JP2001029732A - Humidstat - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a humidstat device including a moisture absorbent having a moisture absorbing/desorbing efficiency and not generating the deformation and peeling of the constituent member of the moisture absorbent and a heating element. SOLUTION: An inorg. moisture absorbent 2 is held between electrodes 3 and no current is supplied to the electrodes 3 at a time of dehumidifying operation and moisture of sucked air is adsorbed by the inorg. moisture adsorbent 2 while air from which moisture is adsorbed and removed is returned to perform dehumidification. At a time of humidifying operation, a current is supplied to the electrodes 3 to be allowed to flow to the inorg. moisture adsorbent 2 to desorb the moisture absorbed by the inorg. moisture adsorbent and moisture- containing air is discharged to perform humidification.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a humidity control apparatus having a humidifying function and a dehumidifying function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the conventional humidity control apparatus shown by patent document 8. In the figure, reference numeral 15 denotes a humidity control layer made of a dehumidifier such as silica gel, zeolite, lithium chloride, and the like, and reference numeral 16 denotes an electrode, which is formed by printing a silver paste, a metal foil, or a conductive ink on a metal foil. Reference numeral 17 denotes an insulating substrate, reference numeral 18 denotes a heating film formed of a planar heating element having self-temperature control characteristics, and reference numeral 19 denotes an insulating layer made of the same material as the insulating substrate.

[0003] Such a conventional humidity control device is fixed with one end connected to an indoor air inlet and the other end connected to an indoor air outlet and an outdoor air outlet. On the other end side, switching means such as a switching valve for switching the exhaust of air to one of the indoor exhaust port and the outdoor exhaust port is provided.

Next, the humidifying operation will be described. First,
The switching means is controlled so that the exhaust air is directed to the outdoor exhaust port, and the moisture of the air taken in from the indoor exhaust port is absorbed by the humidity control layer 15 by a fan or the like. The moisture-deprived air is exhausted from the outdoor exhaust port. At this time, no current is applied between the two electrodes 16 and the heating film 18
To avoid fever. Thus, the humidity control layer 15
After adsorbing the water, the switching means is controlled so that the exhaust of air becomes the indoor exhaust port, and the two electrodes 1
Electricity is applied during the period 6 to cause the heat generating film 18 to generate heat. Thereby, the moisture adsorbed on the humidity control layer 15 can be desorbed from the air sucked from the indoor exhaust port by a fan or the like and returned to the room. By repeating this, humidification is performed.

[0005] That is, by absorbing the moisture of the air in the room and exhausting it to the outside, the air containing the moisture flows into the room from outside, for example, through the gap of the structure, and the humidity control layer 1
The moisture adsorbed at will be returned to the room again,
As a result, humidification can be performed.

Next, the dehumidifying operation will be described. First,
The switching means is controlled so that the exhaust air is supplied to the indoor exhaust port, and the moisture of the air taken in from the indoor exhaust port is adsorbed by the humidity control layer 15 by a fan or the like. The moisture-deprived air is exhausted from the indoor exhaust port. At this time, no current is applied between the electrodes 16 and the heat generating film 18
To avoid fever. Thus, the humidity control layer 15
After the water is adsorbed on the electrodes, the switching means is controlled so that the air is exhausted to the outdoor exhaust port.
Electricity is applied during 6 to cause the heat generating film 18 to generate heat. Thereby, the moisture adsorbed on the humidity control layer 15 can be desorbed from the air sucked from the indoor exhaust port by a fan or the like and discharged to the outside of the room. By repeating this, dehumidification can be performed.

That is, dehumidification is performed by making the moisture contained in the air exhausted from the outdoor exhaust port larger than the moisture contained in the air flowing into the room from outside, for example, through a gap in a structure. be able to.

[0008]

In the above-described conventional humidity control apparatus, there is a method of increasing the amount of adsorption by increasing the thickness of the moisture absorbing layer 15 in order to adsorb and desorb a large amount of moisture in the moisture absorbing layer 15. . However, there is a problem that the shape of the heating element must be complicated in order to improve the heating efficiency by the thickness of the moisture absorbing layer 15.

Further, since the heat absorbing film 15 is coated on the heat generating film 18 via the insulating substrate 17, the heat generating film 18 may be deformed due to a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion during repeated thermal cycles. However, there was a problem that the particles were peeled off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has a high efficiency of adsorbing and desorbing moisture of a moisture absorbent, and causes deformation and peeling of components such as a moisture absorbent and a heating element. This is to obtain a humidity control device without any.

[0011]

In a humidity control apparatus according to the present invention, an inorganic desiccant for adsorbing moisture, an electrode for sandwiching the inorganic desiccant, and a transformer connected to the electrode for increasing the voltage. Wherein an AC power source boosted by the transformer is supplied to the electrode to desorb water adsorbed by the inorganic moisture absorbent.

Further, the inorganic moisture absorbent is formed into a porous shape.

Further, the electrode is formed to have the same shape as the porous surface of the inorganic moisture absorbent, and the porous surface of the electrode is attached so as to match the porous surface of the inorganic moisture absorbent.

Further, a conductive filler such as carbon or metal fiber is mixed with the inorganic moisture absorbent.

[0015] Further, it comprises an inorganic desiccant for adsorbing moisture, a magnetic substance such as ferrite mixed in the inorganic desiccant, and a magnetic force generating coil disposed on the outer periphery of the inorganic desiccant.
An AC power supply is connected to the magnetic force generating coil to desorb water adsorbed on the inorganic moisture absorbent.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a humidity control apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a humidity control device main body, 2 is an inorganic desiccant for adsorbing moisture, 3 is an electrode disposed at both ends of the inorganic desiccant 2, and 4 is an insulating container holding the inorganic desiccant 2 and the electrode 3. The humidity control unit 5 is constituted by the insulating container 4, the inorganic desiccant 2, and the electrode 3. 6 is an electrode 3 through a high voltage transformer 7
A power supply that applies voltage to In addition, a large number of holes are formed in the side surface of the insulating container 4, and the inorganic moisture absorbent 2
Is held so that air can pass through the inorganic moisture absorbent 2.

The humidity control unit 1 has an indoor air inlet (not shown), an indoor air outlet (not shown), and an outdoor air outlet (not shown). 5 has one end connected to a room-side intake port (not shown), the other end connected to a room-side exhaust port (not shown), and a switch means (not shown) such as a switching valve. ) Is disposed, and the exhaust port of the humidity control unit 5 can be switched between an indoor exhaust port (not shown) and an outdoor exhaust port (not shown).

Next, the dehumidifying operation of the humidity control apparatus thus configured will be described. First, switching means (not shown) is controlled so that the exhaust port of the humidity control unit 5 is located outside the room. Then, the air is sucked from a room-side air intake port (not shown) by a fan or the like, and the inorganic moisture absorbent 2 adsorbs air moisture. The air whose moisture has been deprived in this manner is exhausted from an outdoor exhaust port (not shown). At this time, the electrode 3 is not energized. The dehumidifying operation is performed by repeating such an operation.

In this manner, the outdoor exhaust port (not shown)
Water contained in the air exhausted from the air conditioning unit 1
Dehumidification is performed by making the water content larger than the moisture contained in the air at the place where the is installed (for example, a living room).

Next, the humidifying operation will be described. After the moisture is adsorbed by the inorganic moisture absorbent 2, the exhaust of the humidity control unit 5 is exhausted by the switching means (not shown) to the indoor exhaust port (not shown).
And the electrodes 3 are energized.

Here, the power supply 6 is, for example, a 100 V AC power supply, but is stepped up to several kV by the high-voltage transformer 7 and is energized. This is because the inorganic desiccant 2 is usually nonconductive because of its high specific resistance.
When silica gel is used as the material, its specific resistivity is 50
It is about 00 to 20000 Ω / cm. Therefore, when a high voltage is applied, a current flows through the inorganic desiccant 2, and the inorganic desiccant 2 generates Joule heat.

In this manner, moisture is desorbed from the inorganic desiccant 2 to which the moisture has been adsorbed, and the desorbed moisture is included in the air sucked from the indoor exhaust port (not shown) and humidified. Return air to room. By repeating such an operation, a humidifying operation is performed.

That is, the moisture in the air in the place where the humidity control device main body 1 is installed (for example, a living room) is absorbed by the inorganic adsorbent 2 and exhausted, so that the air in the place where the humidity control device main body 1 is installed is exhausted. Then, the humidification is performed by returning the air containing the moisture absorbed by the inorganic moisture absorbent 2.

As described above, the humidity control apparatus according to Embodiment 1
Since a heating element such as a heater for heating the inorganic desiccant 2 is not required, there is no problem that the parts are deformed or peeled off, the number of parts is small, and a humidity control apparatus with good dehumidification and humidification efficiency can be obtained. .

Also, by changing the shape of the insulating container 4,
Since the thickness of the inorganic moisture absorbent 2 can be easily increased, it is easy to increase the moisture absorption of the inorganic moisture absorbent 2.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a humidity control apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
Reference numeral 10 denotes an inorganic moisture absorbent formed into a porous shape, 11 denotes electrodes 1 disposed on both end surfaces of a porous surface 10a of the inorganic moisture absorbent 10
1 forms the same porous surface as the porous surface.
The electrode 11 and the inorganic moisture absorbing material 10 constitute a humidity control unit 12. In addition, although the hole shape is square here, it may be a honeycomb shape, a corrugated shape, or the like.

The dehumidifying and humidifying operations of the humidity control apparatus having such a configuration are the same as those in the first embodiment, but the inorganic desiccant 10 is formed into a porous shape and is not affected by air passing therethrough. Since the contact area is increased, the rate of adsorption and desorption of moisture is high, and dehumidification and humidification can be performed efficiently.

Further, since the resistance value is different between the hole portion of the inorganic desiccant 10 and the other portions, uneven heating occurs, but the electrode 11 is formed into the same shape as the porous surface of the inorganic desiccant 10 to form a porous portion. By connecting the shape surfaces together, the inorganic moisture absorbent 10 can be heated evenly. In addition, since the electrode 11 is formed in a porous shape, less material is used.

It should be noted that the insulating container in the humidity control apparatus according to the second embodiment is composed of a porous inorganic moisture absorbent 10 and an electrode 3.
Since the only purpose is to make the two close to each other, it is only necessary to clip the four corners with an insulating holding member A as shown in FIG. 2B, and a simpler shape than in the first embodiment may be used.

Embodiment 3 In addition, in order to reduce the specific resistance of the inorganic moisture absorbents 1 and 10 of the first and second embodiments, the conductive filler made of a conductor such as stainless steel, copper, aluminum or the like in the form of irregular fine fibers or particles is replaced with the inorganic moisture absorbent 1 And 10, the specific resistance of the humidity control unit 5 as a whole is lowered, the dehumidification / humidification operation can be performed efficiently, and the heating power supply 6 and the high-voltage transformer 7 can be small, and the humidity control device main body can be used. 1 can also be reduced in size.

Embodiment 4 FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a humidity control apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. Numeral 13 denotes a hollow cylindrical insulating container in which an inorganic desiccant mixed with a magnetic substance such as ferrite is contained. Built-in. Reference numeral 14 denotes a magnetic generating coil wound around the outside of the insulating container 13.

In the humidity control apparatus thus configured, when an alternating current is applied to the magnetic coil 14, the alternating magnetic flux penetrates through an inorganic desiccant (not shown) containing a magnetic substance in the insulating container 13. As a result, the surface of the insulating container 13 is heated by the Joule heat. Thus, since the insulating container 13 is heated from the outer surface by the induction heating, if the shape of the insulating container 13 is hollow, the heating efficiency becomes higher and the humidifying operation is performed efficiently.

[0033]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

An inorganic desiccant for adsorbing moisture, an electrode for sandwiching the inorganic desiccant, and a transformer connected to the electrode for increasing the voltage are provided, and the AC power source boosted by the transformer is connected to the electrode. And the moisture adsorbed by the inorganic desiccant is desorbed, so that the moisture in the air can be efficiently adsorbed and desorbed even without a heating element, and the parts are deformed and separated due to the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion. In addition, it is possible to obtain a humidity control apparatus which requires a small number of parts, has a simple manufacturing process, and has high dehumidification and humidification efficiency.

Further, since the inorganic desiccant is formed into a porous shape, the contact area between the inorganic desiccant and the air passing through the inorganic desiccant is increased, so that the speed of adsorbing and desorbing moisture can be increased, and dehumidification and The humidifying operation can be performed efficiently.

Further, since the electrode is formed in the same shape as the porous surface of the inorganic moisture absorbing material, and the porous surface of the electrode is mounted in accordance with the porous surface of the inorganic moisture absorbing material, the pores of the inorganic moisture absorbing agent are formed. It is possible to eliminate uneven heating due to a difference in resistance value in a portion, uniform heating efficiency, and perform dehumidifying and humidifying operations efficiently. further,
The effect of requiring less material for the electrodes is also obtained.

Further, since a conductive filler such as carbon or metal fiber is mixed in the inorganic moisture absorbent, the specific resistance of the inorganic moisture absorbent is lowered, Joule heat is easily generated, and desorption / adsorption of adsorbed moisture is performed. It is efficient, and the dehumidifying and humidifying operations can be performed efficiently.

Further, it comprises an inorganic desiccant for adsorbing moisture, a magnetic substance such as ferrite mixed in the inorganic desiccant, and a magnetic force generating coil disposed around the inorganic desiccant.
Since an AC power supply is connected to the magnetic force generating coil to desorb moisture adsorbed on the inorganic desiccant, the inorganic desiccant is heated by induction heating, and the shape of the heating element is simple.
The heating efficiency of the inorganic moisture absorbent is also improved, the efficiency of moisture adsorption / desorption is good, and the dehumidifying and humidifying operations can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a humidity control apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a humidity control apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. (B) It is a principal part perspective view of the humidity control apparatus which shows Embodiment 2 of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a humidity control apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a conventional humidity control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Humidity control device main body, 2 inorganic moisture absorbent, 3 electrodes, 4 insulating containers, 5 humidity control unit, 6 power supply, 7 high voltage transformer.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshio Yoshida 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Mitsubishi Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinichi Nakamura 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Mitsubishi Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaji Kugino 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Mitsubishi Electric Co., Ltd. GB08 HA00 HA01 HA03 HA14 HA36 HB02

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An inorganic desiccant for adsorbing moisture, an electrode for sandwiching the inorganic desiccant, and a transformer connected to the electrode for increasing a voltage, wherein an AC power supply stepped up by the transformer is provided. A humidity control apparatus characterized in that electricity is supplied to the electrode to desorb water adsorbed on the inorganic moisture absorbent. 2. The humidity control device according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic moisture absorbent is formed into a porous shape. 3. The electrode of claim 1, wherein said electrode is formed in the same shape as the porous surface of said inorganic moisture absorbent, and said porous surface of said electrode is fitted to said porous surface of said inorganic moisture absorbent. 2. The humidity control apparatus according to 2. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a conductive filler such as carbon or metal fiber is mixed into the inorganic moisture absorbent.
The humidity control device as described. 5. An inorganic desiccant that adsorbs moisture, a magnetic substance such as ferrite mixed in the inorganic desiccant, and a magnetic force generating coil disposed on the outer periphery of the inorganic desiccant. A humidity control device, wherein an AC power supply is connected to desorb moisture adsorbed on the inorganic moisture absorbent.