JP2000005634A - Cleaning method for discharging electrode of air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform cleaning operation efficiently without sacrificing bacteria- eliminating action by a method wherein after eliminating a bacterium from an air with ozone accompanying corona discharge by stopping a blast fan, impression of high tension to a discharging electrode which generates the corona discharge is stopped, and the discharge electrode is cleaned by driving a cleaner. SOLUTION: A corona discharger 10 impresses a high tension from a high tension power source 13 between a discharge electrode 11 and a dust collecting electrode 12 to generate the corona discharge between both electrodes 12, 13, a corpuscle in the air is charged and the charged corpuscle 14 is attracted to a dust collecting electrode 11. An ozone to be generated by accompanying corona discharge at this time is reduced to nontoxic oxygen 17 or the like by an ozone-decomposing filter 16, and sent with a blower fan 15. Then, when elimination of bacteria is performed, the blower fan 16 is stopped to increase an ozone concentration near the corona discharger 10. Thereafter, a cleaner is driven in a state wherein impression of high tension by the high tension power source 12 is stopped, and a cleaner is brought in sliding contact with the discharging electrode 11 to eliminate deposited dust.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a discharge electrode cleaning method for automatically cleaning a discharge electrode by using a cleaning device in an air purifier that collects electricity using corona discharge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air purifier that performs electric dust collection using corona discharge, if dust accumulates on a discharge electrode, a sufficient corona discharge current cannot be obtained, and the performance deteriorates. Removal is essential for long-term stability of dust collection performance.

[0003] The main component of the substance serving as the deposit is SiO.
₂ (silicon dioxide) is clear from the results of various studies and in-house experiments of the applicant company. Si (silicon)
Is the main component of so-called dust, which is very common on the earth (it is said to be the second most common element). O
(Oxygen) exists more than silicon on the earth (it is said to be the most abundant element). That is, the amount of the substance adhering to the discharge electrode is so large.

[0004] As a countermeasure against such deposits on the discharge electrode, it is common to unitize the discharge electrode and the dust collecting electrode and periodically clean or replace the electrode.
However, cleaning with the discharge electrode installed inside the main body, except for a system with a facility (in this case, cleaning), has not been commercialized at present.

As a technique for automatically cleaning the discharge electrode, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-86049, cleaning is performed when the integrated value of the operating time of the fan motor exceeds a certain value as a cleaning condition. There is something.

[0006]

However, in the conventional method, the cleaning operation is simply performed when the operation time or the number of operations becomes a fixed value. For this reason, although the manner in which air is contaminated varies greatly depending on the installation space or time zone, this is not taken into account, and cleaning of the discharge electrode could not be performed efficiently.

Further, in the case of an air purifier having a function of removing bacteria in the space and collected dust with ozone,
It has been confirmed in an in-house experiment of the applicant company that the discharge electrode becomes easily contaminated when the ozone concentration in the space increases. However, in order to automatically clean the discharge electrode, the discharge must be stopped, and this will sacrifice the disinfection with ozone. No electrode cleaning device was installed, and cleaning and replacement had to be performed within a relatively short period of time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems and the inconvenience that deposits on a discharge electrode are increased by disinfecting with ozone, without sacrificing the disinfecting operation with ozone. An object of the present invention is to enable efficient cleaning of a discharge electrode.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air cleaner for applying a high voltage to a discharge electrode while blowing air from a blower fan to cause corona discharge and adsorbing charged dust with the collection electrode. After stopping the blower fan and removing bacteria by ozone generated by corona discharge, stop applying high voltage to the discharge electrode, then drive the cleaning device, and slide the cleaner on the discharge electrode to clean the discharge electrode. To be characterized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when an interrupt input for restarting dust collection is received from the sensor while the cleaning device is being driven, the driving of the cleaning device is stopped and then a high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode to perform the dust collection operation. Is restarted.

[0011]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a basic schematic configuration of an air purifier. In the corona discharge device 10, a high voltage is applied between the discharge electrode 11 and the dust collection electrode 12 from the high voltage power supply 13,
Corona discharge is generated between the discharge electrode 11 and the dust collection electrode 12. The corona discharge charges the fine particles in the air, and electrostatically attracts the charged particles 14 to the dust collecting electrode 12 along the electric field generated between the discharge electrode 11 and the dust collecting electrode 12. Ozone is generated as a by-product of the corona discharge. However, since air is generated in the direction of the arrow by the blower fan 15, the ozone is reduced by the ozone decomposition filter 16 to non-toxic oxygen 17 or the like.

To remove bacteria, the pollutants collected on the dust collecting electrode 12 are removed using ozone generated by corona discharge. In this case, by stopping the blower fan 15 as shown in FIG. 2, the ozone concentration in the vicinity of the corona discharge device 10 is increased, and the sterilization performance is improved. This disinfection operation is performed after confirming that the indoor air is purified by a dust sensor or the like, or after confirming that a person is not in the room using a human body detection sensor or the like.

At this time, the main substance deposited on the discharge electrode 11 as described above is an oxygen compound such as silicon dioxide.
As the ozone concentration in the space increases, the contamination of the discharge electrode 11 increases.

Therefore, in the present invention, after sterilization with ozone, the application of a high voltage to the discharge electrode 11 is stopped, and then the discharge electrode 11 is cleaned. FIG. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the operation.

In FIG. 3, the control unit 20 includes sensors (sensors for detecting dirt in the room, human body sensors, etc.) 2
4 is determined (step S1 in FIG. 4), and when the sensor output is lost, the fan motor 22 is stopped (step S2), and a sterilization operation using ozone generated by corona discharge is performed. In this state, it is determined whether or not the set time (t) has elapsed (step S3). When the set time has elapsed, the high voltage output to the corona discharge device 10 is stopped (step S4). Thereafter, the cleaner driving device (cleaning device) 23 is operated to bring the cleaner into sliding contact with the discharge electrode 11 to clean the discharge electrode 11 (Step S5).

However, if an interrupt input for restarting dust collection is received from the sensor 21 or the like before the end of a series of operations of sterilization and cleaning, the operation is switched to a normal cleaning operation and the function as an air purifier is always maintained. I do.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the bacteria are removed using the ozone generated by the corona discharge, then the corona discharge is stopped and the discharge electrode is automatically cleaned, so that the sterilization operation by the ozone is sacrificed. And the cleaning of the discharge electrode can be performed efficiently.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when there is an interrupt input for resuming the dust collection, after the driving of the cleaning device is stopped,
Since a high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode to resume the dust collection operation,
The function as an air purifier can always be maintained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a basic schematic configuration of an air purifier.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view at the time of a disinfection operation of the above.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a configuration for performing the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Corona discharge device 11 Discharge electrode 12 Dust collection electrode 13 High voltage power supply 14 Charged particle 15 Blowing fan 16 Ozone decomposition filter 17 Non-toxic oxygen etc. 20 Control part 21 Sensor etc. 22 Fan motor 23 Cleaner drive (cleaning device)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air purifier that applies a high voltage to a discharge electrode while blowing air from a blower fan to cause corona discharge and adsorbs charged dust with a dust collection electrode, wherein the blower fan is stopped and the corona discharge is stopped. After sterilizing with ozone generated by the above, the cleaning device is driven after stopping application of high voltage to the discharge electrode, and a cleaner is slid on the discharge electrode to clean the discharge electrode. How to clean the discharge electrode of the purifier. 2. If the sensor receives an interrupt signal for restarting dust collection during the operation of the cleaning device, the driving of the cleaning device is stopped, and a high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode to restart the dust collection operation. The discharge electrode cleaning method for an air purifier according to claim 1, wherein: