JP2006095349A - Ultrasonic wave generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thin-type ultrasonic wave generating device for ultrasonic wave cleaning apparatuses, which is high-power, small and light and easy to handle with reduced restrictions on the using space and the size and kind of materials to be cleaned. <P>SOLUTION: An array of ultrasonic wave vibrators consisting of two or more disk-formed ultrasonic vibrators 11 with one surface of individual vibrators connected with a flat-plate metal electrode 13 is fixed to the inside bottom surface of a metal-made bottomed container 14 having a surrounding flange 15; the vibrators 11 are sealed in the container 14 and covered with a metal-made flat plate 20; and the peripheries of the flange 15 and the flat plate 20 are welded or adhered. The adhesion between the vibrator 11 and the electrode 13 and the adhesion between the vibrator 11 and the inside bottom surface of the container 14 are carried out with a cream solder capable of adhering at room temperature or low heating temperatures or conductive adhesives 12 or 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic generator for a cleaning apparatus using an ultrasonic transducer.

As an ultrasonic cleaning device using an ultrasonic transducer, the ultrasonic radiation surface of a bolted Langevin type transducer is fixed to the bottom and side surfaces of the cleaning layer, and ultrasonic waves are radiated to the cleaning liquid in the cleaning layer to be cleaned. An ultrasonic cleaning device or an ultrasonic transducer unit with multiple bolt-clamped Langevin type transducers fixed to the substrate is sealed in the case, and this is put together with the object to be cleaned in the cleaning layer filled with the cleaning liquid. A throw-in type ultrasonic cleaning apparatus is proposed that cleans an object to be cleaned by irradiating the cleaning liquid in the cleaning layer with ultrasonic waves (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-10-52669 ((0002), (0005), (0014), (0018), FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, FIG. 9, etc.)

However, in the ultrasonic cleaning apparatus that fixes the bolted Langevin type vibrator in Patent Document 1 to the bottom of the cleaning layer, the ultrasonic vibrator and the cleaning layer are integrally configured, and the apparatus itself is large in size. In addition, there are restrictions on the types of objects that can be cleaned, and there is a problem of versatility.
Further, the throw-in type ultrasonic cleaning apparatus in Patent Document 1 has a height of several tens of mm even if the Langevin type vibrator is small, so that the apparatus itself becomes large and the weight increases, so that a small cleaning layer is used. It cannot be put into the cleaning layer when cleaning small items.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a thin ultrasonic generator for a cleaning device that is easy to handle, with high power, small size, light weight, low cost, and few restrictions on the size and type of objects to be cleaned and objects to be cleaned. The purpose is to do.

The ultrasonic generator according to the first aspect of the present invention is an ultrasonic generator provided inside a cleaning device, wherein one surface of a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers is connected by a flat metal electrode to generate ultrasonic vibrations. Constituting the child array, fixing the ultrasonic transducer array to the inner bottom surface of the metal bottomed container having a flange around it, covering the opening of the metal bottomed container with a metal flat plate, It is characterized by welding around a metal flat plate.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ultrasonic generator according to the first aspect, wherein the disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and the flat metal electrode are provided, and the disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and the metal bottom. The container is characterized in that the inner bottom surface of the container is bonded with a conductive adhesive.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ultrasonic generator according to the first aspect, the metal bottomed container is a grounded electrode of the disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic generator provided in a cleaning apparatus, wherein both surfaces of a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers are connected by a pair of flat metal electrodes. Constructing an ultrasonic transducer array, fixing one flat metal electrode on the insulating layer of a metal bottomed container having a flange around it, and covering the opening of the metal bottomed container with a metal flat plate, The periphery of the flange and the metal flat plate is welded.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ultrasonic generator according to the fourth aspect, the disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and the flat metal electrode are bonded with a conductive adhesive.

According to the present invention, since the ultrasonic transducer array is configured by connecting the ultrasonic transducers with the flat metal electrodes, the thickness of the ultrasonic generator can be extremely reduced. In addition, since a flange is provided on the metal bottomed container and welding is performed around the flange, it is possible to eliminate the influence of heat during welding on the disk-shaped ultrasonic vibrator.
In addition, since it is small and light, it is possible to provide a thin ultrasonic generator for a cleaning device that is highly portable, has few restrictions on the size and type of place of use and the object to be cleaned, and is easy to handle. it can.

The ultrasonic generator according to the first embodiment of the present invention forms an ultrasonic transducer array by connecting one surface of a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers with a flat metal electrode, and has a flange around it. The ultrasonic transducer array is fixed to the inner bottom surface of the metal bottomed container, the opening of the metal bottomed container is covered with a metal flat plate, and the periphery of the flange and the metal flat plate is welded. According to the present embodiment, since the ultrasonic transducer array is configured by connecting the ultrasonic transducers with the flat metal electrodes, the thickness as the ultrasonic generator can be made very thin. In addition, since a flange is provided on the metal bottomed container and welding is performed around the flange, it is possible to eliminate the influence of heat during welding on the disk-shaped ultrasonic vibrator. In addition, since it is small and lightweight, it is highly portable, has few restrictions on the place of use and the size and type of the object to be cleaned, and is easy to handle.
According to a second embodiment of the present invention, in the ultrasonic generator according to the first embodiment, a disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and a flat metal electrode, and a disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and a metal bottomed container are used. Are bonded to each other with a conductive adhesive. According to this embodiment, since the ultrasonic transducer is not exposed to high temperatures, the piezoelectricity is not impaired. Moreover, since both can be bonded at room temperature or at a low heating temperature, restrictions such as having to bond quickly in a short time are removed, and the manufacturing operation is simplified.
In the ultrasonic generator according to the first embodiment, the third embodiment of the present invention uses a metal bottomed container as a ground side electrode of a disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer. According to this embodiment, since one metal flat plate can be eliminated, the thickness can be further reduced.
In the ultrasonic generator according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer array is formed by connecting both surfaces of a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers with a pair of flat metal electrodes, One flat metal electrode is fixed on the insulating layer of a metal bottomed container having a flange, the opening of the metal bottomed container is covered with a metal flat plate, and the periphery of the flange and the metal flat plate is welded. is there. According to the present embodiment, since the ultrasonic transducer array is configured by connecting the ultrasonic transducers with the flat metal electrodes, the thickness as the ultrasonic generator can be made very thin. In addition, since a flange is provided on the metal bottomed container and welding is performed around the flange, it is possible to eliminate the influence of heat during welding on the disk-shaped ultrasonic vibrator. In addition, since it is small and lightweight, it is highly portable, has few restrictions on the place of use and the size and type of the object to be cleaned, and is easy to handle.
The fifth embodiment of the present invention is an ultrasonic generator according to the fourth embodiment, in which a disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and a flat metal electrode are bonded with a conductive adhesive. According to this embodiment, since the ultrasonic transducer is not exposed to high temperatures, the piezoelectricity is not impaired. Moreover, since both can be bonded at room temperature or at a low heating temperature, restrictions such as having to bond quickly in a short time are removed, and the manufacturing operation is simplified.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of an ultrasonic generator 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the ultrasonic generator 10 according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers 11 made of piezoelectric ceramic elements such as PZT are arranged, and a flat metal electrode 13 such as copper is formed on one surface of each of the arranged ultrasonic transducers 11. The ultrasonic transducer array is configured by bonding and connecting the two. The number of the ultrasonic transducers 11 is arbitrarily set according to the output power as the ultrasonic generator. When the ultrasonic vibrator 11 reaches a high temperature of several hundred degrees Celsius, which is the melting temperature of normal solder, pyroelectricity is generated. For example, the piezoelectricity is impaired and the ultrasonic wave generation efficiency is lowered. Is performed with a low-temperature-soluble cream solder or a conductive adhesive 12 that solidifies at room temperature. The thickness of the cream solder or the conductive adhesive 12 is preferably thin in order to reduce the thickness of the ultrasonic generator 10. When the ultrasonic transducer 11 and the flat metal electrode 13 are bonded with the conductive adhesive 12, both can be bonded at room temperature, so that restrictions such as having to be bonded quickly in a short time are removed, and the manufacturing is eliminated. Work becomes easy.

The array of ultrasonic transducers 11 connected by the flat metal electrodes 13 is housed in a bottomed container 14 as shown in FIG. The bottomed container 14 is composed of an open box having an opening in a metal upper part such as stainless steel, and a flange 15 is provided around the open box. The ultrasonic vibrator 11 is housed in the bottomed container 14 by being attached to the bottom inner surface of the bottomed container 14 with cream solder or conductive adhesive 16 formed on the other surface of each ultrasonic vibrator 11. . Since the bottomed container 14 is made of metal, in this state, the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 11 are connected in series by the bottomed container 14 on the bottom side and the metal electrode 13 on the other side. A lead wire 17 is connected to the end of the metal electrode 13 and is taken out from the side surface or bottom surface of the bottomed container 14. In this take-out portion, the inside and the outside of the bottomed container 14 are sealed with a sealing material 18 so that air and water do not go in and out.
A lead wire 19 is connected to a predetermined position on the outer wall of the bottomed container 14. Further, the upper surface of the bottomed container 14 is covered with a lid 20 made of a metal flat plate such as stainless steel and welded at the front end portion 21 of the flange 15. When the bottomed container 14 and the lid 20 are welded, the ultrasonic transducer array is sealed in a space surrounded by the bottomed container 14 and the lid 20.

When welding the bottomed container 14 and the lid 20, heat may be conducted from the welded portion of the distal end portion 21 of the flange 15 through the flange 15 to the bottomed container 14 to heat the ultrasonic transducer 11. As described above, when the ultrasonic vibrator 11 is heated, the piezoelectricity is impaired and the ultrasonic wave generation efficiency is lowered. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the heat conduction from the welded portion to the ultrasonic vibrator 11 as much as possible. There is. Therefore, the length of the flange 15 is increased to increase the distance from the welding location to the ultrasonic transducer 11, the bottomed container 14 is submerged at the time of welding, or the bottomed container 14 is sprayed with water. It is preferable that the temperature of the bottomed container 14 is not increased by the welding operation.
In addition, you may adhere | attach with a waterproof adhesive instead of welding so that the heat conduction from a welding location to the ultrasonic transducer | vibrator 11 may not be produced. However, the sealing performance is inferior to welding.

Next, a method of using the ultrasonic generator 10 described in FIGS. 1 and 2 as a cleaning device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows an example of a throwing type ultrasonic cleaning apparatus.
A cleaning liquid 31 such as water or alcohol is poured into the cleaning layer 30 and the ultrasonic generator 10 is put into the cleaning liquid 31 with the state of FIG. The lead wire 17 from the electrode 13 and the lead wire 19 from the bottomed container 14 of the ultrasonic generator 10 are connected to an ultrasonic drive power source 33.
When the object to be cleaned 32 is placed in the cleaning liquid 31 and the ultrasonic driving power source 33 is operated, the ultrasonic vibrator 11 is vibrated by the driving voltage from the ultrasonic driving power source 33 to generate ultrasonic waves. The generated ultrasonic waves cause the cleaning liquid 31 to be capitulated, and by this impact force, dirt adhering to the object to be cleaned 32 is crushed and decomposed into the cleaning liquid 31 for cleaning. At this time, the ultrasonic generator 10 itself also vibrates due to the vibration of the ultrasonic transducer 11. However, since the ultrasonic generator 10 has the large area lid 20 on the bottom, the ultrasonic generator 10 is disposed in the cleaning layer 30. Therefore, the influence of the vibration on the movement of the ultrasonic generator 10 is small.
The ultrasonic generator 10 can be fixed to the wall surface of the cleaning layer 30 instead of the throwing type. In this case, the lid 20 side of the ultrasonic generator 10 can be brought into close contact with the bottom wall or side wall in the cleaning layer 30 and screwed using the flange 15 or the front surface of the lid 20 can be adhered with an adhesive or the like. That's fine. When the ultrasonic generator 10 is fixed to the cleaning layer 30, there is no movement of the ultrasonic generator 10 itself due to the vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator 11, so that the drive voltage from the ultrasonic drive power supply 33 is increased to increase the power. Can be washed with.

  According to the present embodiment, the thickness of the ultrasonic generator can be made very small. Therefore, the structure is simple, small and light, and can be manufactured at low cost. In addition, since it is compact and lightweight, it provides a thin ultrasonic generator for an ultrasonic cleaning device that is highly portable, has few restrictions on the place of use, the size and type of objects to be cleaned, and is easy to handle. be able to.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the ultrasonic generator 10 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the ultrasonic generator 10 according to the second embodiment. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 and FIG.
In Example 1, when the ultrasonic transducer 11 is stored in the bottomed container 14, cream solder or conductive adhesive 16 is formed on one surface of the ultrasonic transducer 11 to form the bottom inner surface of the bottomed container 14. Affixed directly to. In this case, since the bottomed container 14 itself is also used as one electrode of the ultrasonic transducer 11, the cleaning liquid 31 becomes dirty as the cleaning progresses, and the bottomed container 14 is also contaminated and the electrode function is lowered. is there. In Example 2, the bottomed container 14 is not used as one electrode of the ultrasonic transducer 11, but an independent electrode is used.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a first plate metal electrode 13 is bonded to one surface of a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers 11 with cream solder or conductive adhesive 12, and the second surface is bonded to the second surface. The flat plate metal electrode 22 is bonded with cream solder or conductive adhesive 23 to constitute an ultrasonic transducer array. A lead wire 17 is connected to the end of the first flat metal electrode 13, and a lead wire 24 is connected to the end of the second flat metal electrode 22.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ultrasonic transducer array is stored in the bottomed container 14. An insulating material layer 25 such as glass epoxy resin is provided on the inner bottom surface of the bottomed container 14, and an adhesive is applied to the surface of the flat metal electrode 22 of the ultrasonic vibrator 11 to insulate the bottomed container 14. Adhere to layer 25. The adhesive in this case does not need to be conductive, and may be an epoxy adhesive. The lead wire 17 of the metal electrode 13 and the lead wire 24 of the metal electrode 22 are taken out from the side surface or bottom surface of the bottomed container 14. The take-out portion is sealed with the sealing materials 18 and 26.
Similar to the first embodiment, a metal lid 20 is placed on the upper surface of the bottomed container 14 and welded at the tip 21 of the flange 15, and the ultrasonic transducer 11, the conductive adhesives 12 and 23, and the metal The electrodes 13 and 22 are sealed in a space surrounded by the bottomed container 14 and the lid 20.
The operation of using the ultrasonic generator 10 as an ultrasonic cleaning device is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

  According to the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the thickness of the ultrasonic generator can be made very small. Therefore, the structure is simple, small and light, and can be manufactured at low cost. In addition, since it is compact and lightweight, it provides a thin ultrasonic generator for an ultrasonic cleaning device that is highly portable, has few restrictions on the place of use, the size and type of objects to be cleaned, and is easy to handle. be able to. Further, since the independent electrode sealed in the container is used without using the bottomed container as an electrode, the electrode function is not deteriorated even when the cleaning liquid is contaminated.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of the ultrasonic generator 10 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG.
In this embodiment, the lead wire 17 of the first flat metal electrode 13 and the lead wire 24 of the second flat metal electrode 22 are not the end portions of the first flat metal electrode 13 and the second flat metal electrode 22, respectively. It is the example taken out from the intermediate position.
When the article to be cleaned 32 is an elongated article, it is preferable to reduce the width of the cleaning layer 30 and concentrate the ultrasonic waves by using the disk-shaped ultrasonic vibrator 11 having a small width. In this case, the widths of the first flat plate metal electrode 13 and the second flat plate metal electrode 22 sandwiching the ultrasonic transducer 11 are also reduced, so that the lead wires are connected to the tips of the flat plate metal electrode 13 and the second flat plate metal electrode 22. 17 and 24 may be difficult to connect. Therefore, in this embodiment, the lead wires 17 and 24 are connected to the middle position between the first flat metal electrode 13 and the second flat metal electrode 22 and are taken out. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the second embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  The ultrasonic generator of the present invention is a fixed ultrasonic vibration source for an ultrasonic cleaning device for cleaning industrial equipment and household equipment, parts used in them, or cleaning tools, throw-in type ultrasonic waves, etc. Useful as a vibration source. It is also useful as a stationary ultrasonic vibration source or a throw-in type ultrasonic vibration source for clothes washing machines and dishwashers that can reduce the amount of detergent used.

Sectional side view of the ultrasonic generator according to the first embodiment of the present invention The perspective view of the principal part of the ultrasonic generator by Example 1 of this invention Sectional side view of the ultrasonic generator by Example 2 of this invention The perspective view of the principal part of the ultrasonic generator by Example 2 of this invention The perspective view of the principal part of the ultrasonic generator by Example 3 of this invention Sectional side view at the time of applying the ultrasonic generator by Example 1 of this invention to an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ultrasonic generator 11 Ultrasonic vibrator 12, 16, 23 Conductive adhesive 13, 22 Flat metal electrode 14 Bottomed container 15 Flange 17, 19, 24 Lead wire 18, 26 Sealing material 20 Lid 21 Tip 25 Insulating material layer 30 Cleaning layer 31 Cleaning liquid 32 Object to be cleaned 33 Ultrasonic drive power supply

Claims (5)

  An ultrasonic generator provided inside a cleaning device, wherein one surface of a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers is connected by a flat metal electrode to form an ultrasonic transducer array, and is made of metal having a flange around it. The ultrasonic transducer array is fixed to the inner bottom surface of the bottom container, the opening of the metal bottomed container is covered with a metal flat plate, and the periphery of the flange and the metal flat plate is welded. Ultrasonic generator.   The disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and the flat metal electrode, and the disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and the inner bottom surface of the metal bottomed container are bonded with a conductive adhesive. 2. The ultrasonic generator according to 1.   The ultrasonic generator according to claim 1, wherein the metal bottomed container is a ground side electrode of the disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer.   An ultrasonic generator provided inside a cleaning device, wherein both surfaces of a plurality of disk-shaped ultrasonic transducers are connected by a pair of flat metal electrodes to form an ultrasonic transducer array, and have a flange around One flat metal electrode is fixed on the insulating layer of the metal bottomed container, the opening of the metal bottomed container is covered with a metal flat plate, and the periphery of the flange and the metal flat plate is welded An ultrasonic generator characterized by. The ultrasonic generator according to claim 4, wherein the disk-shaped ultrasonic transducer and the flat metal electrode are bonded with a conductive adhesive.

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