JP2005040759A - Vibration type atomizer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain desired atomization performance by properly abutting a vibrating element and an impregnated body with each other in a vibration type atomizer. <P>SOLUTION: This vibration type atomizer 10 is provided with the vibrating element 12, the impregnated body 14 in which a liquid is impregnated and a supporting body 16 for supporting the vibrating element 12 in a prescribed supporting zone L, and the vibrating element 12 supported by the supporting body 16 is abutted with the impregnated body 14 at a certain position in the supporting zone L. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vibrating atomizer that atomizes liquid by vibrating a vibrator.

  Some vibration atomizers abut a vibrator on an impregnated body impregnated with a liquid and vibrate the liquid in the vicinity of the contact portion to atomize the liquid. As this type of conventional technology, for example, one disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-10146

  In this type of vibration atomizer, the vibrator and the impregnated body need to contact each other in an appropriate state. However, it may be difficult to arrange the impregnated body in a desired contact state due to variations in manufacturing of the impregnated body itself or in an assembled state, and the desired atomization performance may not be obtained.

  A vibratory atomizer according to the present invention includes a vibrator, an impregnated body impregnated with a liquid, and a support body capable of supporting the vibrator in a predetermined support section, and any one of the support sections In position, the vibrator supported by the support is configured to contact the impregnated body.

  In the vibratory atomizer according to the present invention, it is preferable that the support body supports the vibrator in a posture in which a portion deviated from the central axis of the vibrator is in contact with the contact surface of the impregnation body. It is.

  In the vibratory atomizer according to the present invention, it is preferable that the support body supports the vibrator in a posture in which an edge portion of the vibrator is in contact with a contact surface of the impregnation body.

  In the vibratory atomizer according to the present invention, it is preferable that the support body includes a guide mechanism that supports the vibrator movably in the support section.

  In the vibratory atomizer according to the present invention, the vibrator has a flange portion protruding outward, and the support has a guide hole into which the flange portion is inserted as the guide mechanism. Is preferred.

  Moreover, in the vibration type atomizer according to the present invention, the vibrator is caused to vibrate by an applied voltage, and a portion where the collar part and the support are in contact with each other is made of a conductor, It is preferably used as a conduction path for applying a voltage.

  Further, in the vibration atomizer according to the present invention, the support body sandwiches the vibrator in a state where the support body is movable in the support section by the guide mechanism, and the support body is elastically at least at one end side thereof. By expanding, it is preferable that the vibrator is inserted from the expanded end portion to the clamping position.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. Drawing 1 is a figure showing an example of the principal part composition of vibration type atomizer 10 concerning this embodiment, and (a) is a figure (front view) seen from the radiation destination side of fog, and (b). 2 is a side view showing an example of the vibrator 12 used in the vibratory atomizer 10 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the vibrator 12 attached to the vibratory atomizer 10 of FIG. FIG.

  A vibratory atomizer 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a vibrator 12, an impregnated body 14, and a support body 16. The vibrator 12 abuts on the abutting surface 14a of the impregnated body 14 and vibrates the liquid in the vicinity of the abutting surface 14a to atomize the liquid. A mechanism such as an electric fan (not shown) may be provided so that the atomized liquid is diffused over a wider range.

  A tank 20 is mounted below the substrate 18, and a liquid reservoir 22 for a liquid such as a chemical solution is formed in the tank 20. A part of the impregnated body 14 is immersed in the liquid reservoir 22.

  The impregnated body 14 has a function of impregnating liquid and supplying the liquid from the liquid reservoir 22 to the contact surface 14a by capillary action, and is made of a water-absorbing material such as felt, string, thread, paper, sponge, etc. Is done. In this example, even if the weight (part of) of the vibrator 12 is applied from the contact surface 14a, the exposed portion (the region of length S in FIG. 1A) falls or the contact surface 14a is depressed. Specifications (material, configuration, exposure length, elastic modulus, etc.) that do not occur as much as possible are selected or set. The impregnated body 14 is led from the inside of the tank 20 (below the substrate 18) to the upper side of the substrate 18 through the substrate 18 and the through hole 24 provided in the support body 16. Further, the impregnated body 14 is held by an annular cap 26 in a state in which a tip portion thereof is exposed by a predetermined length S, and the cap 26 is fixed to the support body 16, whereby Thus, the impregnated body 14 is fixed. However, this is only an example, and the support 16 may be provided with a mechanism for gripping the impregnated body 14, or the through hole 24 may be formed in an appropriate diameter or shape according to the outer diameter of the impregnated body 14. The impregnated body 14 may be held by the through hole 24.

  As the vibrator 12, for example, a Langevin type ultrasonic vibrator (FIG. 2) can be used. The vibrator 12 in FIG. 2 has a so-called rotating body shape in which the periphery of the cross section perpendicular to the central axis O is circular, and further has an annular flange 28 projecting outward. The flange 28 is provided at the position of the node of the vibration mode mainly used among the standing waves of vibration generated by the vibrator 12. Thus, by using the flange 28 provided at the position of the node as a support portion, the loss of vibration energy of the vibrator 12 is suppressed, and the “12” of the vibrator 12 in the state of being supported by the support body 16 is suppressed. "Rack" is suppressed. The vibrator 12 is installed so that the end region 12 a at the tip of the horn 33 contacts the impregnated body 14. At this time, the end region 12a becomes an antinode in the vibration mode. In this example, the vibrator 12 has a very simple configuration in which the piezoelectric body 30 is attached (for example, bonded) to the rear surface of a solid horn 33 formed by cutting or pressing. Further, the flange 28 is formed as a part of the horn 33. However, this is only an example, and it goes without saying that vibrators of other configurations, shapes, or types can be used.

  The vibrator 12 includes a disk-shaped piezoelectric body (for example, a piezo element) 30 as a vibration source. Electrodes (for example, silver electrodes) 32a and 32b are formed on the front and back surfaces of the piezoelectric body 30 (polarization direction, ie, both end surfaces in the axial direction), respectively. Here, one of the two electrodes 32 a and 32 b is electrically connected to the flange 28. Each of the flange 28 and the support 16 (at least a part in contact with each other) is composed of a conductor (for example, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, etc.), and a conduction path for applying a driving voltage of the vibrator 12. (However, in this example, the entire horn 33 and the support 16 are conductors.) As an example, when the support body 16 is electrically connected to the ground electrode (ground) of the substrate 18, the flange 28 and the support body 16 become a part of a conduction path (circuit) between the electrode 32a and the ground electrode. . The other electrode 32b is connected to the positive electrode side of a drive circuit (not shown) via a conducting wire 34. Each element that forms an electric circuit related to driving of the vibrator 12 including this driving circuit is preferably mounted on the upper surface or the lower surface of the substrate 18 (however, the portion where the support 16 and the tank 20 are not mounted).

  The vibrator 12 is in contact with the contact surface 14 a of the impregnated body 14 while being supported by the support body 16. In the example of FIG. 1, the support 16 is formed by bending a rectangular metal plate (for example, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, etc.) into a U-shape.

  The two side plates 16a and 16b of the support 16 are each formed with a long hole-shaped guide hole 36. The width W of the guide hole 36 is slightly larger than the height H (FIG. 2) of the flange 28 of the vibrator 12, and the flange 28 is fitted (slowly inserted) into the guide holes 36 of both side plates 16a and 16b. It has become so. As a result, movement of the vibrator 12 in the direction along the central axis O and change in posture such as rotation of the vibrator 12 are restricted. Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, in a state where the flange 28 is inserted into the guide hole 36, that is, in a state where the vibrator 12 is supported by the support body 16, the contact with the central axis O of the vibrator 12 The surface 14a forms an angle α (0 ° ≦ α <90 °, preferably 0 ° <α <30 °), whereby the lower end of the edge E of the end region 12a (FIG. 2) is made to impregnate the body 14a. It contacts with the contact surface 14a. Further, the vibrator 12 is movable between the sections L (= support sections) along the extending direction (longitudinal direction) of the guide hole 36 (in the absence of the impregnated body 14). That is, the guide hole 36 functions as a guide mechanism that supports the vibrator 12 while allowing the vibrator 12 to move to an arbitrary position within the support section L. Thereby, even if the length of the exposed portion S of the impregnated body 14 varies within a predetermined range, the same portion (the edge E in this example) of the vibrator 12 contacts the contact surface 14a in that range. It will be. In addition, in this example, the vibrator 12 comes into contact with the contact surface 14a in substantially the same posture (angle) regardless of the position. According to such a configuration, there is an effect that individual differences (variations) in atomization performance (for example, particle diameter, atomization flow rate, etc.) are suppressed.

  Further, the contact of the edge E with the contact surface 14a of the impregnated body 14 is meaningful from the viewpoint of suppressing energy loss. Here, if the central portion of the end region 12a (FIG. 2) of the vibrator 12 (that is, the portion near the central axis O) is in contact with the contact surface 14a, the central portion is the end region 12a. In this case, since the portion has the largest amplitude, the loss of vibration energy becomes larger than in the case where the portion other than the central portion contacts. That is, in this embodiment, energy loss is suppressed by contacting a part (for example, the edge E) deviated from the center axis O of the vibrator 12 to the contact surface 14a of the impregnated body. In this example, even if the length of the exposed portion S of the impregnated body 14 varies within a predetermined range, the same position of the vibrator 12, that is, the edge portion E is in contact within that range. The effect is obtained at the position.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, at least one end side (upper side in the example of FIG. 1) of the support 16 is elastically expanded by being spread by the flange 28, and the expanded side The vibrator 12 is inserted from the upper side (that is, the upper side) to the position where the vibrator 12 is held by the support 16 (that is, the state shown in FIG. 1A). In this example, the support 16 itself is elastically deformed to expand / restore, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the support 16 itself is expanded using an elastic body (such as a spring or rubber) as a separate member. It may be configured to open / restore.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the vibrator is arbitrarily movable in the support section along the guide mechanism is described as an example. Instead, the vibrator is arranged at a plurality of positions or regions of the support body. It may be configured so that it can be selectively mounted (supported) in (support section), and a desired contact state may be realized when the vibrator is mounted on any of them. However, when the vibrator is provided with a guide mechanism that descends due to its own weight as in the example of FIG. 1, even if the contact portion of the impregnated body is recessed or worn, There is an advantage that the desired movement state can be maintained by automatically moving along the guide mechanism.

  The guide hole may be formed as a bottomed groove instead of being a through hole, and the extending direction of the guide hole (that is, the moving direction of the vibrator) is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, while maintaining a state (posture) in which the contact surface and the central axis of the vibrator form an angle α, the vibrator is movable in a direction (for example, up and down direction; vertical direction) that is not perpendicular to the central axis. It may be made to become. Alternatively, the vibrator may be provided with a recess in place of the flange, the support may be provided with a protrusion fitted in the recess in place of the guide hole, and the protrusion may be used as a guide mechanism.

It is a figure which shows an example of the principal part structure of the vibration type atomizer concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows an example of the vibrator | oscillator used for the vibration type atomizer concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the support body expanded when attaching a vibrator | oscillator to the vibration type atomizer concerning embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vibrating atomizer, 12 vibrator | oscillator, 12a edge part area, 14 impregnation body, 14a contact surface, 16 support body, 16a, 16b side plate, 18 board | substrate, 20 tank, 22 liquid pool, 24 through-hole, 26 cap , 28 鍔, 30 piezoelectric body, 32a, 32b electrode, 33 horn, 34 conductor, 36 guide hole, E edge, L support section, O center axis.

Claims (7)

A vibrator,
An impregnated body for impregnating the liquid;
A support capable of supporting the vibrator in a predetermined support section;
With
The vibratory atomizer is configured such that a vibrator supported by the support comes into contact with the impregnated body at any position in the support section.   2. The vibratory atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the support supports the vibrator in a posture in which a portion deviated from a central axis of the vibrator contacts the contact surface of the impregnated body. .   3. The vibrating mist according to claim 1, wherein the support supports the vibrator in a posture in which an edge portion of an end region of the vibrator is in contact with a contact surface of the impregnated body. Generator.   The vibrating atomizer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the support includes a guide mechanism that supports the vibrator in a movable manner in the support section. The vibrator has a collar portion protruding outward,
The vibrating atomizer according to claim 4, wherein the support has a guide hole into which the flange portion is inserted as the guide mechanism. The vibrator is caused to vibrate by an applied voltage,
The vibration atomizer according to claim 5, wherein a portion of the flange portion and the support that abuts each other is made of a conductor and is used as a conduction path for applying the voltage. The support body sandwiches the vibrator in a state of being movable in a support section by the guide mechanism,
7. The vibrator is inserted from the expanded end portion to a clamping position by elastically expanding the support body at least at one end side thereof. Vibrating atomizer described in 1.

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