubular shield 16 is disposed in spaced generally coaxial relationship with respect to ionization needle 10 and is connected via a conductor 18 across a very high resistance typically 2o x 10 to Shield 16 is formed of a conductor such as According to alternative embodiments of ionization needle 10 be replaced by any other suitable type of ionization electrode and shield 16 may be formed of any suitable conductive material or alternatively shield 16 may be formed of an insulator combined with a conductive Referring now to 2 there is shown an alternative type of connection between shield 16 and According to embodiment the invention shown in conductor connected to covered with an Insulative material 24 such as PVC which material in turn contacts shield The electrical pat across material 24 has a very high resistance in order of 50 x 10 8 ohms and serves function substantially identical to that of ver high resistance 20 in Any other suitable type of very high resistance connection between the shield ground may alternatively be Referring to 3 there is in a sectional view an ionizing device comprising an insulative housing a high supply connection terminals 34 coupled respectively to ground and to a supply voltage and an the shield and ground is provided via conductor 40 which extends to a point 39 adjacent the shield such that a path very high resistance is defined between shield 38 and The ionization device 3hovm in section in 3 may be constructed to have one or more ionization electrodes arranged in spaced each surrounded by a shield and each connected a power Reference to 4 illustrates the relationship between negative io production and resistance between the shield and ground for an experimental model of an ionizing device similar to that illustrated in 1 and operating according to the following Ionization electrode voltage 5000 Shield formed of brass with overall length 20 inner diamete outer diameter distance betwee tip of the ionizing needle and the inner wall of the shield temperature The graph shows that at resistances in the range of between 14 x 10 Ω and 20 x SI is a levelling off in the number of ions produced per at a maximum output of 20 x ions per It will apparent to those skilled in the art the invention is not limited by the particular embodiment shown and described hereinabove which are merely exemplary of the The inventio is therefore only by the claims which insufficientOCRQuality

Claims (16)

1. An ionization device of the kind specified ^ comprising: shield means disposed in spaced relationship to the ionization electrode and defining a path to ground across a very high resistance.

2. An ionization device according to Claim 1 wherein said ionization electrode is a needle.

3. An ionization device according to Claim 1 wherein said ionization electrode is a conductive wire..

4. An ionization device according to any of the previous claims wherein said shield means comprises a generally cylindrical tubular member disposed substantially equidistant to the periphery of said ionization electrode and coupled to ground across a very high resistance.

5. An ionizatio device according to Claim 4 wherein said tubular member is a conductor.

6. An ionization device according to Claim 4 wherein said tubular member is an insulator.

7. An ionization device according to any of the previous claims wherein said shield means comprises a conductor disposed in spaced relationship to said ionization electrode and coupled across a very high resistance to ground.

8. An ionization device according to any of the previous claims wherein said shield means comprises an insulative material having a conductive coating formed on a surface thereof.

9. An ionization device according to any of the previous claims wherein said shield means comprises a semiconductor material.

10. An ionization device according to any of the previous claims wherein said shield means comprises a sheath disposed in spaced relationship to said ionization electrode and formed of insulative material combined with antistatic material.

11. An ionization device substantially as shown and described hereinabove.

12. A ionization device substantially as shown and described in Pig. 1.

13. An ionization device substantially as shown and described in Fig. 2.

14. 1 . An ionization device substantially as shown and described in Pig. 3.

15. An ionization device having a performance curve substantially as shown in Pig. 4.

16. An ionizatio device according to any of the previous claims wherein said ionization electrode is coupled to a source of high negative voyage. SCsCB