JP2005061950A - Anion sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an anion sensor which enables a reliable measurement of the amount of anions in the air despite its small or thin structure. <P>SOLUTION: In the anion sensor, one planar electrode is provided on one surface of an insulating substrate, while the other planar electrode, which constitutes an electrode pair with the one planar electrode, is provided such that it faces the one planar electrode through space. On the one surface of the insulating substrate, an anion measuring circuit, which performs detection by the electrode pair, on an area adjacent to the electrode installation area on which the one planar electrode is provided. The air, of which the amount of anion is to be measured, is supplied to a pathway formed by space between the one planar electrode and the other planar electrode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a negative ion sensor that measures the amount of negative ions in air.

In recent years, negative ions in the air have attracted attention as one factor for improving the comfort of indoor environments and the like. Negative ions are said to be useful for the human body, for example, to promote emotional and autonomic nerve stability, fatigue recovery, cell activation, and the like. Taking advantage of these advantages, some products such as air purifiers and air conditioners incorporate negative ion generators for the purpose of air purification, and at the same time, these devices incorporate ion sensors. Monitoring of the occurrence of negative ions has been carried out.
In addition, it is expected that the ion stress of the rock mass can be measured with an ion sensor and the earthquake can be predicted based on the measurement result.

  Conventionally, as such an ion sensor, a capacitor is basically formed by two electrode plates to accumulate a certain amount of electric charge on the electrode plates, and the amount of negative ions in a uniform electric field formed between the electrode plates. The amount of charge lost as a result of supplying the air to be measured and neutralizing the negative ions contained in the air attracted to the electrode plate is measured by the measurement circuit as a potential difference per unit time. Is used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, since the amount of negative ions present in the air to be measured is usually very small, it is necessary to increase the amount of air to be circulated in order to reliably perform the measurement. However, in order to achieve this, it is necessary to enlarge the electrode plate, and the ion sensor inevitably becomes large.
In addition, since the conventional ion sensor has a configuration in which the electrode plate and the measurement circuit are connected by lead wires, there is a problem that the arrangement or formation of the connection conductive path becomes complicated.
JP 2000-46799 A

  The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a negative ion sensor capable of performing a reliable measurement of the amount of negative ions in the air while being small or thin. Is to provide.

In the negative ion sensor of the present invention, one planar electrode is provided on one surface of an insulating substrate, and the other planar electrode constituting an electrode pair with the one planar electrode is the same as the one planar electrode. Provided to face each other through a space,
On one surface of the insulating substrate, a measurement circuit for negative ions detected by the electrode pair is provided in a region adjacent to the electrode arrangement region where the one planar electrode is provided,
The air whose amount of negative ions is to be measured is supplied to a flow path formed by a space between the one planar electrode and the other planar electrode.

In this negative ion sensor, a metal shield case that partitions a closed space together with the insulating substrate is provided on one surface side of the insulating substrate provided with one planar electrode. It is preferable that the other planar electrode is formed by a portion facing one surface of the insulating substrate.
Moreover, it is preferable that the air circulation hole is formed in the mutually opposing side wall part in the surrounding wall part of a shield case.

In the negative ion sensor of the present invention, a first one planar electrode is provided on one surface of an insulating substrate, and the first other surface constituting an electrode pair with the first one planar electrode. A planar electrode is provided to face the first one planar electrode through a space;
A second one planar electrode is provided on the other surface of the insulating substrate, and the second other planar electrode constituting an electrode pair with the second one planar electrode is the second planar electrode. It is provided to face one planar electrode through a space,
On one surface of the insulating substrate, negative ions detected by the first electrode pair and the second electrode pair in a region adjacent to the electrode placement region where the first one planar electrode is provided. The measurement circuit of
A first flow path and a second one surface shape formed by a space between the first one planar electrode and the first other planar electrode are air whose negative ion amount is to be measured. It is characterized by being supplied to a second flow path formed by a space between the electrode and the second other planar electrode.

In this negative ion sensor, a first shield case made of metal that partitions a closed space together with the insulating substrate is provided on one surface side of the insulating substrate on which the first one planar electrode is provided. The first other planar electrode is formed by a portion of the first shield case facing the one surface of the insulating substrate,
On the other surface side of the insulating substrate on which the second one planar electrode is provided, a second shield case made of metal that partitions the closed space together with the insulating substrate is provided. This second shield It is preferable that the second other planar electrode is formed by a portion facing the other surface of the insulating substrate in the case.
In addition, air flow holes are formed in the side walls facing each other in the peripheral wall portion of the first shield case,
It is preferable that air circulation holes are formed in opposite side wall portions of the peripheral wall portion of the second shield case.

Furthermore, in the negative ion sensor of the present invention, one mesh electrode is disposed along one surface of the insulating substrate, and the other mesh electrode constituting the electrode pair with the one mesh electrode is It is arranged so as to be stacked via a space on one mesh electrode,
A negative ion measuring circuit detected by the electrode pair is provided,
The air whose amount of negative ions is to be measured is supplied so as to continuously pass through the one mesh electrode and the other mesh electrode.

  In this negative ion sensor, it is preferable that the measurement circuit is provided in a region adjacent to the electrode arrangement region in which the one mesh electrode is provided on one surface of the insulating substrate.

  According to the negative ion sensor having a configuration in which one planar electrode and the measurement circuit are provided adjacent to each other on the same surface of the insulating substrate, the connection for connecting the one planar electrode to the measurement circuit The conductive path can be made simple, and the connection path can be formed along the same surface to achieve a reduction in thickness.

  Further, the first one planar electrode and the measurement circuit are provided adjacent to each other on one surface of the insulating substrate, and the second one planar electrode is provided on the other surface of the insulating substrate. According to the negative ion sensor having the provided structure, one planar electrode is disposed on both surfaces of the insulating substrate in addition to the reduction in thickness similar to the above-described one. As a result, the area of the planar electrode for capturing negative ions becomes wide, and a sufficiently large amount of negative ions is captured, so that the amount of negative ions with high reliability can be measured.

  Furthermore, one mesh electrode constituting the electrode pair is stacked on the other mesh electrode via a space, and air for which the amount of negative ions is to be measured continues to one mesh electrode and the other mesh electrode. According to the negative ion sensor having a configuration that passes through and is supplied, even if the distance between one mesh electrode and the other mesh electrode is small, the amount of negative ions can be measured with high reliability. Furthermore, since a strong electric field is formed between one mesh electrode and the other mesh electrode, it is possible to reliably capture negative ions passing near the mesh, An even more reliable measurement of the amount of negative ions can be performed.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an example of a negative ion sensor according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view for explanation by a cross section along the air flow direction of the negative ion sensor of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of one surface of the insulating substrate of the negative ion sensor of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the other surface of the insulating substrate of the negative ion sensor of FIG.

  In the negative ion sensor 10, a first shield case 21 and a second shield case 22 made of metal that define a closed space together with the insulating substrate 12 are provided on one surface side and the other surface side of the insulating substrate 12, respectively. Is provided.

  The insulating substrate 12 is made of, for example, glass epoxy, and the first one planar electrode 16 made of a metal plate is provided in the electrode arrangement region on one surface thereof, and the measurement is adjacent to the electrode arrangement region. A measurement circuit 18 to be described later is provided in the circuit arrangement region, and the first one planar electrode 16 is electrically connected to the measurement circuit 18 on the one surface.

In the first shield case 21, the first other planar electrode 26 is formed by a portion facing the first one planar electrode 16 through a space, and the first one planar electrode 26 is formed. 16 and the first other planar electrode 26 constitute a first electrode pair for detecting negative ions.
A first flow path X1 to which air for measuring the amount of negative ions is supplied is formed by a space between the first one planar electrode 16 and the first other planar electrode 26. Air flow holes 28a and 28b for supplying air are formed in the side wall portions 21A and 21B facing each other in the peripheral wall portion of the first shield case 21, respectively.

  On the other hand, a second one planar electrode 17 made of a metal plate is provided in the electrode forming region on the other surface of the insulating substrate 12, and the second one planar electrode 17 is, for example, The measurement circuit 18 on one surface of the insulating substrate 12 is electrically connected through a through hole (not shown) provided in the insulating substrate 12.

  In the second shield case 22, the second other planar electrode 27 is formed by a portion facing the second one planar electrode 17 through a space, and the second one planar electrode is formed. 17 and the second other planar electrode 27 constitute a second electrode pair for detecting negative ions.

  A second flow path X2 to which air for measuring the amount of negative ions is supplied is formed by a space between the second one planar electrode 17 and the second other planar electrode 27. Air circulation holes 28c and 28d for supplying air are formed in the side wall portions 22A and 22B facing each other in the peripheral wall portion of the second shield case 22, respectively.

  The direction in which air flows in the first flow path X1 and the direction in which air flows in the second flow path X2 are the same direction.

The measurement circuit 18 has a function of measuring the amount of change in potential per unit time in the first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17, and for example, the first one planar electrode 16 A storage circuit (not shown) for storing a certain amount of charge from a constant voltage power source (not shown) provided on the insulating substrate 12 in the planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17; The first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17 are configured by a high impedance amplifier (not shown) for detecting the potential of the first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17.
The measurement circuit arrangement region in which the measurement circuit 18 is provided is located inside a closed space defined by the insulating substrate 12 and the first shield case 21.

  In the negative ion sensor 10 of this example, the first shield case 21 and the second shield case 22 are practically the entirety of the negative ion sensor 10 is covered with a conductive material, and the static electricity in the external environment Therefore, the negative ion sensor 10 can perform measurement with higher reliability.

  Reference numerals 19 provided at the four corners of the insulating substrate 12 are mounting holes used when the negative ion sensor 10 is incorporated into another device.

As an example of the dimensions of the negative ion sensor 10, the thickness (height in FIG. 1) of the external shape of the negative ion sensor 10 is 10.2 mm, and the lateral direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1) of the insulating substrate 12 is. The length is 80 mm, the length in the vertical direction (depth direction in FIG. 1) is 50.0 mm, the horizontal length in the shield cases 21 and 22 is 66.0 mm, and the height is 4.3 mm.
The air circulation holes 28a, 28b, 28c, and 28d have a diameter of, for example, 2.5 mm, and a total of 56 air circulation holes 14a are formed on each of the side wall portions 21A, 21B, 22A, and 22B.
The copper plates constituting the first shield case 21 and the second shield case 22 are 0.5 mm thick, and the thickness of the insulating substrate 12 is 1.6 mm.

The areas of the first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17 are 2000 mm ² , respectively.

  The flow rate of the air supplied to the first flow path X1 and the second flow path X2 is, for example, 240 ml / sec. When the flow rate of the air supplied to the first flow path X1 and the second flow path X2 is excessively small or excessive, the negative ion sensor 10 cannot measure the negative ion amount with high reliability.

Further, for example, when the flow rate of air is 200 ml / sec, the negative ion sensor 10 can measure in the range of 0 to about 158,000 ions / cm ³ .

In the negative ion sensor 10, in the state where positive charges are accumulated in the first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17 from the constant voltage power source, The air whose amount of negative ions is to be measured is supplied to the two flow paths X2.
And it accumulates in the first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17 according to the amount of negative ions contained in the air flowing through the first flow path X1 and the second flow path X2. The positive charge is neutralized and the potential is lowered.
Therefore, the amount of negative ions can be measured by detecting the amount of change in potential per unit time in the first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17.

  In the negative ion sensor 10 having the above configuration, since the first one planar electrode 16 and the measurement circuit 18 are provided adjacent to each other on the same surface of the insulating substrate 12, the first ion sensor 10 The connection conductive path for connecting one planar electrode 16 to the measurement circuit 18 can be simplified. By forming the connection conductive path along the same surface, the thickness can be reduced. Achieved.

  Further, the first one planar electrode 16 and the second one planar electrode 17 are disposed on both surfaces of the insulating substrate 12, respectively, so that a planar electrode for capturing negative ions can be obtained. Since the area is large and a sufficiently large amount of negative ions is captured, the amount of negative ions can be measured with high reliability.

  In the negative ion sensor of the present invention, one planar electrode is provided only on one surface of the insulating substrate, and accordingly, the metal that partitions the closed space together with the insulating substrate only on one surface side of the insulating substrate. A configuration in which a shield case made of metal is provided can also be adopted.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of another configuration example of the negative ion sensor according to the present invention in a state where the shield cover is removed, and FIG. 6 is a cross section of the negative ion sensor in FIG. 5 along the air flow direction. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the negative ion sensor of FIG.

  The negative ion sensor 30 of this example is configured by stacking one electrode structure 34 having one mesh electrode 36 and the other electrode structure 35 having the other mesh electrode 37. Yes.

  One electrode assembly 34 is formed on one surface of the one insulating substrate 32 so as to close one insulating substrate 32 made of, for example, glass epoxy, and the through hole 42 provided in the one insulating substrate 32. And a measurement circuit arrangement area 40 adjacent to the electrode arrangement area where the one mesh electrode 36 is arranged is measured later. A circuit (not shown) is provided. One mesh electrode 36 is electrically connected to the measurement circuit.

  The other electrode assembly 35 is formed on one surface of the other insulating substrate 33 so as to close the other insulating substrate 33 made of, for example, glass epoxy, and the through hole 43 provided in the other insulating substrate 33. And the other mesh electrode arranged along.

  The measurement circuit measures the amount of change in potential per unit time at one mesh electrode 36. For example, one mesh is supplied from a constant voltage power source (not shown) provided on one insulating substrate 32. A storage circuit (not shown) for accumulating a constant charge in the electrode 36, a high impedance amplifier (not shown) for measuring the potential of one mesh electrode 36, and the like.

  One mesh electrode 36 and the other mesh electrode 37 constituting the electrode pair are opposed to each other through a space Y having the same thickness as the other insulating substrate 33 as a spacer. Specifically, one surface side of one insulating substrate 32 and the other surface side of the other insulating substrate 33 face each other, and the position of the through hole 42 in the one insulating substrate 32 and the other insulating substrate One electrode structure 34 is stacked on the other electrode structure 35 so that the position of the through-hole 43 according to 33 coincides in the stacking direction.

In this negative ion sensor 30, practically the entire negative ion sensor 30 is externally covered with a conductive material by shield cases 38 and 39 and shield covers 44 and 45 made of a conductive plate material such as copper. It has become.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, one half region including the electrode placement region on one surface of one insulating substrate 32 is covered with the other insulating substrate 33, but the measurement circuit placement region The other half region including 40 is covered with a shield case 39, and a shield cover that is continuous with the shield case 39 except for a region where one surface of the other insulating substrate 33 corresponds to the other mesh electrode 37 is provided. 45. One half region including the region corresponding to the measurement circuit arrangement region 40 on the other surface of the one insulating substrate 32 is covered with the shield case 38, and the remaining other half region is continuous with the shield case 38. Covered by a shield cover 44.

  Since almost the whole of the negative ion sensor 30 is covered with a conductive material including the shield cases 38 and 39 and the shield covers 44 and 45, the influence of an electric field such as static electricity in the external environment is prevented. Therefore, the negative ion sensor 30 can perform highly reliable measurement.

  Reference numeral 46 denotes mounting holes provided at the four corners of one insulating substrate 32 and the two corners of the other insulating substrate 33 and used when the negative ion sensor 30 is incorporated into another device.

Taking a dimension example of the negative ion sensor 30, the length of one insulating substrate 32 in the horizontal direction (left-right direction in FIG. 5) is 60 mm, and the length in the vertical direction (depth direction in FIG. 5) is 40 mm. . The copper plate forming the shield cases 38 and 39 is 0.5 mm thick.
The through holes 42 and 43 have a diameter of 25 mm.
The thickness of one insulating substrate 32 and the other insulating substrate 33 is 1.6 mm.

In the negative ion sensor 30, for example, a direction in which the other mesh electrode 37 and the one mesh electrode 36 continuously pass in a state where positive charges are accumulated in the one mesh electrode 36 from the constant voltage power source. For example, air in which the amount of negative ions is to be measured is supplied from the top to the bottom in FIG.
Then, according to the amount of negative ions contained in the air flowing through the space Y, the positive charge accumulated in one mesh electrode 36 is neutralized and the potential is lowered.
Therefore, the amount of negative ions can be measured by detecting the amount of change in potential per unit time in one mesh electrode 36.

  According to the negative ion sensor 30 of this example, one mesh electrode 36 constituting the electrode pair is stacked on the other mesh electrode 37 through a space, and the air whose negative ion amount is to be measured is In order to have a configuration in which the mesh electrode 36 and the other mesh electrode 37 are supplied continuously, the distance between the one mesh electrode 36 and the other mesh electrode 37 is small. However, it is possible to measure the amount of negative ions with high reliability, and furthermore, since a strong electric field is formed between one mesh electrode 36 and the other mesh electrode 37, it passes through the vicinity of the mesh. Negative ions can be reliably captured, and thus the amount of negative ions can be measured with higher reliability.

  In the negative ion sensor of this example, two insulating substrates are used. However, if one mesh electrode and the other mesh electrode are stacked via a space, for example, 1 One mesh electrode and the other mesh electrode are respectively disposed on both surfaces of the insulating substrate so as to block one through hole provided in the insulating substrate. Also good.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance in an example of the negative ion sensor which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description by the cross section along the distribution | circulation direction of the air of the negative ion sensor of FIG. It is a top view in one surface of the insulating board | substrate of the negative ion sensor of FIG. It is a top view in the other surface of the insulating board | substrate of the negative ion sensor of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance in the other structural example of the negative ion sensor which concerns on this invention in the state which excluded the shield cover. It is sectional drawing for description by the cross section along the distribution direction of the air of the negative ion sensor of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the negative ion sensor of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Negative ion sensor 12 Insulating board | substrate 16 1st one planar electrode 17 2nd one planar electrode 18 Measuring circuit 19 Mounting hole 21 1st shield case 21A, 21B Side wall part 22 2nd shield case 22A, 22B Side wall portion 26 First other planar electrode 27 Second other planar electrode 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d Air flow hole 30 Negative ion sensor 32 One insulating substrate 33 The other insulating substrate 34 One electrode structure 35 The other electrode structure 36 One mesh electrode 37 The other mesh electrode 38, 39 Shield case 40 Measurement circuit arrangement region 42, 43 Through hole 44, 45 Shield cover 46 Mounting hole X1 1st 1 flow passage X2 second flow passage Y space

Claims (8)

One planar electrode is provided on one surface of the insulating substrate, and the other planar electrode constituting the electrode pair and the other planar electrode is provided to face the one planar electrode through a space. And
On one surface of the insulating substrate, a measurement circuit for negative ions detected by the electrode pair is provided in a region adjacent to the electrode arrangement region where the one planar electrode is provided,
A negative ion sensor characterized in that air whose negative ion amount is to be measured is supplied to a flow passage formed by a space between the one planar electrode and the other planar electrode.   On one side of the insulating substrate on which one planar electrode is provided, a metal shield case is provided that partitions the closed space together with the insulating substrate, and faces the one surface of the insulating substrate in the shield case. The negative ion sensor according to claim 1, wherein the other planar electrode is formed by the portion to be operated.   The negative ion sensor according to claim 2, wherein air flow holes are formed in side wall portions facing each other in the peripheral wall portion of the shield case. A first one planar electrode is provided on one surface of the insulating substrate, and the first other planar electrode that forms an electrode pair with the first one planar electrode is the first one planar electrode. It is provided to face the planar electrode through a space,
A second one planar electrode is provided on the other surface of the insulating substrate, and the second other planar electrode constituting an electrode pair with the second one planar electrode is the second planar electrode. It is provided to face one planar electrode through a space,
On one surface of the insulating substrate, negative ions detected by the first electrode pair and the second electrode pair in a region adjacent to the electrode placement region where the first one planar electrode is provided. The measurement circuit of
A first flow path and a second one surface shape formed by a space between the first one planar electrode and the first other planar electrode are air whose negative ion amount is to be measured. A negative ion sensor, wherein the negative ion sensor is supplied to a second flow path formed by a space between the electrode and the second other planar electrode. A metal first shield case is provided on one side of the insulating substrate on which the first one of the planar electrodes is provided to partition the closed space together with the insulating substrate. The first shield case The first other planar electrode is formed by a portion facing one surface of the insulating substrate in
On the other surface side of the insulating substrate on which the second one planar electrode is provided, a second shield case made of metal that partitions the closed space together with the insulating substrate is provided. This second shield The negative ion sensor according to claim 4, wherein a second other planar electrode is formed by a portion of the case facing the other surface of the insulating substrate. An air circulation hole is formed in the side wall portions facing each other in the peripheral wall portion of the first shield case, and
6. The negative ion sensor according to claim 5, wherein air circulation holes are formed in opposite side wall portions of the peripheral wall portion of the second shield case. One mesh electrode is disposed along one surface of the insulating substrate, and the other mesh electrode constituting the electrode pair is connected to the one mesh electrode via a space. Arranged to stack,
A negative ion measuring circuit detected by the electrode pair is provided,
A negative ion sensor, wherein air for measuring the amount of negative ions is supplied so as to continuously pass through the one mesh electrode and the other mesh electrode.   The negative ion sensor according to claim 7, wherein the measurement circuit is provided in a region adjacent to the electrode arrangement region in which the one mesh electrode is provided on one surface of the insulating substrate.

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