JP2001179131A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase dust collecting performance and to suppress the sticking of the charged dust on the indoor wall surface and the giving of an unpleasant feeling to human in an air cleaner provide with an electrostatic filter for sticking dust by charging the dust at an ionizing part. SOLUTION: Dust 6 passing through an ionizing part A is charged in positive and negative by using alternating voltage 3 at the ionizing part A. When the charged dust 6 passes through an electrostatic filter 8 arranged downstream in the gass flow direction, the charged dust 6 is stuck to and collected by a positive fiber and a negative fiber of the electrostatic filter 8. Moreover, the bias of the indoor charge is suppressed by blowing off the dust 6 charged in positive and negative to the indoor air to prevent the generation of space potential in the room.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air cleaner for purifying air by an electric dust collecting method, and particularly to a technical field for improving dust collecting performance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a household air cleaner using an electric dust collecting method, dust is collected by a combination of an ionizing section and an electrostatic filter.
That is, the ionization section charges dust contained in the air to be cleaned in advance to one of the positive and negative polarities, and at the same time, serves as a dust collection section disposed downstream of the ionization section in the airflow direction. The charged dust is collected by an electric filter. Usually, as the above-mentioned electrostatic filter, a filter composed of a plus fiber and a minus fiber, or a filter obtained by inductively polarizing one fiber to have plus and minus polarities is used.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional electric dust collecting method, since the dust passing through the ionization section is charged to only one polarity, the electrostatic filter located on the downstream side in the direction of the air flow is charged. The dust adheres only to the negatively charged portion. Therefore, the positively charged portion, which is approximately half of the electrostatic filter, is not used, and there is a difficulty in improving the performance of the electrostatic filter.

In addition, it is difficult to confirm that the electrostatic filter has deteriorated in dust collection performance, and the dust collection performance deteriorates with long-term use. In that case, the positively charged dust particles in the ionization unit do not adhere to the electrostatic filter, but are blown out to the room air as it is, and the charged dust increases in the room air. For this reason, for example, when the dust collection rate in the electric dust collection method is equal to or less than a predetermined value, a space potential is generated in the room due to the charged dust in the air, and the space potential causes the space to be removed from the room. Dust moves toward the wall or the person, and the dust collides with the wall and stains the wall, or adheres to the person and causes discomfort such as eyestrain.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to devise the ionization unit in the above-described electric dust collection method,
An object of the present invention is to improve the dust collecting ability of an electrostatic filter, and reduce dust adhering to a wall surface and discomfort to a person.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, dust passing through the ionization section is charged to both positive and negative polarities.

More specifically, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ionization section (A) for charging dust in the air and the ionization section (A)
Filter that attaches dust charged by
(8) in the air purifier provided with, the ionization unit (A)
Is configured to charge the dust passing through the ionization section (A) to both plus and minus.

According to the present invention, dust passing through the ionization section (A) can be charged to both positive and negative poles. Therefore, for example, when the fiber filter (8) is made of a plus fiber and a minus fiber, when the charged dust passes through the electrostatic filter (8),
The above-mentioned negatively charged dust adheres to the plus fiber, and the positively charged dust adheres to the minus fiber, respectively. ) Can improve the dust collecting ability. Also, the dust collecting performance can be enhanced by increasing the surface area of the electrostatic filter (8) to which dust adheres.

[0009] Further, as described above, dust is ionized (A).
The positive and negative charges cause the charged dust to maintain a positive / negative balance in the room even if it is blown into the room without being collected by the electrostatic filter (8). No space potential is generated
It is possible to reduce the adhesion of the dust to the wall surface and to reduce the discomfort such as eyestrain that the dust causes to the occupants in the room.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-described air cleaner, the ionization section (A) is configured to charge dust to both positive and negative sides by the AC power supply (3). According to this invention, the same operation and effect as those of the first aspect can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the above-described air cleaner, the ionization section (A) has an ionization line (2) including a positive application section (2a) and a negative application section (2b), The dust is positively and negatively charged by the two application units (2a) and (2b).

With the above configuration, positively charged dust is generated from the positive application section (2a) of the ionization section (A), and negatively charged dust (6) is generated from the negative application section (2b). I do. Also in this case, the same operation and effect as the first aspect of the invention can be obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above air cleaner, a deodorizing filter (9) having an ozone decomposition catalyst is provided downstream of the electrostatic filter (8) in the air flow direction.

From this, even if ozone is generated from the ionization part (A), especially the minus application part (2b),
Each ozone is decomposed by an ozone decomposition catalyst in a deodorizing filter (9) provided downstream of the electrostatic filter (8) in the direction of air flow. Thus, the air purifier can exhibit a sufficient air purifying function.

[0015]

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a schematic configuration diagram of an ionization unit (A) according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The ionized portion (A) has a plate width of 20 to 50 mm.
A plurality of (two in the illustrated example) facing members (1), (1), ...
And a plurality (one) of ionizing wires (2) comprising rod electrodes having a diameter of about 1 to 2 mm having substantially the same length as the facing member (1),
(2), ..., and these (1) and (2) are used to control the air flow to the air intake port of an air purifier or air conditioner.
In a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction of (4) and, for example, 1
They are alternately arranged in parallel with an air path width (7) of about 0 to 20 mm. That is, the air path (P) is
The air path width (7) is defined by (1) and the ionization line (2). Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, the ionization part (A) forms a circuit by connecting the facing member (1), the ionization wire (2), the AC power supply (3), and the ground (5). The opposing member (1) is grounded, for example, to ground.

Although not shown, the facing member
After passing through the chamber located on the downstream side (right side in FIG. 1) of the air flow (4) of (1), the electrostatic filter (8) covers the flat plate substantially parallel to the direction of the air flow (4). And a dust collecting portion composed of: The electrostatic filter (8) is made of paper or
For example, a cloth made of activated short fibers is used. Of course, the material is not limited to paper or cloth, and may be any material that has a dust collecting function and a deodorizing function. Then, when a voltage is applied, the electrostatic filter (8) becomes a fiber having plus and minus, or one fiber is dielectrically polarized to have plus and minus polarities.

A feature of the present invention is that an AC power source (3) is applied to the ionization line (2) to thereby generate dust in the air passing between the facing member (1) and the ionization line (2).
(6) is charged positively and negatively to generate dust (6) having negative and positive charges on the downstream side of the air flow (4) of the ionization part (A), respectively, as shown in FIG. 1 (b). I do.

The charged dust (6) is an electrostatic filter having positively and negatively charged fibers.
(8) attracted by electrostatic force, the electrostatic filter
(8) Adhere on top. FIG. 4 shows dust collected according to the present invention.
It is an enlarged explanatory view of (6). As shown in the figure, in the present invention, dust (6) is charged to plus and minus, and thus adheres to the plus fiber side as well as the minus fiber side of the electrostatic filter (8). Therefore, as the surface area of the electrostatic filter (8) to which the dust (6) adheres increases, the dust collecting ability of the electrostatic filter (8) can be improved, and the durability can also be improved. it can.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the dust (6) passing through the ionization section (A) is charged only to the positive side, the dust (6) charged to the positive side is negatively charged by the electrostatic filter (8). Attached only to the fiber side, the electrostatic filter
The dust (6) is not attached to the plus fiber of (8), so that the dust collection efficiency is low.

Then, suppose that the ionization unit of this embodiment is
Even if the dust (6) charged positively and negatively in (A) is blown into the room without adhering to the electrostatic filter (8), the charged dust (6) maintains a positive and negative balance in the indoor space For,
No space potential is generated in the room, and the adhesion of the dust (6) to the wall surface can be reduced, and the discomfort such as eye fatigue caused by the dust (6) to the occupants can be reduced. . (Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 (a) shows a schematic configuration diagram of an ionization part (A) of Embodiment 2 of the present invention (in the following embodiments, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals). And a detailed description thereof will be omitted). The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that an AC power source (3) is
The configuration for charging (6) to plus and minus is an ionization line composed of a plus application section (2a) and a minus application section (2b).
(2), and applies the voltage from the power supply (10) to both of the application sections (2a),
That is, the dust (6) is changed to a configuration in which the dust (6) is positively and negatively charged by applying the voltage to b). Other configurations are the same as the embodiment of FIG.

In this case, when the dust (6) in the air passes through the ionization part (A), it is charged positively by the positive application part (2a) and negatively charged by the negative application part (2b). As shown in (b), dust (6) having positive and negative charges is generated on the downstream side of the air flow (4) of the ionization part (A). Then, the dust (6) swirls and flows on the downstream side, so that the charged dust (6) is confused in the chamber located on the downstream side of the ionization part (A), and the electrostatic filter
The dust reaches the dust collecting portion provided with (8), and is attracted by the electrostatic force of the electrostatic filter (8) having the positively and negatively charged fibers, and adheres to the electrostatic filter (8).

Then, suppose that the ionization unit of the present embodiment is
Even if the dust (6) charged positively and negatively in (A) is blown into room air without being attached to the electrostatic filter (8), the dust
(6) balances positive and negative charges, so dust (6)
Can reduce adhesion to the wall surface, and can also reduce discomfort such as eye fatigue that dust (6) causes to the occupants of the room. (Embodiment 3) FIG. 3 shows an ionization section (A) according to Embodiment 3.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a filter and a filter unit. In the third embodiment, an electrostatic filter (8) provided at a predetermined interval is disposed immediately downstream of the air flow (4) with respect to each of the opposing members (1) and the ionization line (2), Further, a deodorizing filter (9) having an ozonolysis catalyst is provided downstream of the electrostatic filter (8) in the direction of air flow. Other configurations are the same as those of the second embodiment.

In the present embodiment, ozone which may be generated during the corona discharge of the ionization section (A), particularly at the minus application section (2b) as compared with the plus application section (2a), is decomposed by ozone. Decomposes with catalyst. That is, even if the ozone generated in the ionization section (A) is included in the air blow, the ozone can be adsorbed by the deodorizing filter (9) having the ozone decomposition catalyst, and the ozone concentration is reliably reduced. Then, the air is released into the room. Thus, the air purifier can exhibit a sufficient air purifying function.

Moreover, since the deodorizing filter (9) having the above-mentioned ozone decomposition catalyst has a deodorizing function, it can efficiently capture odor molecules,
There is also an advantage that it is not necessary to install a new deodorizing unit in the blower.

In each of the above embodiments, the electrostatic filter
As (8), the positive filter was made up of a positively charged positive fiber and a negatively charged negative fiber.However, an electrostatic filter (8) having positive and negative charges by dielectrically polarizing one fiber was used. It can also be used.

Further, dust (6) passing through the ionization section (A)
May be charged to plus and minus, and the dust (6) may be enlarged by attracting each other. This facilitates the collection of the dust (6) in the filter portion, and improves the dust collection capability of the filter.

The shape and structure of the counter electrode (1) and the ionizing portion (A), and the circuit configuration of the ionizing portion (A) can be variously changed within the scope of the present invention in addition to the above. .

[0029]

[Experimental Examples] Next, experimental examples that have been specifically implemented will be described.

The dust collection rate was evaluated in a dust collection experiment.
First, an air purifier (B) as shown in FIG. 7 was prepared in an actual equipment efficiency test room of 39.5 m ³ . This air purifier
(B) is configured such that the ionization sections (12a) and (12b) and the dust collection section (14) are connected via a chamber section (13).

The ionization units (12a) and (12b) are provided on the three-cell side of the ionization unit (12a) for charging dust negatively and the ionization unit (12b) for charging dust positively.
The dust collecting part (14) was provided with an electrostatic filter (15) in a direction orthogonal to the air flow.

Then, as shown in FIG.
(4a) by flowing in the direction from (4a) to (4b) and (4c)
The dust collection rate was measured by comparing the amount of dust contained in the air in the part and the change in the amount of dust in the part (4c). As Comparative Example 1, a case is shown in which no voltage and current are applied to the ionization units (12a) and (12b), and no dust in the air is charged, and no dust is collected by the electrostatic filter (15). Also, as Comparative Example 2, by applying a voltage of +5.16 kV and a current of 0.055 mA to the ionization sections (12a) and (12b), dust in the air was charged only positively, and the electrostatic filter (15 )) Shows the case of plus application for dust collection. Further, as an experimental example 1 according to the present invention, one of the ionization sections (12a) has −5.0.
The dust in the air is negatively charged by applying a voltage of 6 kV and a current of 0.059 mA, and the other ionization part (12b) has a voltage of +5.06 kV and 0.043 mA.
The case of plus / minus application in which dust in the air is positively charged by applying a current of + and + and − is applied. Then, the dust collection rate of dust was evaluated by the methods of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 and Experimental Example 1. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0033]

[Table 1]

According to the table, the experimental example 1 according to the present invention is as follows.
The dust collection rate is the highest at 57%, indicating that the dust collection performance is improved. This is probably because positively and negatively charged dust adhered to the plus and minus fibers of the electrostatic filter (15). It is assumed that the balance between the positively charged dust and the negatively charged dust is 50, respectively.
%, It is estimated that the dust collection rate is further improved.

On the other hand, in Comparative Example 1, the dust collection rate was 23
%, The dust is not efficiently attached to the electrostatic filter (15). In Comparative Example 2, the dust collection rate was 4
Although this is a relatively good value of 8%, this method of charging dust only positively cannot be expected to further improve the dust collection rate.
This proves that the present invention is effective.

Next, as Experimental Example 2, an experiment was conducted to alleviate the adhesion of dust to the wall surface. That is, if the charged particles of dust are floating in the room, a space potential is generated in the room, and the charged particles adhere to the wall pieces and the charged particles adhere to the occupants, causing discomfort. In this experimental example, the effect of the prevention was confirmed.

In this experiment, the test machine was operated without an electrostatic filter in a room, and the degree of adhesion of the wall surface was compared by the attenuation of the smoke density in the room. Note that, as Comparative Example 3, no voltage was applied to the ionization part, and no dust in the air was charged.
In addition, as a comparative example 4, a case of positive charging (17) in which dust in the air is charged only positive by applying a positive voltage to the ionized portion. Then, as an experimental example 2 according to the present invention, a case of plus / minus charging (18) in which dust in the air is charged to plus and minus in the ionization section is shown. The results are shown in FIG. Here, the vertical axis in FIG. 8 is the relative concentration, and the horizontal axis is the elapsed time in minutes. The relative density is obtained by setting the density of the smoke in the room at the time of 0 minutes as 1 as 1, and relativeizing the attenuation of the smoke density thereafter. Then, the degree of adhesion of the dust to the wall surface was compared based on the attenuation of the smoke density.

According to the figure, in the case of the uncharged (16) of Comparative Example 3, the change amount of the relative density after elapse of 12 minutes was the smallest, that is, in the case of the uncharged (16), the smoke density in the room Since no spatial potential is generated in the indoor space, the smoke particles attached to the dust did not move to the wall surface, and the change in the smoke density in the room was small. on the other hand,
In the case of the positive charge (17) of Comparative Example 4, the room is filled with the positively charged dust, so that a strong space potential is generated in the room, and the dust is generated toward the wall surface. Therefore, it is considered that the dust to which the smoke particles adhered moved toward the wall surface together with the smoke particles and adhered to the wall surface, causing a large decrease in smoke density. Further, in the case of Comparative Example 4, the dust adhered to the wall surface of the dust was large, and the dust moved from the space to the occupant.

In addition, in the plus / minus charging (18) of the experimental example 2 according to the present invention, the smoke density was changed, although not completely, close to the case of the non-charging (16), and it was possible to prevent dust from adhering to the wall surface. I understand. This is presumably because the dust charged in the ionization unit is charged positively and negatively, so that the electric charge blown out from the blower is not biased and no space potential is generated in the room. Of course, the smoke density could not be attenuated more than in the case of no charge (16), but compared to the plus charge (17), it was possible to significantly prevent wall adhesion and prevent discomfort to the occupants . Therefore, it was confirmed that the present invention is effective in Experimental Example 2.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, in the air purifier, dust passing through the ionization section is charged positively and negatively. According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the air purifier, dust passing through the ionization unit is charged positively and negatively by the AC power supply. In the invention according to claim 3, the ionization section has an ionization line including a positive application section and a negative application section, and the dust is positively and negatively charged by the both application sections.

According to these inventions, dust passing through the ionized portion can be charged to both positive and negative poles. For this reason, the charged dust adheres to the plus fiber and the minus fiber forming the electrostatic filter, and the dust collecting ability of the electrostatic filter can be improved. Further, by charging dust positively and negatively, generation of a space potential in the room can be suppressed, and discomfort such as dust adhering to the wall surface of the dust and eye fatigue caused by the dust to a person can be reduced.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by providing a deodorizing filter having an ozone decomposition catalyst on the downstream side of the electrostatic filter in the direction of air flow, even if ozone is generated from the ionization section, it is included in the deodorizing filter. Ozone is decomposed by the ozone decomposition catalyst, and a sufficient air cleaning function can be exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ionization unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ionization unit according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ionization unit and a filter unit according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of dust collected by the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged explanatory view of dust collected by an electrostatic filter by a conventional dust collection method.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a dust tester according to Experimental Example 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relative change in smoke density according to Experimental Example 2 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (2) Ionizing wire (3) AC power supply (6) Dust (8) Electrostatic filter (9) Deodorizing filter (A) Ionizing section (B) Air purifier

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B03C 3/38 B03C 3/41 A 3/41 3/14 CA

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ionization unit for charging dust in the air.
(A) and an air purifier provided with an electrostatic filter (8) for adhering dust charged by the ionization unit (A), wherein the ionization unit (A) passes through the ionization unit (A). An air cleaner characterized in that dust is charged both positively and negatively. 2. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein the ionization section (A) is configured to charge the dust both positively and negatively by an AC power supply (3). Machine. 3. The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the ionization section (A) includes a plus application section (2a) and a minus application section.
(2b) and the ionization line (2)
An air cleaner characterized by being configured to charge dust positively and negatively according to (a) and (2b). 4. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein a deodorizing filter (9) having an ozone decomposition catalyst is provided downstream of the electrostatic filter (8) in the air flow direction. An air purifier characterized.