JP2004356103A - Ion generating device, and air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ion generating device capable of stably generating negative ions and positive ions and controlling a generating ratio of the negative ions to the positive ions over a wide range, and to provide an air conditioner equipped with the same. <P>SOLUTION: An ion generating element 10 is connected to a high voltage impressing means 40. A serial circuit composed of a diode D5 as a rectification means and a relay 32 as a switching means is connected between one of the electrodes (surface electrode 13) of the ion generating element 10 and a grounding line (point B). The anode of the diode 5 is connected to the surface electrode 13 side and the cathode is connected to the grounding line side. A capacitor C3 as an electrostatic capacitance is connected to the diode D5 in parallel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ion generator for generating ions in air and an air conditioner including the ion generator. Examples of the air conditioner referred to here include an air conditioner, a dehumidifier, a humidifier, an air purifier, a fan heater, etc., mainly in a room in a house, a room in a building, a hospital room in a hospital, a car, Used in airplanes, ships, etc.

  In general, in closed rooms with low ventilation, such as offices and conference rooms, if there are many people in the room, air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, cigarette smoke and dust emitted by breathing increase, and The negative ions, which have the effect of relaxing the body, decrease from the air. In particular, a large amount of negative ions are lost due to cigarette smoke, and may be reduced to about 1/2 to 1/5 of the normal amount. Therefore, various ion generators have been proposed for replenishing negative ions in the air, and have been mounted on air purifiers and the like. On the other hand, in recent years, needs for sterilization and disinfection have been increasing, but there has been a problem that an ion generator that generates only negative ions cannot actively remove airborne bacteria in the air.

Therefore, the present inventors have conducted extensive studies on means for removing airborne bacteria in the air, and as a result, devised that it is only necessary to generate positive ions and negative ions. An air purifier equipped with an ion generator for generating the above has been put to practical use. By generating H ⁺ (H ₂ O) _n (n is a natural number) as a positive ion and O ₂ ⁻ (H ₂ O) _m (m is a natural number) as a negative ion, both positive and negative ions are generated. When they adhere to the surface of airborne bacteria, these ions undergo a chemical reaction to generate hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) and / or hydroxyl radical OH, which are active species, and remove airborne bacteria in the air. .

  However, positive ions are said to cause stress on humans. For this reason, when the positive ions and the negative ions are generated, the effect of the negative ions for relaxing a person is reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to switch the operation mode according to the purpose of use. That is, to obtain a relaxing effect, an operation mode for generating a large amount of negative ions, and to obtain a disinfection / sterilizing effect, to an operation mode for generating substantially the same amount of positive ions and negative ions, by a user's selection, or There is a demand for an ion generator capable of controlling the type and amount of generated ions by automatically switching the operation mode according to the surrounding environment.

  In order to generate only negative ions, it is necessary to output DC, and in the case of high voltage AC, it is sufficient to use half-wave on one side. However, this method increases the size of parts, increases cost, and makes it difficult to switch modes. And so on.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by adding a simple circuit configuration, an ion capable of stably generating negative ions and positive ions and controlling the generation ratio of negative ions and positive ions over a wide range. It is an object to provide a generator and an air conditioner provided with the ion generator.

  An ion generating device according to the present invention is an ion generating device including: an ion generating element having a pair of electrodes; and a voltage applying unit that applies a voltage necessary for generating ions from the ion generating element between the electrodes. A rectifying unit having an anode and a cathode, an opening / closing unit connected in series to the rectifying unit, and a capacitance unit connected in parallel to the rectifying unit; the anode side is connected to one of the electrodes; The cathode side is connected to a ground line provided in the voltage applying means.

  The ion generator according to the present invention is characterized in that the rectifier is a diode.

  The ion generator according to the present invention is characterized in that the capacitance section has a configuration capable of variably controlling the capacitance.

  The ion generator according to the present invention is characterized in that the capacitance section has a configuration in which capacitance elements having different capacitances can be selected.

  The ion generator according to the present invention is characterized in that the ion generator includes an air condition sensor, and variably controls the capacitance of the capacitance unit according to the air condition detection result.

  The air conditioner according to the present invention is characterized in that the air conditioner provided with the ion generator is provided with the ion generator according to the present invention.

  In the present invention, a rectifying unit and a capacitance unit connected in parallel to the rectifying unit are provided, and the cathode side of the rectifying unit is connected to the ground line provided in the voltage applying unit. It is possible to provide an ion generator capable of controlling and controlling the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions.

  In the present invention, since the rectifier is constituted by a diode, it is possible to provide an ion generator capable of controlling the kind of generated ions and controlling the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions with a simple circuit configuration and small components. Become.

  In the present invention, since the capacitance of the capacitance unit is variably controlled, it is possible to provide an ion generator capable of easily variably controlling the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions.

  In the present invention, since the capacitance unit has a configuration in which capacitance elements having different capacitances can be selected, the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions can be easily determined by switching the connection of the capacitance elements. Can be provided.

  In the present invention, the capacitance of the capacitance unit is variably controlled in accordance with the result of air condition detection by the air condition sensor. It is possible to provide an ion generator capable of setting the generation ratio of the positive ions and the negative ions as necessary and the generation ratio of the positive ions and the negative ions.

  In the present invention, since the air conditioner is provided with an ion generator capable of setting the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions, the air conditioner can simultaneously achieve a disinfecting / sterilizing effect and a relaxing effect on airborne bacteria in the air. The device can be provided.

  As described in detail above, in the present invention, by adding a simple circuit of connecting the rectifier and the capacitance unit in parallel, control of the type of ions generated and generation of positive ions and negative ions can be performed. It is possible to provide an ion generator capable of controlling the generation ratio. At this time, if more negative ions are generated than positive ions, it is possible to simultaneously achieve a disinfecting / sterilizing effect on airborne bacteria and a relaxing effect.

  According to the present invention, since the rectifier is constituted by a diode, the type of generated ions can be controlled with a simple circuit configuration and small components, and an ion generation device capable of controlling the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions can be provided. Becomes possible.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ion generator capable of variably controlling the generation ratio of negative ions and positive ions by variably controlling the capacitance.

  According to the present invention, by switching the connection of the capacitance elements having different capacitances, it is possible to provide an ion generator capable of easily controlling the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions in a stepwise manner.

  In the present invention, the capacitance of the capacitance unit is variably controlled in accordance with the result of air condition detection by the air condition sensor (for example, pollution degree sensor). ), It is possible to provide an ion generator capable of controlling the generation of ions of a required type and the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions as required.

  According to the present invention, since the air conditioner is provided with an ion generator capable of setting and changing the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions, it achieves a disinfecting / sterilizing effect and a relaxing effect on airborne bacteria in the air. It is possible to provide an air conditioner that can be used.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments. FIG. 1 is a main circuit diagram of the ion generator according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes an AC commercial power supply, which is connected via an SSR (solid state relay) to a point A which is one input terminal of a high voltage applying means 40 as a voltage applying means. In contrast to point A to which the SSR is connected, point B, which is the other input terminal of the high voltage applying means 40, is directly connected to the AC commercial power supply 30, and here, point B is a ground point, that is, a ground line. The opening and closing of the SSR is controlled by a control signal SS from a control unit 33C of the microcomputer 33. The control signal SS may be directly input by providing a separate direct input unit such as an input button without using the microcomputer control. The SSR is connected to the anode side of the diode D3 via the resistor R1. The cathode side of the diode D3 is connected to the positive side of the capacitor C2. The negative electrode side of the capacitor C2 is connected to the AC commercial power supply 30 via the diode D1. When the SSR is on, power is supplied from the AC commercial power supply 30 to the high voltage applying means 40, and a high voltage (a voltage necessary for generating ions) is applied to the ion generating element 10 to generate ions. . When the SSR is off, no electric power is supplied from the AC commercial power supply 30 to the high voltage applying means 40 and no high voltage is applied to the ion generating element 10, so that no ions are generated.

  One end of a primary winding 31P of the switching transformer 31 is connected to the positive electrode side of the capacitor C2. The other end of the primary winding 31P of the switching transformer 31 is connected to the SCR. The capacitor C1 and the resistors R3, R4, R5 constitute an SCR gate control circuit. The resistor R2 divides the voltage of the AC commercial power supply 30 with the resistor R1, and applies an appropriate voltage to the capacitor C2. The diodes D2 and D4 are for backflow prevention. The switching transformer 31 has a secondary winding 31S on the secondary side, and the ion generating element 10 is connected to the secondary winding 31S. The ion generating element 10 has a dielectric 11 and a pair of electrodes (an internal electrode 12 and a surface electrode 13) opposed to each other with the dielectric 11 interposed therebetween.

  A series circuit composed of a rectifying unit and a switching unit is connected between one of the pair of electrodes (the surface electrode 13 in this case) of the ion generating element 10 and the ground line (that is, point B). The rectifying unit includes an anode and a cathode. Here, the rectifying unit includes a diode D5. The anode is connected to the surface electrode 13 and the cathode is connected to the ground line. The opening / closing means is constituted by the relay 32. A capacitance unit is connected in parallel to the rectifier, that is, the diode D5. The capacitance part is constituted by the capacitor C3. Although the diode (D5) is used as the rectifying means, it goes without saying that other rectifying means may be used.

  The relay 32 is controlled to open and close (on / off control) by a relay control signal 32S from a control unit 33C of the microcomputer 33. The relay control signal 32S is output after appropriately processing and determining various types of input information IN to the input unit 34 of the microcomputer 33. The various types of input information IN to the input unit 34 are, for example, operation mode designation information from an operation unit that allows the user to select an operation mode, such as a measurement result of a pollution degree of the surrounding environment by an environment sensor (for example, a pollution degree sensor). It is. The control unit 33C includes a control circuit that outputs a control signal and the like. It should be noted that an operation unit and the like in the microcomputer 33 are omitted.

  In such a configuration, when the SSR is turned on, an alternating current is applied between the points A and B. However, in a cycle in which the potential at the point A is higher than the potential at the point B, the capacitor C2 is charged (the SCR is turned off). Maintain). Next, when the alternating current is inverted (the period at which the potential at the point B is higher than the potential at the point A), a voltage higher than the threshold voltage is applied between the gate and cathode of the SCR by the operation of the gate control circuit, and the SCR is turned on. When the SCR is turned on, the capacitor C2 is discharged, and a current flows through the path of the capacitor C2 → the switching transformer 31 (primary winding 31P) → the SCR → the diode D1, thereby also inducing the secondary winding 31S of the switching transformer 31. Voltage is generated.

  Since the ion generating element 10 is a pseudo capacitive load and a resistive load, the secondary circuit of the switching transformer 31 is equivalently an LCR oscillation circuit, and corresponds to the energy charged in the primary capacitor C2. Vibration stops after energy is released and consumed on the secondary side.

  FIG. 2 is a potential waveform diagram in the ion generating element used in the present invention. The vertical axis indicates the voltage V, and the horizontal axis indicates the time T. The voltage is about 5 to 7 kV from the peak (positive) to the peak (negative), and the oscillation period of the oscillation waveform is about 0.1 to 0.2 ms. This vibration waveform is generated at a cycle corresponding to the frequency of the AC commercial power supply 30. FIG. 7A shows a potential waveform when the relay 32 in the circuit of FIG. 1 is turned off (that is, the diode D5 is not connected), and substantially the same amount of negative ions and positive ions are generated. FIG. 2B shows a potential waveform when the capacitor C3 is removed and the relay 32 is turned on (that is, the diode D5 is connected) in the circuit of FIG. Since the diode D5 cuts off the current in one direction, the potential of the surface electrode 13 has a waveform shifted in the negative direction when viewed from the potential of the point B. Therefore, an ion generation state is obtained in which the ratio of positive ions is small and the number of negative ions is large. FIG. 3C shows that the relay 32 in the circuit of FIG. 1 is turned on (that is, the diode D5 is connected, and a capacitor C3 (for example, 100 pF to 1000 pF in capacitance) is added in parallel with the diode D5. (Case) is shown. The potential of the surface electrode 13 shifts in the plus direction as compared to the case of FIG. By adjusting the magnitude of the capacitance of the capacitor C3, it is possible to control the generation ratio of positive ions and negative ions.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an ion generation state of the ion generator according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, when the relay 32 is in the ON state (that is, when the diode D5 is connected and the capacitor C3 is further added in parallel with the diode D5), the change in the ion generation state due to the change in the capacitance of the capacitor C3. It is shown. It can be seen that the negative ions gradually decrease and the positive ions gradually increase as the capacitance of the capacitor C3 increases. Incidentally, when the capacitance is 100 pF, the positive ions are 70,000 / cc and the negative ions are 580,000 / cc. When the capacitance is 200 pF, the positive ions are 140,000 / cc and the negative ions are 380,000 / cc. At cc and a capacitance of 1000 pF, positive ions were measured at 320,000 / cc and negative ions at 220,000 / cc. When the capacitance was zero, the number of positive ions was 100,000 / cc and the number of negative ions was 1,000,000 / cc.

  The capacitance of the capacitor C3 can be made variable by using, for example, a variable capacitor. In addition, a plurality of capacitors having different capacitances can be connected in parallel and each capacitor can be selected. It can also be realized by selecting a necessary capacitor by a changeover switch. A configuration in which only one capacitor is selected or a configuration in which a plurality of capacitors are selected may be employed. By adopting a selectable configuration, the capacitance can be easily controlled in a stepwise manner, and the control of the generated ions becomes easier. At this time, a mechanical switch may be used as the selection means, or an electronic switching means (for example, a solid state switch such as a solid state relay) may be used.

  The ion generator may further include an air condition sensor. The air condition sensor is, for example, a pollution degree sensor, specifically, a dust sensor, an odor sensor, or the like. Based on the detection results of these sensors, a microcomputer or the like automatically makes necessary judgments appropriately according to a program incorporated in advance, thereby generating necessary ion species and generating positive ions and negative ions. The occurrence rate can be controlled automatically. Alternatively, the output of the sensor may be recognized by a person, and the ion generator may be manually controlled.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the ion generating element used in the present invention. FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of the ion generating element, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the ion generating element. In the figure, an ion generating element 10 has a surface electrode 13 provided on the surface of a flat dielectric 11, a surface electrode contact 15 provided on the surface of the dielectric 11 for supplying power to the surface electrode 13, An internal electrode 12 embedded in the dielectric 11 and provided in parallel with the surface electrode 13, and an internal electrode contact 14 provided on the surface of the dielectric 11 for supplying power to the internal electrode 12. I have. The dielectric 11 includes an upper dielectric 11a, a lower dielectric 11b, and a surface protection dielectric 11c.

  As a material of the dielectric 11, as the organic substance, a material having excellent oxidation resistance is preferable, and for example, a resin such as polyimide or glass epoxy can be used. As the inorganic substance, high-purity alumina, crystallized glass, Forsterite, ceramics such as steatite can be used, but inorganic materials are more preferable in consideration of corrosion resistance, and furthermore, ceramics are used in consideration of formability and ease of electrode configuration described later. It is preferable to mold it. In addition, since it is desirable that the insulation resistance between the surface electrode 13 and the internal electrode 12 is uniform, it is more preferable that the density variation within the material is small and the insulation rate of the dielectric 11 is uniform. The shape of the dielectric 11 may be another shape such as a circular plate, an elliptical plate, or a polygonal plate, or may be a columnar shape. (This plate shape includes both a disk shape and a rectangular parallelepiped shape).

  The surface electrode 13 can be used without any particular limitation as long as it has conductivity, provided that it does not cause deformation such as melting by electric discharge. The surface electrode 13 is formed integrally with the dielectric 11 on the surface of the dielectric 11 and has a depth from the surface (when the surface electrode 13 is provided on the internal electrode 12 side from the surface of the dielectric) or a thickness (dielectric). (When the surface electrode 13 is provided so as to protrude from the surface) is desirably uniform. The shape of the surface electrode 13 may be any of a planar shape, a lattice shape, a linear shape, and the like. Since the discharge can be performed even when the applied voltage is low, it is desirable to adopt a shape such as a grid or a line in which electric field concentration is likely to occur.

  Similar to the surface electrode 13, the internal electrode 12 can be used without particular limitation as long as it has conductivity. Since it is desirable that the insulation resistance between the surface electrode 13 and the internal electrode 12 is uniform, it is desirable that the internal electrode 12 be parallel to the surface electrode 13. For this reason, it is preferable to dispose inside the dielectric 11 in parallel with the surface electrode 13 so as to face the surface electrode 13 so that the distance between the surface electrode 13 and the internal electrode 12 is constant. Thereby, the discharge state between the surface electrode 13 and the internal electrode 12 is stabilized, and it is possible to preferably generate positive ions and negative ions.

  Next, the internal electrode contact 14 is a contact that is electrically connected to the internal electrode 12 and the front electrode contact 15 is a contact that is electrically connected to the front electrode 13. A high voltage is applied to this contact via a lead wire such as a copper wire or an aluminum wire. The means (40 in FIG. 1) is connected. The surface electrode contact 15 may be provided on any surface as long as it is the surface of the dielectric 11 for ease of connection with a lead wire. It is desirable that the distance from the surface electrode contact 15 be longer than the distance between the electrodes. The internal electrode contact 14 may be provided on any surface as long as it is a surface of a dielectric material for ease of connection with a lead wire, but since it has the same potential as the internal electrode 12, the internal electrode contact 14 is It is desirable that the distance from the electrode contact 14 is farther than the distance between the electrodes. With this configuration, a stable discharge state can be obtained.

  In addition, the distance between the surface electrode contact 15 and the internal electrode contact 14 is formed longer than the distance between the electrodes. Furthermore, when both the surface electrode contact 15 and the internal electrode contact 14 are provided on the surface (lower surface) opposite to the surface (upper surface) on which the surface electrode 13 is provided, the surface electrode 13 on which the positive ions and the negative ions are generated is provided. Since no wiring such as a lead wire is arranged, it is preferable that air is blown to the surface on which the surface electrode 13 is provided, since the flow of air is not disturbed by the lead wire. Such an effect can be obtained similarly by providing the surface electrode contact 15 and the internal electrode contact 14 at positions other than the upper surface.

  An air purifier as an example of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the air purifier according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the air purifier according to the present invention. The air cleaner 80 has a main body front portion 81 and a main body rear portion 82 as main components. An outlet 83 is provided at an upper rear portion of the air purifier 80 to supply clean air containing ions into the room. A part of the fan housing space portion 84 forms a convex portion in the main body rear portion 82. An air intake 85 is formed at the center of the air purifier 80. The air intake 85 takes in air from the front of the air purifier 80 through a front filter (not shown), passes through a fan casing 86, and outputs clean air to the outside through a slit hole 87 communicating with the outlet 83. Supply. The ion generator 1 is provided inside the fan casing 86. Thus, the air purifier 80 can be provided with an ion supply function, and the supply of ions of a type required and the ratio of positive ions to negative ions can be controlled.

FIG. 2 is a main circuit diagram of the ion generator according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a potential waveform diagram in the ion generating element used in the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an ion generating element used in the present invention. It is a perspective view of the air cleaner concerning the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the air purifier according to the present invention. It is an explanatory view of the ion generation situation of the ion generator concerning the present invention.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ion generator 10 Ion generating element 12 Internal electrode 13 Surface electrode 32 Relay 40 High voltage applying means 80 Air cleaner C3 Capacitor D5 Diode

Claims (6)

  An ion generating device having a pair of electrodes, and an ion generating device including voltage applying means for applying a voltage required for generating ions from the ion generating element between the electrodes, a rectifying means having an anode and a cathode, An opening / closing unit connected in series to the rectifying unit; and a capacitance unit connected in parallel to the rectifying unit. The anode side is connected to one of the electrodes, and the cathode side is provided in the voltage applying unit. An ion generator connected to a ground wire.   The ion generator according to claim 1, wherein the rectifier is a diode.   The ion generator according to claim 1, wherein the capacitance unit is configured to variably control the capacitance.   4. The ion generator according to claim 1, wherein the capacitance unit is configured to select a capacitance element having a different capacitance. 5.   5. The ion according to claim 1, wherein the ion generator includes an air condition sensor, and variably controls a capacitance of the capacitance unit according to an air condition detection result. 6. Generator.   An air conditioner provided with an ion generating device, comprising the ion generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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