JP2008183543A - Electric dust catcher and air conditioner equipped with electric dust catcher - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a maintenance free electric dust catcher capable of avoiding a symptom of an abnormality and keeping a high dust collection efficiency by automatically removing collected dust, and an air conditioner equipped with the electric dust catcher. <P>SOLUTION: The electric dust catcher comprises a charge section 11 consisting of counter electrode plates 11b and ionizing wires 11a for supplying dust in air with electric charge and a dust catcher section 12 consisting of a dust catching side electrode 12b for collecting the dust and a non-dust-catching side electrode 12a functioning as a counter electrode 12a, and further includes a controlling means 13 for executing dust catcher section cleaning operation of reversing the electric fields, i.e., the positive electric field and the negative electric field, generated by the dust catcher side electrode 12b and the non-dust-catching side electrode 12a in the dust catcher section 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric dust collector with improved dust collection efficiency and an air conditioner including the electric dust collector.

  In recent years, an electric dust collector is sometimes incorporated in an air conditioner in order to collect dust contained in the air circulated by the air conditioner and clean the circulating air. For example, the air conditioner described in Patent Document 1 below incorporates an electric dust collector that maintains a high dust collection function without changing the basic configuration of the dust collector part.

  The electrostatic precipitator includes a charging unit (ionizer unit) that charges the dust contained in the air introduced into the electrostatic precipitator, and a dust collecting unit (collector unit) that actually collects the dust. The charging unit includes an ionization line that applies a high voltage to dust and a counter electrode plate that faces the ionization line. Further, the dust collection unit is composed of a non-dust collection side electrode that applies a positive high voltage and a dust collection side electrode that collects dust.

Here, the mechanism for collecting dust contained in the air will be briefly described as follows. That is, in the charging unit, ion discharge is performed from the ionization line to the counter electrode plate, and fine dust contained in the air passing therethrough is ionized to charge positive charges. The air containing the positively charged dust is guided to the dust collection portion and passes between the non-dust collection side electrode and the non-dust collection side electrode. Since a positive electrode is connected to the non-dust collecting side electrode and a negative electrode is connected to the dust collecting side electrode, a high electric field is formed between them. The positively charged dust is collected by the dust collecting side electrode, which is a negative electrode, by the Coulomb force, and is collected. By such a mechanism, the air derived from the electrostatic precipitator is cleaned by removing dust.
JP-A-4-346851

  However, in a general electric dust collector including the electric dust collector as disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the efficiency of dust collection is reduced unless the collected dust is cleaned. For example, when the continuous operation is performed without cleaning the dust, an actual measurement example of the dust collection efficiency is as follows. If the dust collection efficiency at the start of operation is 100%, after about 500 hours, The dust collection efficiency is reduced to about 63%. Moreover, when dust accumulates, the dust collection efficiency is reduced, and abnormal noise and spark discharge are generated in the dust collection unit and the charging unit.

  Therefore, it is necessary for the user to perform regular maintenance such as cleaning of the electrostatic precipitator, but generally, since the air conditioner is installed near the ceiling of the room, it is not easily maintained and used as it is. This is the current situation.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to realize maintenance-free by automatically removing the collected dust and prevent the occurrence of abnormal symptoms. An electric dust collector capable of maintaining high dust collection efficiency while providing an air conditioner including the electric dust collector.

  A feature according to the embodiment of the present invention is that in an electrostatic precipitator, a charging unit composed of an ionization line and a counter electrode plate for adding charges to dust contained in the air, and for collecting the dust described above. And a non-dust collecting electrode composed of a dust collecting electrode and a non-dust collecting electrode serving as a counter electrode. Control means for executing a dust collection portion cleaning operation that is reversed from that during the dust collection operation is provided.

  According to the present invention, an electric dust collector capable of realizing maintenance-free by automatically removing collected dust and maintaining high dust collection efficiency while preventing abnormal symptoms from occurring, and the An air conditioner including an electric dust collector can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a cut sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this indoor unit, an electric dust collector 10 is incorporated and disposed at a position sandwiched between the front suction port 2, the filter 3 and the heat exchanger 5. As the blower 4 rotates, the indoor circulating air sucked through the front suction port 2 first collects relatively large dust contained in the circulating air in the filter 3. Further, when passing through the electric dust collector 10, dust that could not be removed by the filter 3 is collected. The circulated air thus cleaned reaches the heat exchanger 5 and is cooled or heated to a desired temperature and blown out into the room from the outlet 6. Further, the water condensed in the heat exchanger 5 is collected in a drain pan 7 and drained outside the air conditioner 1 through a drain hose (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the electric dust collector 10 can be roughly divided into a charging unit 11 and a dust collecting unit 12. The charging unit 11 includes an ionization line 11a for applying a charge to dust contained in the air and a counter electrode plate 11b disposed to face the ionization line 11a. On the other hand, the dust collecting unit 12 includes a non-dust collecting side electrode 12a and a dust collecting side electrode 12b that collects dust by using the non-dust collecting side electrode 12a as a counter electrode.

  When the electrostatic precipitator 10 is in operation, in the charging unit 11, for example, a voltage of DC + 4.4 kV is normally applied to the ionization line 11 a, and the counter electrode plate 11 b is set to the ground potential (GND). Therefore, dust contained in the air sucked from the front suction port 2 is ionized when passing through the charging unit 11 by corona discharge between the ionization line 11a and the counter electrode plate 11b. In the dust collection unit 12, for example, a high voltage of +3.4 kV is applied to the non-dust collection side electrode 12a, and the dust collection side electrode 12b is set to the ground potential (GND). Static electricity is generated by the action. The dust ionized by the charging unit 11 is collected by the dust collecting side electrode 12b by the electrostatic attraction force.

  As described above, dust contained in the air is collected by the electric dust collector 10, but if maintenance such as cleaning is not performed, for example, the collected dust is accumulated in the dust collecting side electrode 12b as described above. As a result, the dust collection efficiency decreases. Further, the dust is also adsorbed to the ionization line 11a that ionizes the dust. Therefore, in the electric dust collector 10 in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the control means 13 finely controls the voltages applied to the charging unit 11 and the dust collecting unit 12 through the control circuit, respectively. Dust accumulated in the ionization line 11a and the dust collecting side electrode 12b is dropped to perform a dust collecting portion cleaning operation to prevent a decrease in dust collecting efficiency of the electric dust collector 10. In the embodiment of the present invention, the electrostatic precipitator 10 is controlled using various circuits as will be described later, but can be controlled using a control program.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control means 13 includes a reception means 13 a that receives information from the electrostatic precipitator 10, a determination means 13 b that determines the control content of the electrostatic precipitator 10, a storage means 13 c that stores the control content, It comprises a timer 13d and transmission means 13e that transmits a control signal to a control circuit that generates a control signal that is actually transmitted to the charging unit 11 and the dust collecting unit 12.

  As described above, when the electrostatic precipitator 10 is operating, for example, a voltage of DC + 4.4 kV is applied to the ionization line 11a, and a voltage of DC + 3.4 kV is applied to the non-dust collection side electrode 12a. Is applied. On the other hand, the counter electrode plate 11b of the charging unit 11 and the dust collecting side electrode 12b of the dust collecting unit 12 are set to the ground potential (GND).

  In the first embodiment, the determination unit 13b is collected by the dust collection side electrode 12b by controlling the target to which the voltage is applied and the polarity of the voltage according to the information stored in the storage unit 13c in advance. Remove dust and clean up the dust collector.

  That is, a voltage of DC + 4.4 kV applied to the ionization line 11a of the normal charging unit 11 is set to DC-4.4 kV. When the voltage is applied to the ionization line 11a with the polarity reversed in this way, dust attached to the periphery of the ionization line 11a is peeled off. Note that polarity inversion (inversion from a positive electric field to a negative electric field) using a pulse is not performed on the ionization line 11a. This is because the ionization line 11a is not a part that collects dust, and it is less necessary to drop dust than the dust collection part 12, and therefore a DC power source that can be configured simply and inexpensively is used. . In addition, no voltage is applied to the counter electrode plate 11b of the charging unit 11 because it is at ground potential (GND).

  In addition, with respect to the dust collecting unit 12, a voltage of DC +3.4 kV is normally applied to the non-dust collecting side electrode 12a, and the dust collecting side electrode 12b is set to the ground potential (GND) (hereinafter, this state is referred to as “ Normal state "). From such a normal state, the non-dust collection side electrode 12a is set to the ground potential (GND), and on the contrary, a high voltage is applied to the dust collection side electrode 12b. For example, when the operation of the air conditioner 1 is started, the electric dust collector 10 is operated in a normal state in order to collect dust, and after a preset time has elapsed, as described above, it is opposite to the normal state. In addition, the non-dust collection side electrode 12a is set to the ground potential (GND), and a high voltage is applied to the dust collection side electrode 12b. By changing the target to which the voltage is applied, the dust that has been collected by the dust collecting side electrode 12b so far is pulled by the non-dust collecting side electrode 12a and is peeled off from the dust collecting side electrode 12b.

  The voltage is applied to the non-dust-collecting side electrode 12a as in the normal state, but the applied voltage is not DC +3.4 kV but DC-3.4 kV or pulse-3.4 kV. The dust collected by the electrode 12b is pulled by the non-dust collection side electrode 12a and peeled off from the dust collection side electrode 12b. Here, the direct-current voltage changes the voltage applied to the non-dust collection side electrode 12a by switching the voltage value. On the other hand, in the case of pulses, the voltage value is changed by changing the power supply amount (pulse width). Therefore, the ability to peel off dust is not as fine as switching the voltage value, but it is a fine non-dust collecting side electrode. The voltage applied to 12a can be controlled.

  Further, the control means so that the normal state and the application of DC +3.4 kV to the dust collection side electrode 12b or the application of DC -3.4 kV or pulse -3.4 kV to the non-dust collection side electrode 12a are alternately performed. Control may be performed at 13.

  FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a circuit used for controlling the charging unit 11 and the dust collecting unit 12. A circuit for supplying power from the power supply circuit B to the charging unit 11 (hereinafter referred to as “charging unit circuit” for convenience of description) and a circuit for supplying power to the dust collecting unit 12 (hereinafter, for convenience of description “ Power is being supplied to the “Dust collector circuit”. Conventionally, the rectifier circuit of the high-voltage power supply is mainly configured to supply power to the charging unit 11, and the power supply to the dust collecting unit 12 is supplied by dividing the supply voltage to the charging unit 11 with a resistor. However, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the dust collector circuit is independent from the charging unit circuit. Further, the circuit is configured by connecting the thyristor and the diode in reverse parallel.

  In the circuit shown in FIG. 5, the dust collector circuit is connected to the charging unit circuit. Further, the dust collector circuit is connected in reverse parallel to the diodes D1 to D4 that are paired with the thyristors Th1 to Th4. In addition, the table of FIG. 6 shows the types of voltages applied to the dust collecting unit 12, and shows an example of how to control the thyristors Th1 to Th4 when each voltage is applied. Such control contents are stored in the storage unit 13c in advance.

  For example, when a positive voltage is applied to the non-dust collection side electrode 12a in the normal state, the thyristors Th1 to Th4 are shown in the “+” row in the “dust collection section” column of the table shown in FIG. To control. Here, Th1 is turned on, Th2 is turned off, Th3 is turned on, and Th4 is turned off. When the dust collector circuit is controlled in this way, in the dust collector circuit shown in FIG. 5, the current flows in the order of the thyristor Th1, the diode D2, the thyristor Th3, the diode D4, and the resistor R3, and is added to the non-dust collecting side electrode 12a. Is applied.

  On the other hand, when a negative voltage is applied to the non-dust collection side electrode 12a, the thyristors Th1 to Th4 are respectively shown in the “-” row in the “dust collection section” column of the table shown in FIG. , Th1 is OFF, Th2 is ON, Th3 is OFF, and Th4 is ON. When the dust collector circuit is controlled in this way, in the dust collector circuit shown in FIG. 5, the current flows in the order of resistor R1, capacitor C1, thyristor Th2, diode D1, capacitor C2, resistor R3 (thyristor Th4, diode D3). A negative voltage is applied to the non-dust collecting side electrode 12a.

  As described above, the electrostatic precipitator 10 is disposed at a position sandwiched between the front suction port 2, the filter 3 and the heat exchanger 5. When dust is peeled off from the dust collecting side electrode 12b by the above-described method, it falls downward from the back surface of the electric dust collector 10 and adheres to the fin surface on the lower side of the heat exchanger 5. Therefore, when removing the attached dust from the heat exchanger 5, it is performed as follows. That is, since the heat exchanger 5 constitutes a refrigeration cycle in the air conditioner 1, first, the heat exchanger 5 is operated as an evaporator. When it acts as an evaporator, condensation (drain water) is generated on the surface of the fin. When this drain water flows downward (toward the air outlet 6) on the surface of the heat exchanger 5, dust attached to the heat exchanger 5 is also washed away. The drain water containing dust collects in the drain pan 7 shown in FIG. 1, and dust is discharged together with the drain water through the drain hose originally provided for draining the drain water out of the air conditioner 1. .

  In this way, the dust collecting unit circuit is configured independently of the charging unit circuit, and the dust that is collected without bothering human hands by controlling the voltage applied to the dust collecting unit and the polarity of the voltage. To provide an electric dust collector capable of maintaining maintenance-free by realizing maintenance-free by automatically removing the dust and preventing abnormal symptoms from occurring, and an air conditioner equipped with the electric dust collector Is possible.

  In addition, it is also possible to perform control to temporarily turn off the energization to the dust collector circuit before reversing the polarity of the voltage applied to the dust collector 12 using the timer 13d in the control means 13. By controlling in this way, the electric charge which remains in the capacitor | condenser C of a dust collector circuit is discharged, and the short circuit current produced when reversing a polarity can be suppressed. Therefore, the control means 13 performs control so that the polarity is reversed again after, for example, several tens of seconds after the time including the time that the charge remaining in the capacitor C is discharged after the energization is turned off once.

  In addition, the dust collector circuit may be an n-fold voltage rectifier circuit including two or more rectifier circuits in which thyristors and diodes are connected in reverse parallel series. For example, the dust collector circuit shown in FIG. 7 is a triple voltage rectifier circuit. With such a circuit configuration, the output voltage of the power coil can be reduced to 1 / n with respect to the energization voltage to the dust collector 12, and the rated voltage of the thyristor constituting the rectifier circuit can be set to the power coil. It is possible to suppress the output to twice the peak voltage.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, among the rectifier circuit in which the thyristor and the diode are connected in antiparallel in the dust collector circuit, one circuit connected in antiparallel is divided into m (2 ≦ m), It can also be connected in the forward direction. By configuring the circuit in this way, the voltage applied to the thyristor can be reduced to 1 / m compared to the case of one circuit in which the thyristor and the diode are connected in antiparallel.

  Although the thyristor is used in the above-described circuit, it is of course possible to switch the polarity and the like using a circuit using a relay switch or the like.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, the same components as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same components is omitted because it is duplicated.

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a plus-side circuit that applies a plus voltage to a rectifier circuit that constitutes the dust collector circuit, and a minus-side circuit that applies a minus voltage; Is characterized in that is provided independently. In this rectifier circuit, whether to apply a positive voltage by connecting to the circuit for the positive side or to apply a negative voltage by connecting to the circuit for the negative side is provided on the input side and the output side of those circuits. It is switched by a switching circuit using a relay switch. The relay contact when the power is turned off is connected to the plus side circuit.

  In this way, the dust collecting unit circuit is configured independently of the charging unit circuit, and the dust collected without bothering human hands by controlling the voltage applied to the dust collecting unit and the polarity of the voltage. To provide an electric dust collector capable of realizing maintenance-free by automatically removing dust and maintaining high dust collection efficiency while preventing abnormal symptoms from occurring, and an air conditioner equipped with the electric dust collector Is possible.

  In particular, by separating the dust collector circuit into a plus-side circuit and a minus-side circuit, each circuit can be simplified without using a thyristor, and the reliability can be increased at low cost.

  Further, by changing the polarity of the voltage applied to the dust collecting unit while the power supply from the power source B2 is turned off, it is possible to suppress the discharge between the contacts that occurs when the relay operation is switched. Furthermore, since the relay contact is basically connected to the plus side circuit when the power is turned off, the connection is made so that a positive voltage is applied separately after a negative voltage is applied. The electric dust collector 10 can be used in a normal state without change.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the third embodiment is characterized in that a power source B3 that supplies power to the charging unit 11 and a power source B4 that supplies power to the dust collecting unit 12 are provided separately. That is, a positive power source of the charging unit 11 and a positive side power source circuit of the dust collecting unit 12 are configured by using a conventional charging unit circuit (power is supplied from the power source B3), and the minus of the dust collecting unit 12 is used. A power source B4 is provided as a power source on the side. Further, a dust collector circuit is connected to the dust collector 12 via a capacitor (a capacitor C3 in FIG. 10).

  Thus, by providing the power source B3 and the power source B4 independently, all the effects of the first embodiment are provided, and in the normal state, the electric dust collector 10 is collected by energization from the power source B4. The dust operation is performed, and the polarity reversal is performed by turning off the power supply B4 and energizing from the power supply B3, so that the charging unit 11 and the dust collecting unit 12 can be controlled independently. In addition, when connected to the dust collecting unit 12 via the capacitor C3, when the power supply of either the power supply B3 or the power supply B4 is turned on, the other power supply circuit that is turned off is connected to the direct current. It is possible to prevent the current from leaking and destroying the circuit.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine the component covering different embodiment suitably.

It is a cutting sectional view showing a section of an air harmony machine (indoor unit) concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a cutting sectional view showing a section of an electric dust collector concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a block diagram which shows the relationship between the control means which concerns on embodiment of this invention, a circuit, and an electrostatic precipitator. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the control means which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a table | surface which shows the example of control of the circuit which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the circuit which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the circuit which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air conditioner, 2 ... Front suction port, 3 ... Filter, 4 ... Blower, 5 ... Heat exchanger, 6 ... Air outlet, 7 ... Drain pan, 10 ... Electric dust collector, 11 ... Charge part, 11a ... Ionization line 11b ... Counter electrode plate, 12a ... Non-dust collection side electrode, 12b ... Dust collection side electrode

Claims (6)

A charging unit composed of an ionization line and a counter electrode plate for applying a charge to dust contained in the air;
A dust collecting part composed of a dust collecting side electrode for collecting the dust and a non-dust collecting side electrode serving as a counter electrode;
Control means for performing a dust collection unit cleaning operation that reverses the positive / negative relationship of the electric field generated in the dust collection side electrode and the non-dust collection side electrode in the dust collection unit with that during the dust collection operation. Electric dust collector.   2. The electric dust collector according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control to set the dust collection side electrode in the dust collection unit to a high potential and to set the non-dust collection side electrode to a low potential.   The control means does not change the potential of the dust collection side electrode in the dust collection section and makes the non-dust collection side electrode a negative potential, and sets the dust collection side electrode to a high potential and the non-dust collection side. The electrostatic precipitator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control to make the electrode a low potential is alternately performed.   4. The electricity according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control to change the ionization line to a negative potential without changing a potential of the counter electrode plate in the charging unit. 5. Dust collector.   An air conditioner comprising the electric dust collector according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   6. The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein the air conditioner collects dust collected by the electric dust collector in a drain pan via drain water and discharges the dust outside the air conditioner.

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