JP2006142234A - Dehumidification element module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compact and improve reliability of a dehumidification element module, and to realize a large-area or long dehumidification element module at the same time. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of frame-like openings are provided in drawing electrodes (positive and negative electrodes) for supplying electric power to dehumidification elements. Using the drawing electrodes, the dehumidification elements are inserted in the respective frame parts of the positive and negative electrodes to support them, and an electrical contact state is secured. Further, resin members are disposed between the adjacent dehumidification elements. With this constitution, the plurality of dehumidification elements can be housed in a single module, thereby achieving the dehumidification element module with a large-size area. As a result, the dehumidification capacity can be improved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced at the same time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to an electrochemical dehumidifying element module using a solid polymer electrolyte membrane.

  In recent years, a dehumidifying apparatus using an electrochemical dehumidifying element has been rapidly expanded in use because a large dehumidifying effect can be obtained only by supplying a voltage of about several volts. Conventionally, it has been used for dehumidification in an apparatus whose internal volume is limited to some extent, such as a power supply device or a desiccator. For this reason, the dehumidifier has been required to be light and compact. For example, the conventional dehumidifying element module is attached to the chassis so as to maintain airtightness with a rubber packing sandwiched between bolts and nuts, etc., which has many parts and is improved from the viewpoint of compactness and maintainability (For example, patent document 1). Therefore, in order to make the structure of the dehumidifying element module compact, a solution has been sought by a manufacturing method in which constituent parts are integrally formed (for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 61-216714 A (2nd page, FIG. 1) JP 2004-33884 A (Page 6, FIGS. 2 and 3)

Apart from the conventional demands for compactness, the application of dehumidifiers for the transportation and storage of materials and parts in clean rooms, etc. will be considered in the food and electronics industries. Accordingly, the area of the dehumidifying element module has been increased. Also, a long dehumidifying element module has been required depending on the use of the dehumidifying device.
However, the conventional dehumidifying element module has a functional area that contributes to moisture removal of about 10 cm square at the most, and since it could not cope with an increase in area by itself, a large area can be obtained by arranging a plurality of dehumidifying element modules. I was trying to make it. In order to arrange a plurality of dehumidifying element modules, for example, mounting parts for position adjustment between the dehumidifying element modules are required, and assembly costs required for increasing the area, such as adjustment work of these parts, reduce the manufacturing cost. It was a factor to raise. Further, when the length is increased, it is necessary to adjust the parts in the same manner.

  The reason why the conventional dehumidifying element module cannot cope with the large area is as follows. The conventional dehumidifying element has a structure in which a solid polymer film having a thickness of 180 μm is sandwiched between a positive electrode and a cathode made of stainless steel having a thickness of 500 μm coated with platinum black paste, and the thickness is as thin as about 1 mm. It was a plate. Therefore, the mechanical strength is low, and a dehumidifying element module of about 10 cm square is a practical size limit.

  The anode and cathode of the dehumidifying element must be configured to have air permeability while supplying power to the solid polymer electrolyte membrane uniformly, and are planar electrodes. Such a planar electrode having air permeability usually has a large resistance value, and in order to supply power uniformly from the outside over the entire surface of the dehumidifying element, the anode-side lead arranged so as to surround the periphery of the anode and the cathode An electrode and a cathode-side extraction electrode (hereinafter simply referred to as extraction electrode) are required. As these extraction electrodes, for example, a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 0.5 mm and an opening having a size corresponding to the functional surface of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane is used. In addition to the role of wiring to supply power to the anode and cathode, the lead electrode composed of this stainless steel plate forms the outer frame of the dehumidifying element and protects it from applying unnecessary stress to the functional surface of the dehumidifying element. In addition, it plays a role as a frame for preventing the dehumidifying element from warping. In order for these lead electrodes to efficiently and uniformly supply electric power from the outside to the anodes and cathodes that are surface electrodes, it is necessary that they have good adhesion to the anodes and cathodes. At the same time, these extraction electrodes must be electrically insulated from the peripheral members.

  In order to cope with this, the conventional dehumidifying element module has been improved as follows based on the above technical problem. That is, a laminate in which a solid polymer electrolyte membrane, a lead electrode, and an exterior film are laminated is integrated by pressure molding (for example, Patent Document 2, FIG. 3). In this integration method, power is supplied to the solid polymer electrolyte membrane via the extraction electrode, but these solid polymer electrolyte membrane and the extraction electrode etc. are formed by pressure molding so as to ensure electrical continuity. Maintains close contact with. Therefore, the quality of electrical conduction to the solid polymer electrolyte membrane is determined by the quality of the pressure molding process, and this point has become technically important. For example, if the pressurization was not performed uniformly, the extraction electrode was not partially in close contact with the solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and the stainless extraction electrode was partially floated. . Such a problem becomes more conspicuous when one side of the dehumidifying element module is lengthened, such as when the area of the dehumidifying element module is increased. This is because it is difficult to uniformly process a long lead electrode by pressure molding. Therefore, it is difficult not only to increase the area but also to increase the length.

  An object of the present invention is to achieve a large-area or long-length dehumidifying element module while simultaneously reducing the size and improving the reliability of the dehumidifying element module.

  A dehumidifying element module according to the present invention includes a plurality of dehumidifying elements made of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane having an anode on one surface and a cathode on the other surface, and a frame portion for electrical connection with the periphery of the anode A plurality of anode-side extraction electrodes, a cathode-side extraction electrode having a plurality of frame portions for electrical connection with the peripheral portion of the cathode, and an anode-side extraction electrode, A first insulating outer layer film having a resin layer and a second insulating outer layer film provided so as to cover the cathode-side extraction electrode and having a resin layer, and a resin between a plurality of dehumidifying elements A plurality of dehumidifying elements and the resin member are sandwiched between the anode-side extraction electrode and the cathode-side extraction electrode frame, respectively, and further covered by the first and second insulating outer layer films, The resin layer of the first insulating outer layer film and the above Resin layer of second insulating layer film is dehumidifier module characterized by being integrally joined.

  Since the dehumidifying element module according to the present invention has a frame-shaped portion where the extraction electrode contacts the dehumidifying element, and a plurality of the frame portions are provided on the extraction electrode, and further provided with a resin member between the dehumidifying element and the dehumidifying element, A plurality of dehumidifying elements can be built in a single module, so that the area of the dehumidifying element module can be increased, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced at the same time.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 shows a dehumidifying element module according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. (A) in FIG. 1 is a plan view of the dehumidifying element module. (B) in FIG. 1 is a side view seen from the direction of arrow B shown in (a). FIG. 1C is a perspective view of the dehumidifying element module. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. FIG. 3 is a part development view after completion of the dehumidifying element module according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a component arrangement diagram when a dehumidifying element module is manufactured by pressure molding.

The configuration of the dehumidifying element module according to Embodiment 1 will be described. FIG. 1 shows a form example when two dehumidifying elements are arranged. Further, the dehumidifying element module 20 is arranged with the anode-side extraction electrode 8 and the cathode-side extraction electrode 9 on the front and back surfaces of the dehumidifying element 6 as shown in the cross section shown in FIG. In addition to being covered with the lower exterior film 13, the resin layer 2 made of an epoxy resin is integrally molded by being cured. In addition, the dehumidifying element 6 is obtained by electrodepositing β-type lead dioxide on a titanium mesh plated with platinum as the anode 4 on the front and back surfaces of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 1 having a thickness of 180 μm (100 μm in thickness). No. 5 was prepared by laminating a carbon paper having a catalyst layer formed of carbon powder carrying platinum on the surface thereof (thickness: 300 μm).
The size of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 1 is a square of 10 cm × 10 cm, and the size of the anode 4 and the cathode 5 is a square of 9 cm × 9 cm. Two sets are used. Further, as the anode-side extraction electrode 8 and the cathode-side extraction electrode 9, a stainless steel plate (manufactured by SUS304 having a thickness of 0.5 mm) provided with two square openings of 8 cm × 8 cm and processed into a frame shape is used.

  Next, the manufacturing method of the dehumidification element module in Embodiment 1 is demonstrated. First, the internal component configuration of the dehumidifying element module will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, as the dehumidifying element 6, an element in which the anode 4 and the cathode 5 are formed in advance on the front and back surfaces of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 1 using pressure molding is used. The dehumidifying element module includes two dehumidifying elements 6, a resin member 3 sandwiched between the dehumidifying elements, an interior adhesive film 14, an anode-side extraction electrode 8 and a cathode-side extraction electrode 9 that are pressure-bonded to the outer peripheral portion of the dehumidification element 6. The upper outer film 12 is a first insulating outer film, and the lower outer film 13 is a second insulating outer film (since FIG. 3 is a drawing after pressure molding processing, There are steps on the outer peripheries of the upper and lower exterior films, but they are flat before press molding). Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the extraction electrodes 8 and 9 of the first embodiment are thin stainless steel plates in which two frame-like portions are arranged. These components become a dehumidifying element module having a cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. 2 by pressure molding. In addition, in FIG. 2, since the interior adhesive film 14 is thin, illustration is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the component arrangement during the pressure molding process of the dehumidifying element module 20 according to the present invention. The pressure forming process of the dehumidifying element module will be described. First, the flexible sheet 17 is laid on the processing stage 26 of a vacuum pressure press (for example, NRK25 / 300M manufactured by Nisshin Seisakusho) in order to prevent unnecessary deformation of the dehumidifying element. Next, an electrode protection cushioning material 16 having a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the cathode side extraction electrode 9 is laid, and the lower outer layer film 13, the cathode side extraction electrode 9, the inner layer adhesive film 14, and the dehumidifying element 6 are placed thereon. The resin member 3, the inner layer adhesive film 14, the anode side extraction electrode 8, and the upper / outer layer film 12 are arranged between the dehumidification element 6 and the dehumidification element 6, and the thickness according to the thickness of the anode side extraction electrode 8 is further provided thereon. The electrode protection cushion material 16 and the cushion material 15 having the above are installed, and the flexible sheet 17 is laid.

  The following resin is used as the constituent material resin. As the upper exterior film 12 and the lower exterior film 13, a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film having a thickness of 0.1 mm is used. In addition, an uncured epoxy resin (for example, epoxy resin Aronmite BX-60 manufactured by Toa Gosei Co., Ltd. can be used) is applied to the exterior films 12 and 13 to a thickness of 20 [mu] m so as to be in a semi-cured state. The resin layer 2 is formed by further curing by pressure molding. Similarly, as the inner layer adhesive film 14, a PET film having a thickness of 0.1 mm is coated with an uncured epoxy resin to a thickness of 20 μm on both sides to give a semi-cured state to provide adhesiveness. It is cured by pressure molding. The resin member 3 is made of the same glass epoxy resin as the thickness of the dehumidifying element 6. The material of the resin member 3 is not limited to glass epoxy resin as long as it has good insulating properties and adhesiveness.

As shown in FIG. 4 above, each member is arranged and subjected to pressure molding under the conditions of holding at a heating temperature of 180 ° C., a pressure of 4.9 × 10 ⁶ Pa, and a vacuum of 1.3 × 10 ⁴ Pa for 15 minutes. Carried out. Further, after the press molding process, the heating was stopped and the mixture was left for 15 minutes to cool down to room temperature.

In the present embodiment, the flexible sheet 17 is a Si rubber sheet having a thickness of 3 mm. What stuck the 5 mm fluororesin sheet | seat was used. The flexible sheet 17, the cushion material 15, and the electrode protection cushion material 16 are not particularly limited as long as the materials have heat resistance and elasticity of 200 ° C. or higher that can withstand pressure molding. In consideration of hardness, elongation and the like, a desired molding can be used.
In this embodiment, the dehumidifying element 6 and the inner layer film 14, the anode side extraction electrode 8, the cathode side extraction electrode 9, the upper exterior film 12, and the lower exterior film 13 are integrally formed by the resin layer 2 by such thermoforming. 1 is completed.

Next, the usage method of the dehumidification element module in Embodiment 1 is demonstrated using (c) in FIG. Reference numeral 10a denotes an anode side external electrode terminal, 10b denotes a cathode side external electrode terminal, and 21a and 21b denote wirings connected to the anode side external electrode terminal and the cathode side external electrode terminal, respectively. Although not shown in the drawing, the wirings 21a and 21b are connected to a power source.
The dehumidifying element module 20 according to Embodiment 1 is configured as described above, and can be dehumidified in the space on the anode side by being connected to an external power source. For example, since it is lightweight and compact, it can be attached to a dehumidification target such as a desiccator with a double-sided adhesive tape or the like, and the inside of the desiccator can be dehumidified by supplying power.

  In the dehumidifying element module 20 according to the first exemplary embodiment, since the portion where the extraction electrode contacts the dehumidifying element 6 has a frame shape, the state in which the extraction electrode floats during the pressure forming process that has occurred in the prior art hardly occurs. Become. Therefore, good electrical conduction to the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 1 is ensured. In addition, since the boundary between the thin plate-like dehumidifying elements 2 arranged two by the frame-shaped extraction electrode can be supported, the mechanical strength can be maintained as in the case of a single sheet. Therefore, a highly reliable dehumidifying element module can be realized.

  In the dehumidifying element module according to Embodiment 1, the reason why the floating state of the extraction electrode can be prevented will be described. Whether or not the floating state of the extraction electrode occurs depends on whether or not the pressure state of the pressure molding process is good. Therefore, the smaller the area pressed by the pressure molding apparatus, the more uniformly the pressure is applied. Therefore, when a large-shaped extraction electrode is pressed, it is preferable to divide the large region into small regions. Therefore, in the present application, the extraction electrode is not formed as a single large frame, but is formed as a continuous body of small frames to ensure the uniformity of the pressure forming process.

  Further, as described above, the shape of the extraction electrode is a continuous frame shape, and as a result, a lattice shape made of stainless steel. Therefore, the stainless steel grid also reinforces the strength of the dehumidifying element module. Furthermore, since the extraction electrode is for connecting external power to the anode and cathode which are the surface electrodes, the grid-shaped extraction electrode can efficiently and uniformly supply power to the anode and cathode. it can. That is, since the anode and the cathode have high resistivity, it is preferable that the electrode area is small. Therefore, by using a continuous electrode in the form of a frame, the entire dehumidifying element module can be enlarged while the electrode areas of the individual anodes and cathodes can be kept small, so that power can be supplied efficiently and uniformly. It can be done.

  In the dehumidifying element module according to the first embodiment, the resin member 3 is sandwiched between two lead electrodes and the adjacent dehumidifying elements 6 are insulated, so that the insulation between the adjacent dehumidifying elements 6 is good. Therefore, a highly reliable dehumidifying element module can be realized. If there is no resin member 3, there will be a gap, which is not desirable from the viewpoint of long-term reliability. As described above, since the dehumidifying element module according to Embodiment 1 can include two dehumidifying elements, the area of the functional surface for dehumidification can be increased to twice that of the conventional one, and at the same time, dehumidifying is performed. Since the elements and the like are integrated by pressure molding, it is possible to realize compactness and cost reduction by reducing the number of parts, and to improve reliability.

The dehumidifying element module according to the first embodiment is an example in which there are two dehumidifying elements 6. However, it is possible to increase the number of dehumidifying elements 6 to produce a large area module of about 1 m ² , for example. For example, a large area module of about 1 m ² can be manufactured by arranging 10 cm square dehumidifying elements 10 vertically and horizontally and 10 frame-shaped portions of the extraction electrode vertically and horizontally. In the case of this example, since the shape of the extraction electrode results in a stainless lattice, the mechanical strength is maintained even when the area of the dehumidifying element module is increased. Therefore, since a plurality of dehumidifying elements can be built in a single module, it is possible to achieve a large area of the dehumidifying element module. In addition, since the conventional dehumidifying element module has been assembled with a dehumidifying element using mounting brackets, bolts and nuts, and the like, the assembly cost has been a problem. However, the dehumidifying element module according to the first embodiment is problematic. Since it can be made compact as described above, a cost reduction of about 20% can be realized.

Embodiment 2.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the dehumidifying element module 20 according to the second embodiment. The dehumidifying element module shown in the first embodiment is provided with two square dehumidifying elements 6, but the dehumidifying element module according to the second embodiment is provided with three rectangular dehumidifying elements 6. is there. Corresponding to the use of three dehumidifying elements 6, the extraction electrode has three frame-like portions. Moreover, the size of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 1 constituting the dehumidifying element 6 is a rectangle of 15 mm × 45 mm, and the sizes of the anode 4 and the cathode 5 are rectangles of 10 mm × 40 mm. For this reason, the functional part which can be dehumidified can be made into the rectangle of about 10 mm x 120 mm, and it becomes possible to produce a horizontally long dehumidification element module. In the second embodiment, it is possible to make the functional portion that can be dehumidified horizontally long with a single module, so that it can be attached to a device in a narrow space, and the number of components is small and compact. Figured.

Embodiment 3.
6 and 7 show examples in which the arrangement of the anode side external electrode terminal 10a and the cathode side external electrode terminal 10b of the dehumidifying element module shown in Embodiments 1 and 2 is changed. In the dehumidifying element module according to the third embodiment, since the dehumidifying element and the external extraction electrode can be brought out at arbitrary positions, the connection wiring with the external power source can be easily routed. Therefore, it becomes easy to attach the dehumidifying element module to a device in a narrow space. In this embodiment, the dehumidifying element portion is provided with two and three dehumidifying element portions. However, it is possible to increase the number in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the manufacture of the strip-shaped dehumidifying module can be performed according to the structure and application of the device. It becomes possible. For example, the present invention can be applied to small devices such as mobile phones.

As described above, in the dehumidifying element module according to the present invention, the component part including the dehumidifying element is covered with the exterior film, and the resin layer is cured and integrated by pressure molding processing. A good electrical connection between the extraction electrode and the anode / cathode is obtained. Further, by reducing the number of parts, the dehumidifying element module can be realized with compactness and high reliability. In addition, since the dehumidifying element module can be directly attached to the object to be dehumidified, the dehumidifying element module can be applied in a narrow space, which is preferable. Furthermore, if a plurality of dehumidifying elements are arranged in a matrix and a dehumidifying element module is formed, it can be applied to dehumidification of a large space.

It is the figure which showed the structure of the dehumidification element module of Embodiment 1 of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is a side view, (c) is a perspective view. It is AA sectional drawing of (a) in FIG. 1 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an expanded view explaining the structure of the dehumidification element module of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is sectional drawing explaining the pressure molding processing method of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a top view explaining the structure of the dehumidification element module of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification of Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Solid polymer electrolyte membrane 2: Resin layer 3: Resin member 6: Dehumidifying element 8: Anode-side lead electrode 9: Anode-side external electrode terminal 12: Upper exterior film 13: Lower exterior film 20: Dehumidifying element module

Claims (1)

A plurality of dehumidifying elements comprising a solid polymer electrolyte membrane having an anode on one side and a cathode on the other side;
One anode side lead electrode provided with a plurality of frame portions for electrical connection with the periphery of the anode;
One cathode-side lead electrode provided with a plurality of frame portions for electrical connection with the periphery of the cathode;
A first insulating outer layer film having a resin layer, and a second insulating outer layer film having a resin layer,
A resin member is disposed between the plurality of dehumidifying elements,
The plurality of dehumidifying elements and the resin member are sandwiched between frame portions of the anode-side extraction electrode and the cathode-side extraction electrode, respectively, and are covered with the first and second insulating outer layer films,
A dehumidifying element module in which a resin layer of the first insulating outer layer film and a resin layer of the second insulating outer layer film are joined and integrated.

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