JP2001046486A - Ion generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve air purifying effect, or a digesting/pasteurizing effect and to reduce generating amount of ozone as least as possible, by providing an exchanging means of a secondary alternating current output of a piezoelectric transformer so that voltage application polarity to an ion generating electrode is dominant on the negative side, and making the ion generating electrode mainly serve as a negative ion generating source. SOLUTION: A pressure-raising portion 39 comprises a piezoelectric transformer 70. Input side terminals 72a, 73a and an output side terminal 74a are formed on a piezoelectric ceramic element 71, and a primary alternating current input voltage from the input side terminals 72a, 73a is exchanged to a secondary alternating current voltage higher than the primary alternating current voltage via mechanical vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic element 71, and is supplied to an ion emitting electrode through the output side terminal 74a. While, an exchanging portion 40 exchanges the secondary alternating output of the piezoelectric transformer 70 so that voltage application polarity to an ion generating electrode 7 is dominant on the negative side. Thus, the ion generating electrode 7 mainly serves as a negative ion generating source.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an ion generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ion generator has been used to purify, sterilize, or deodorize air in a room or an automobile. In many of these, an AC power supply unit, a step-up transformer and a needle electrode are arranged in a housing, and a high AC voltage boosted by the transformer is applied to the needle electrode to generate corona discharge, and the discharge is performed. Ion generated by
It is emitted from an ion emission port provided in the housing.

[0003]

By the way, the ions generated from the ion generator are classified into negative ions and positive ions, and it is said that the negative ions are superior in the effect of purification, deodorization or sterilization. . However, in the above-described conventional ion generator using corona discharge, the amount of generated negative ions is small, and effects such as purification and deodorization based on negative ions cannot be expected much. On the other hand, corona discharge is a kind of silent discharge and has a problem that ozone is easily generated in air. Ozone has a strong oxidizing power and is excellent in bactericidal power and oxidative decomposing power to organic substances and the like, but has a drawback that an unpleasant irritating odor becomes strong as the amount of ozone generated increases.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide an ion generator which mainly produces negative ions, has an excellent air purifying effect or purifying / sterilizing effect, and can minimize the amount of ozone generated. It is in.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems and Action / Effect To solve the above problems, an ion generator of the present invention comprises an ion generating electrode having a sharp tip and a high voltage applied to the ion generating electrode. A high-voltage generating section, wherein the high-voltage generating section has an input terminal and an output terminal formed on the piezoelectric ceramic element, and transmits a primary AC input voltage from the input terminal to the mechanical vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic element. And a piezoelectric transformer that converts the voltage into a secondary AC voltage higher than the primary AC voltage through the output terminal and outputs the voltage from the output terminal to the ion emitting electrode, while applying the voltage to the ion generating electrode. A conversion means for converting the secondary-side AC output of the piezoelectric transformer is provided so that becomes dominant on the negative side, and the ion generation electrode mainly functions as a negative ion generation source.

The generation of ozone by silent discharge in the air becomes particularly remarkable when the applied voltage is a high frequency whose polarity changes alternately. The conventional ion generator uses a normal transformer with a coil wound around an iron core as the booster of the high-voltage generation circuit, so the number of turns on the secondary side is increased to generate high voltage. For this reason, the level of the leakage magnetic field that changes alternately according to the AC frequency increases. When the ion generating electrode is arranged in the leakage magnetic field, the generation of ozone is promoted by the influence of the high-frequency induced current generated in the ion generating electrode.

However, in the ion generator of the present invention, since the piezoelectric transformer having no winding is used, the level of the leakage magnetic field felt by the ion generating electrode can be reduced. Further, the high frequency output from the piezoelectric transformer is applied to the ion generating electrode after the alternating change profile is attenuated by the polarity conversion that predominates on the negative side.
Thereby, the amount of generated ozone can be reduced as much as possible. Furthermore, since the polarity of the voltage applied to the ion generating electrode is mainly in a negative state, negative ions can be generated efficiently, and the air purifying effect or the purifying / sterilizing effect is excellent.

By employing the above-described ion generator, for example, the amount of negative ions generated per cm ³ measured at a position 1 m away from the front end of the ion generating electrode is set to 100,000 or more. Meanwhile, the amount of generated ozone can be kept at 0.02 ppm or less (for example, substantially zero).

The polarity conversion means allows, for example, a charge transfer in a direction to charge up the ion generating electrode to a negative polarity, and prevents a charge transfer in a direction opposite to this, so that the secondary side AC output of the piezoelectric transformer is blocked. Rectifying means for rectifying can be provided. In addition, if a power storage means is provided for storing a negative charge based on the secondary-side AC output of the piezoelectric transformer for application to the ion generation electrode, a negative voltage of a certain level or more is continuously applied to the ion generation electrode. When applied, negative ions can be generated stably. In this case, by combining this power storage means with the rectification means described above, it becomes possible to more stably apply a negative high voltage to the ion generating electrode, for example, when a dedicated high-voltage DC power supply is used. In comparison, the size of the device can be significantly reduced.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to some embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG.
1 shows the external appearance of an ion generator according to one embodiment of the present invention, and has a hollow case 2 made of a plastic molded body. Although the shape of the case 2 is not particularly limited, it has a slightly flat shape that is long in the front and back, and an ion emission port 4 is formed at one end face in the longitudinal direction. A power switch 3 is provided on a side surface of the case 2.

FIG. 2A is a plan sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a front view of the same. In the case 2, an ion generating electrode 7 and a main circuit unit 5 are provided. As shown in FIG. 6, the ion generating electrode 7 is made of a metal such as Ni or N.
The tip is sharply formed by the i alloy. Here, a sharp discharge portion 7b is integrated with the main body portion 7a in a plate-like form, and the main body portion 7a is attached to a mounting projection 6c protruding from the surface of the base 6d by a screw 7c. I have.

On the other hand, the main circuit unit 5 is a unit for applying a high voltage for generating ions to the ion generating electrode 7 via the high voltage cable 8 and includes a base 6 serving as an insulating substrate.
(Here, made of insulating plastic) is arranged close to one side in the plate surface width direction.
In addition, the ion generating electrode 7 is attached to one end of the base 6 in the longitudinal direction of the plate surface so that the tip is outward. Thereby, a relatively large space can be secured behind the ion generating electrode 7 in the case 2, and it is easy to provide accessory parts or the like for imparting various functions to the ion generating device. In this embodiment, the ion generating electrode 7
A blower (here, a known sirocco fan is used, but the present invention is not limited to this) 9 is provided on the rear side. The blower 9 discharges the wind generated by the rotation of the blower blades 9a from the outlet 9b toward the ion generating electrode 7, and plays a role of promoting the discharge of the ions generated from the ion discharge port 4.

FIG. 3 shows the overall circuit configuration of the ion generator 1. The blower 9 and the ion generator 6 are connected to a power supply unit 30 via connectors 18, 20 and connection cables 19, 21, respectively. It has a configuration. On the other hand, a power supply plug 26 and a power supply cord 25 are connected to the power supply unit 30 via a connector 24, and an external AC power supply (for example, A
C100V). In the power supply unit 30, the power switch 3 and the fuse 23
After the AC input received through the DC / DC converter is stepped down to a predetermined voltage (for example, 24 V at peak to peak) by the transformer 16 and further full-wave rectified by the diode bridge 17,
The voltage is stabilized by the stabilizing unit 15 including the capacitors 11 to 13 and the three-terminal regulator 14, and is distributed to the blower 9 and the ion generating unit 6, respectively.

Next, the main circuit unit 5 functions as a high voltage generating section for applying a high voltage to the ion generating electrode, and as shown in FIG.
It includes a switching section 38, a boosting section 39, and a conversion section (conversion means) 40. FIG. 5 shows an example of a specific circuit configuration. The booster 39 includes a piezoelectric transformer 70. In this method, input terminals 72a and 73a and an output terminal 74a are formed on the piezoelectric ceramic element 71, and a primary AC input voltage from the input terminals 72a and 73a is applied to the piezoelectric ceramic element 71 via mechanical vibration. Convert to a secondary AC voltage higher than the primary AC voltage,
The signal is output from the output terminal 74a to the ion emission electrode. On the other hand, the conversion unit 40 converts the secondary-side AC output of the piezoelectric transformer so that the polarity of the voltage applied to the ion generation electrode 7 becomes dominant on the negative side. Thereby, the ion generating electrode 7 mainly functions as a negative ion generating source.

The input section 36 has a function of distributing a DC constant voltage input from the power supply unit 30 to various parts of the circuit via a resistor 51 for adjustment. On the other hand, the oscillation unit (oscillation circuit) 3
7 receives the DC constant voltage input and generates an oscillation waveform at a frequency corresponding to the primary side AC input to the piezoelectric transformer 70. The configuration and generated waveform of the oscillating unit 62 are not particularly limited. Here, the oscillating unit 62 is configured as a square wave oscillating circuit including an operational amplifier 62 functioning as a comparator, peripheral capacitors 52 to 55, and resistors 56 to 61. ing.

The switching section (switching circuit) 38 receives the waveform signal from the oscillating section 62 and performs high-speed switching of the DC constant voltage input from the power supply unit 30 to input the piezoelectric transformer 70 to the primary side. Generate an AC waveform. As will be described later, in order to increase the voltage step-up ratio in the piezoelectric transformer 70, it is necessary that the primary input waveform has a frequency corresponding to (preferably substantially equal to) the frequency of the resonance vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic element 71. is there.

The above configuration is convenient because the frequency of the primary side AC input can be arbitrarily selected according to the frequency of the resonance vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic element 71 by the oscillation frequency of the oscillation section 37. The piezoelectric ceramic element 71 is
Since the frequency of the resonance vibration is also delicately changed according to the dimensional variation or the like, the oscillation frequency of the oscillating unit (oscillation circuit) 62 should be finely adjusted in accordance therewith (for example, the resistors 56 to 61). Is a variable resistor, and a circuit constant can be changed).

The switching section 38 includes a pair of transistors 65 and 66 for switching. These transistors 65 and 66 are turned on / off by the comparator output (63 is a pull-up resistor) of the operational amplifier 62, and generate a square wave AC waveform oscillating at the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit (oscillation circuit) 37. This waveform is input to the primary side of the piezoelectric transformer 70. The input terminal 72b of the piezoelectric transformer 70 is grounded.

Next, the piezoelectric ceramic element 71 of the piezoelectric transformer 70 is formed in a horizontally long plate shape, and a first plate-like region 71 polarized in the plate thickness direction is provided at an intermediate position in the plate surface longitudinal direction.
a, the second plate-shaped region 71 polarized in the plate surface longitudinal direction
b. The input-side electrode pairs 72 and 73 to which the input-side terminals 72a and 73a are connected are formed so as to cover both surfaces of the first plate-shaped region 71a, while the second plate-shaped region 71b extends in the plate surface longitudinal direction. The output side terminal 74a
The output side electrode 74 to which is connected is formed.

In the piezoelectric transformer 70 having the above configuration, when an AC input is made to the first plate-shaped region 71a via the input-side electrode pairs 72 and 73, the polarization direction of the first plate-shaped region 71a is changed in the thickness direction. Therefore, the plate wave propagating in the longitudinal direction is strongly coupled to the electric field in the plate thickness direction, and most of the electric energy is converted into the energy of the plate wave propagating in the longitudinal direction. On the other hand, the plate wave in the longitudinal direction is
In this case, since the polarization direction is the longitudinal direction, the plate wave strongly couples with the electric field in the longitudinal direction. And
When making the input side AC frequency correspond to (preferably match) the resonance frequency of the mechanical vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic element 71,
The impedance of the element 71 is almost minimum (resonance) on the input side, but almost maximum (anti-resonance) on the output side. The primary side input is boosted by a boosting ratio according to the impedance conversion ratio, and the secondary side is boosted. Output.

The piezoelectric transformer 70 having such an operation principle has a simple structure, and has an advantage that it can be configured to be extremely lightweight and compact as compared with a wire wound type transformer having an iron core. Conventionally, application to CRT flyback and fluorescent lamp inverter power supply has been attempted, but full-scale application has been postponed because of the drawback that the step-up ratio tends to fluctuate depending on load conditions. Was. However, under conditions of a large load, the impedance conversion efficiency is high, and a stable and high boosting ratio can be obtained. With the ion generator driven under conditions close to the load release except for the generation of discharge current due to ion emission, the above-mentioned drawbacks of the piezoelectric transformer are hardly a problem, and the high pressure suitable for ion generation is stabilized. The advantage inherent in the piezoelectric transformer can be effectively utilized.

The material of the piezoelectric ceramic element 71 is not particularly limited. For example, in this embodiment, a lead zirconate titanate-based perovskite piezoelectric ceramic (so-called PZT) is used.
It consists of. This is mainly composed of a solid solution of lead zirconate and lead titanate, and can be suitably used in the present invention because of its excellent impedance conversion efficiency. The mixing ratio of lead zirconate and lead titanate is as follows:
0.8 to 1.3 in a lead zirconate / lead titanate molar ratio.
It is desirable that the degree be about the same in order to realize good impedance conversion efficiency. If necessary, a part of zirconium or titanium may be replaced with Ni, Nb, Mg, Co, M
It can be replaced by n or the like.

The PZT piezoelectric ceramic element is
When the driving frequency becomes extremely high, the resonance sharpness rapidly becomes dull and the conversion efficiency is lowered. Therefore, the frequency of the primary side AC input is 40 to 300 kHz (preferably 50 to 300 kHz).
It is desirable to set a value corresponding to the mechanical resonance frequency of the element 71 in a relatively low frequency range of about 150 kHz). Conversely, it is desirable to determine the dimensions of the element 71 such that the mechanical resonance frequency of the element 71 falls within the above frequency range.

When a PZT type piezoelectric ceramic element is used, the voltage level of the primary AC input is set to about 15 to 40 V from the viewpoint of securing the generation efficiency of negative ions and ensuring the durability of the element. It is desirable to set. Thus, the voltage level applied to the ion generating electrode 7 is approximately 500 to 2 in the frequency range of the primary side AC input.
About 000V can be secured.

Next, the converter 40 includes a diode 76 as rectifying means. The diode 76 has a role of rectifying the secondary-side AC output of the piezoelectric transformer 70 so as to allow the charge transfer in the direction of charging the ion generating electrode 7 to the negative polarity and prevent the charge transfer in the opposite direction. Fulfill. In this embodiment, the end of the output line 74b from the output terminal 74a of the piezoelectric transformer 70 is grounded,
The ion generating electrode 7 is branched and connected from the middle thereof, and the diode 76 is connected downstream of the branch point of the ion generating electrode 7.

On the other hand, conversion section 40 includes a capacitor 75. The capacitor 75 functions as a power storage unit for storing a negative charge based on the secondary-side AC output of the piezoelectric transformer 70 for application to the ion generating electrode. In this embodiment, one electrode plate 75 b of the capacitor 75 is connected to the output line 7.
4b while being branched from the other electrode plate 7
5a is connected in such a manner as to be branched from the negative input line to the operational amplifier 62. Note that a limiter circuit 80 including a capacitor 81 and diodes 82 and 83 is provided on the branch line toward the electrode plate 75a in order to limit the voltage applied to the capacitor 75.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Input unit 3 functioning as primary-side AC input waveform generation circuit
6, oscillating unit 37, switching unit 38, and boosting unit 39
Are assembled on a circuit board 5a as an insulating substrate to form the main circuit unit 5. The main circuit unit 5 is disposed on the base 6d such that the mounting side of the piezoelectric transformer 7 is on the front side, and the mounting side of the piezoelectric transformer 7 is molded so that the insulating resin 6b (for example, a silicone resin or the like) is used. Is integrated on the base 6d.
On the other hand, the ion generating electrode 7 is connected to an output terminal 74a (FIG. 5) of the molded piezoelectric transformer 7 via a high-voltage cable 8 as a lead wire from the main circuit unit 5. In the present embodiment, the main circuit unit 5 is arranged in a mold frame 6a protruding from the plate surface of the base 6d,
Molding is performed by filling the inside of the mold frame 6a with an insulating resin 6b.

The main circuit unit 5 has a circuit (particularly, the oscillating section 37) which is discharged or leaked by molding the side on which the piezoelectric transformer 7 where a high voltage is generated is molded with an insulating resin 6b.
Malfunction or damage of the switching unit 38) is effectively prevented. Further, the main circuit unit 5 includes the ion generating electrode 7.
In addition, since the ion generating unit 6 is formed integrally with the base 6d, the assembly of the ion generating device 1 is greatly simplified, and various applied products of the ion generating device can be easily designed. And in this example,
Since the insulating resin 6b for molding is also used as a binder for integrating the main circuit unit 5 with the base 6d, the structure of the ion generating unit 6 is further simplified,
As a result, a reduction in the number of assembly steps has been achieved.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The circuit board 5a on which is mounted is an insulating substrate formed of a glass fiber reinforced plastic plate or the like, and the capacitor 75a (capacitor portion) serving as power storage means is formed by forming a metal film on both surfaces of the insulating substrate corresponding to each other. Electrode 75
a, 75b. By forming the capacitor 75 using the insulating substrate as a dielectric, the main circuit unit 5 is made more compact.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the ion generating electrode 7 is arranged in the case 2 with its tip facing the ion emitting port 4, and the generated ions can be efficiently discharged from the ion emitting port 4. Released. On the other hand, the main circuit unit 5 is arranged at a position off the ion emission port 4 so as not to hinder the ion flow toward the ion emission port 4. And
The blower 9 is disposed behind the ion generating electrode 7 at a position corresponding to the ion emission port 4. As a result, it is possible to directly send the wind toward the ion emission port 4 to the ion generation electrode 7 for generating ions.
The ion stream can be efficiently discharged from the ion discharge port 4.

The operation of the above ion generator is as follows. In FIG. 3, when the power plug 26 is connected to an outlet serving as an external AC power supply and the power switch 3 is turned on, a constant DC voltage is supplied, and the blower 9 and the ion generation unit 6 operate. In the ion generating unit 6, a DC constant voltage is supplied from the input unit in FIG. 5, and the oscillating unit 37 and the switching unit 38 operate to generate a square wave AC, which is adjusted to the input terminal 72a of the piezoelectric transformer 70. Resistor 67 (including variable resistor 67a for waveform adjustment)
Input as primary AC input. Piezoelectric transformer 70
Boosts the voltage in accordance with the above-described operation principle, and outputs
4a to output as a secondary side AC output.

When the secondary side of the piezoelectric transformer 70 outputs a negative half-wave, the ion generating electrode 7 and the electrode 75b of the capacitor 75 are negatively charged up. As a result, an electric field gradient suitable for generating negative ions is generated around the ion generating electrode 7, and molecules in the surrounding air, for example, water molecules are ionized in the form of hydroxyl ions (H ₃ O ₂ ⁻ ) or the like.
That is, negative ions are generated. With the generation of the negative ions, the electric charge that is charging up the ion generating electrode 7 is discharged. However, the electric charge stored in the capacitor 75 causes the negatively charged state until at least the next positive half wave arrives. Will be maintained. Next, when a positive half-wave is output, the negative charges of the ion generating electrode 7 and the capacitor 75 try to discharge to the ground side via the output line 74b, but the flow of this charge is blocked by the diode 76. You. Thus, the negatively charged state of the ion generating electrode 7 is constantly maintained, and negative ions can be stably generated.

Further, in the ion generator 1, since the piezoelectric transformer 70 having no winding is used, the leakage magnetic field level felt by the ion generating electrode 7 can be reduced. The high frequency output from 7 is
Since the alternating change profile that is dominant on the negative side is applied to the ion generating electrode 7 after the alternating change profile is softened, the amount of generated ozone can be reduced as much as possible.

It should be noted that if the blower 9 can generate wind toward the ion discharge port 4 via the ion generating electrode 7,
It may be arranged at another position, for example, on the front side of the ion generating electrode 7. However, the oxonium ion (H
_In the case of hydroxyl ions (H ₃ O ₂ ⁻ ), whose stability in the atmosphere is somewhat smaller than that of ₃ O ⁺ ), the arrangement of the blower 9 on the rear side is more significant than the arrangement of the hydroxyl ions on the front side. This can be said to be advantageous because the negative ions can be released more stably.

The following experiment was conducted to confirm the effects of the present invention. That is, the ion generator 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was configured to have the circuit configuration of FIG. As the composition of the piezoelectric ceramic element 71, a compounding ratio of lead zirconate and lead titanate in a molar ratio of about 1: 1, and containing about 2% by weight of Nb as an additive element was selected.
For example, it was formed to have dimensions of 52 mm in length, 1.85 mm in width, and 13 mm in thickness. The ion generating electrode 7 has a thickness of about 0.1 mm.
The discharge portion 7b was made of a 2 mm Ni plate, and the discharge portion 7b was formed to be sharp with a length of about 5 mm. The circuit board 5a was made of a glass fiber reinforced plastic plate, and the size of the metal film electrodes 75a and 75b of the capacitor 75 was a square of 5 mm × 9 mm.

When the primary-side AC input to the piezoelectric transformer 70 was operated at a frequency of about 70 kHz and a voltage of 24 V from peak to peak, the voltage applied to the ion generating electrode 7 was about 1000 V. In this state, the amount of negative ions generated per 1 cm ^{3 is} measured by a commercially available ion counter (supplier: Japan MJP Co., product name: air ion counter) at a position 1 m away from the tip of the ion generating electrode 7 in front of the electrode tip. No. IC-1000)
As a result, it was found that negative ions were generated at a level of 100,000 / cm ³ or more. When the amount of generated ozone was measured with a commercially available ozone concentration meter (AET-030P, manufactured by Ebara Corporation), the amount of generated ozone was 0.01 ppm or less, and no ozone odor was felt.

FIG. 8 shows a modification of the ion generator of the present invention. In the ion generator 100, a known germicidal lamp 101 as an ultraviolet light source is arranged in a case 102 together with the ion generator 6 and the blower 9. In this embodiment, the ion generating unit 6 and the blower 9 are arranged vertically with almost the same positional relationship as in FIG.
The generated negative ions are released together with the wind from a slit-shaped ion discharge port 102a formed on the front side of the case 102. In addition, the germicidal lamp 101 is arranged, for example, along the opening edge of the ion emission port 102a in a positional relationship that allows the emission of wind and ions from the ion emission port 102a. FIG. 9 shows an example of the circuit configuration. Most of the configuration is common to that of FIG.
0 to the input line from the external AC power supply
And a germicidal lamp lighting unit 31 including a known ballast 32 and a glow starter 33 for operating the germicidal lamp. Thereby, in addition to the generated negative ions, the effect of the ultraviolet light from the germicidal lamp 101 is added, and the effects such as sterilization and deodorization are further enhanced.

In the above-described ion generators 1 and 100, the blower 9 is used, but this may be omitted. Further, the configuration on the power supply side is a configuration in which an external AC power supply is converted to DC, but for example, a battery-powered power supply can be used so as to be portable, and in a case where the power supply is mounted on an automobile, etc. Is an ion generator 11 shown in FIG.
A configuration using a sugar plug 111 that receives power from a cigarette lighter socket, such as 0 and 120 (110a and 120a are cases), may be used. Generally, a cigarette lighter socket functions as a 12V DC power supply from a vehicle battery, but in this embodiment,
The input from the cigarette lighter socket received through the sugar plug 111 is passed through the stabilized DC power supply circuit 113 connected by the connector 112 to the connector 1.
It is supplied to the ion generating unit 6 or the blower 9 via the power supply 14. FIG. 10A corresponds to a configuration in which the blower 9 is omitted.

In the ion generating apparatus 130 shown in FIG. 11, the ion generating unit 6 is disposed in the case 102 having the slit-shaped ion emitting port 102a formed on the upper surface side. The direction of attachment of the ion generating electrode 7 is rotated by 90 ° as compared with FIG. 8 so that the tip is directed toward the ion emission port 102a. On the rear side (lower side) of the ion generating unit 6, a horizontally long blower fan (blower) 139 is arranged so that the axis of rotation is along the longitudinal direction of the slit-shaped ion emission port 102a. Thereby, a uniform wind and an ion flow can be generated in the longitudinal direction of the ion emission port 102a.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an example of an ion generator of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view and a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an electric system of the ion generator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the ion generation unit.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a detailed configuration of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a three-view drawing showing an example of the external appearance of the ion generating unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a form in which a capacitor serving as a power storage means is formed in a main circuit unit.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view schematically showing a modification of the ion generator of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the entire configuration of the electric system.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing some circuit configuration examples of an ion generator mounted on a vehicle.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view schematically showing another modification of the ion generator of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 100, 110, 120, 130 Ion generator 2 Case 4 Ion discharge port 5 Main circuit unit 5a Circuit board (insulating substrate) 6 Ion generating unit 6b Insulating resin 6d Base 7 Ion generating electrode 8 High voltage cable (lead wire) 9) Blower 30 Power supply unit 36 Input unit 37 Oscillating unit 38 Switching unit 39 Boosting unit 40 Electric storage unit 70 Piezoelectric transformer 71 Piezoelectric ceramic element 71a First plate-like region 71b Second plate-like region 72, 73 Input-side electrode pair 72a, 73a Input side terminal 74 Output side electrode 74a Output side terminal 75 Capacitor (power storage means) 75a, 75b Metal film electrode 76 Diode (conversion means, rectification means)

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An ion generating electrode having a sharp tip, and a high voltage generating section for applying a high voltage to the ion generating electrode, wherein the high voltage generating section has an input terminal and a piezoelectric ceramic element. An output side terminal is formed, and a primary side AC input voltage from the input side terminal is converted into a secondary side AC voltage higher than the primary side AC voltage through mechanical vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic element, A secondary side of the piezoelectric transformer is configured so as to include a piezoelectric transformer that outputs from the output side terminal toward the ion emitting electrode, while a voltage application polarity to the ion generating electrode is dominant on the negative side. A conversion device for converting an AC output is provided, and the ion generation electrode mainly functions as a negative ion generation source. 2. The amount of negative ions generated per 1 cm ³ measured at a position 1 m away from the front end of the ion generating electrode at a distance of 1 m is 100,000 or more, and the amount of ozone generated is 0.02 ppm or less. The ion generator according to claim 1, wherein 3. The ion generator according to claim 1, further comprising a power storage unit configured to store a negative charge based on a secondary-side AC output of the piezoelectric transformer to apply the negative charge to the ion generation electrode. . 4. The ion generator according to claim 3, wherein said power storage means includes a capacitor portion formed by covering regions corresponding to each other on both surfaces of the insulating substrate on which said piezoelectric transformer is mounted with metal film electrodes. . 5. A piezoelectric ceramic element of the piezoelectric transformer is formed in a horizontally long plate shape, a first plate-like region polarized in a plate thickness direction at an intermediate position in a plate length direction, and a piezoelectric plate in a plate length direction. The input-side electrode pair to which the input-side terminal is connected is formed while being separated from the polarized second plate-shaped region and covers both surfaces of the first plate-shaped region, while the second plate-shaped 2. An output electrode to which the output terminal is connected is formed on an end face of the region in the longitudinal direction of the plate surface.
5. The ion generator according to any one of items 4 to 4. 6. The piezoelectric ceramic element is composed of a lead zirconate titanate-based perovskite piezoelectric ceramic, and the frequency of the primary side AC input is 40.
The ion generator according to claim 5, wherein the ion generator is set in a range of up to 300 kHz. 7. The ion generator according to claim 6, wherein a voltage level of the primary AC input of the piezoelectric ceramic element is 15 to 40 V, and a voltage level applied to the ion generation electrode is 500 to 2000 V. 8. An oscillation circuit that oscillates at a frequency corresponding to the primary side AC input, and a switching circuit that receives a waveform signal from the oscillation circuit and performs high-speed switching of a DC input of a predetermined level at the oscillation frequency. And a primary-side AC input waveform generation circuit including:
The ion generator according to any one of the above. 9. The ion generating unit according to claim 1, wherein the primary side AC input waveform generating circuit, the booster and the ion generating electrode are integrally assembled on a plate-like base. An ion generator according to any one of the above. 10. The primary-side AC input waveform generation circuit,
The step-up unit is assembled to a circuit board to form a main circuit unit, and the main circuit unit is disposed on the base such that the mounting side of the piezoelectric transformer is on the front side, and the mounting side of the piezoelectric transformer is molded. While the ion generating electrode is connected to the output terminal of the molded piezoelectric transformer via a lead wire from the main circuit unit. The ion generator according to claim 9. 11. The main circuit unit is arranged close to one side of the insulating substrate in the width direction of the plate surface, and the ion generating electrode is disposed at one end of the insulating substrate in the plate surface longitudinal direction. The ion generator according to claim 10, wherein the ion generator is attached so that a tip thereof faces outward on the part side. 12. A blower for generating a wind flowing toward the ion discharge port via the ion generating electrode.
12. The ion generator according to any one of claims 11 to 11. 13. The ion generator according to claim 12, wherein the blower is disposed behind the ion generation electrode. 14. The ion generating electrode is disposed in a case having an ion emitting port so that a tip of the electrode faces the ion emitting port, and the primary side AC input waveform generating circuit and the boosting section are connected to each other. The main circuit unit is formed on the circuit board, and the main circuit unit is disposed at a position off the ion discharge port.The blower is disposed at a position corresponding to the ion discharge port on the rear side of the ion generating electrode. The ion generator according to claim 13.