JP2009202051A - Air cleaner and humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air cleaner which has improved dust collecting power, maintainability and reliability of operation as compared to the conventional one and can be miniaturized, and to provide a humidifier. <P>SOLUTION: The air cleaner comprises: a rotary filter including a conductive filter bent in waveform and a rotor; an electrode for performing corona discharge between the conductive filter and the electrode; and a casing for storing the rotary filter etc., wherein the rotor is arranged on an air suction port side in the casing while inclining a support member of the rotor and, thereby the rotor is actuated as a propeller. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air cleaner and a humidifier.

  Conventionally, various air purifiers using a fan and a filter are known. According to these principles, air is forcibly sent to a filter using a fan and passed through the filter, whereby dust or the like in the air is captured by the filter to clean the air. The air cleaner that is usually used is of a type in which the fan and the filter are completely separated and the wind is applied to the filter by the fan. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-206436 discloses that a side wall portion of a cylindrical sirocco fan is constituted by a filter, and an air flow is circulated through the filter from the inside to the outside of the cylinder by rotating an impeller. Air purifiers that perform cleaning have also been proposed.

  The inventors of the present application can first cause the filter to have both functions of the impeller wing and the filter by bending the filter in a wave shape and rotating the filter itself. It has been found that the same performance can be made smaller than the conventional air purifier, and a patent application has been filed for an air purifier and a humidifier based on this principle (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-120933). Further, in the air cleaner and the humidifier filed earlier, the filter is made of a conductive material, an electrode is provided at a specific position, and a voltage is applied between the filter and the electrode, whereby the air cleaner and the humidifier are applied. We have found that the efficiency of the machine can be further increased, and have obtained a patent for an air purifier and a humidifier based on this principle (Japanese Patent No. 3350031).

JP-A-8-206436 JP 2001-120933 JP Japanese Patent No. 3350031

  An object of the present invention is to improve the structure of the air cleaner and the humidifier described in Patent Document 3 above, and to further reduce the size of the air cleaner and the humidifier with improved dust collection power, maintainability, and operational reliability. The purpose is to provide a machine.

  As a result of earnest research, the inventors of the present application have used a ring-shaped rotor instead of a circular plate as a member for holding a ring-shaped conductive filter bent in a wave shape, and the rotor and the shaft of the motor are twisted plates. The support member is connected with a support member, and the support member is arranged on the air inlet side inside the casing, that is, when the filter portion is viewed from the side with the air inlet port on the ceiling side, It has been found that by adopting a configuration in which the filter is attached to the rotor in a direction in which it is suspended from the rotor, advantageous effects such as an increase in the air volume by the rotation of the support member and an improvement in the dust collecting force can be achieved. The present invention has been completed.

That is, the present invention
A ring-shaped rotor;
A ring-shaped filter unit attached to the rotor, the filter unit including a conductive filter that surrounds an inner region of the rotor and is bent in a wave shape so that irregularities are formed in a radial direction of the rotor When,
Rotating means for rotating the rotor;
An electrode for continuously performing corona discharge with the filter provided in a space surrounded by the filter;
Means for applying a voltage between the electrode and the filter;
A casing for housing the rotor and the filter unit, wherein an air suction port for sucking air to be cleaned from outside into a space surrounded by the filter; and air discharged through the filter A casing having an air outlet for discharging to
The rotor is connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating means via a plate-like support member provided so as to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotor rotating shaft, and the rotor is connected to the filter inside the casing. An air purifier arranged on the air inlet side of the unit, and the air sucked from the air inlet enters a space surrounded by a filter through an opening defined by the rotor and the support member I will provide a. Moreover, this invention provides the air humidifier which made the said filter hold | maintain a water | moisture content in the air cleaner of the said invention.

The air cleaner of the present invention has a structure in which the filter is suspended from the upper part and rotated by the rotor, instead of the structure in which the filter is supported from below by a disk like the air cleaner of Patent Document 3 ( (If the filter is viewed horizontally with the air inlet on the top). By adopting such a structure, the following advantageous effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the rotor is located on the air inlet side, the rotor support member is inclined and acts like a propeller of an airplane, thereby increasing the amount of air that must be passed through the filter and collecting dust. Can be improved.
(2) A part of the upper casing can be separated so as to be detachable as a panel, so that the filter and the electrode can be easily replaced.
(3) A high voltage member such as an electrode and a high voltage generator can be fixed to the lower casing side, and a high voltage can be directly transmitted to the electrode without using a sliding surface. Therefore, the stability and reliability of the operation are increased.
(4) Since a high voltage member such as an electrode and a high voltage generator is provided on the lower casing side, a creeping distance between the outer surface of the casing that is touched by a person and the electrode can be increased. For this reason, even if the periphery of the electrode portion is contaminated with dust, the high-voltage electricity is hardly leaked to the outer surface of the casing due to the contamination and the risk of electric shock is reduced.

  The basic principle of the air cleaner of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rotary filter (rotor to which a filter unit is attached) used in the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred example of the air cleaner or humidifier of the present invention.

  The rotary filter 6 shown in FIG. 1 includes a ring-shaped rotor 10 that holds a filter unit, and a ring-shaped filter unit 18 that is attached to the rotor. The filter unit 18 includes an upper filter frame 14 and a lower filter frame 16 and a filter 12 held between these filter frames. The upper filter frame 14 and the lower filter frame 16 can be connected by mechanical means such as a support column 17 shown in the figure, for example. The filter 12 has a shape bent in a wave shape so that irregularities are formed in the rotational radius direction. The width of each filter frame is preferably approximately the same as the width of the entire wavy structure of the filter 12 (ie, W shown in FIG. 3). The air to be cleaned is taken into the casing from the air inlet of the casing, which will be described later, and then enters the space surrounded by the filter, and then passes through the filter toward the outside of the space surrounded by the filter. Then, it is discharged from the air discharge port of the casing.

  In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the concave and convex shape of the filter 12 is radial in the radial direction centered on the rotation shaft 32, but the outer peripheral side tip (bent portion) is adjacent to the inner peripheral side. It is not necessary to be in the center (on the radiation) of the two tips, and they may be shifted clockwise or counterclockwise. That is, the shape of the unevenness is not limited to the shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and may be a parabolic shape or a windmill shape that goes to the outer peripheral side around the rotation shaft 32. The number of folds (the number of folds) of the filter is not particularly limited, but in the case of a filter having an outer diameter of about 310 mm, it is usually about 100 to 400 times. The difference between the outer diameter and the inner diameter of the filter is not particularly limited as long as it can secure an inner diameter size capable of providing an electrode in the space surrounded by the filter, but in the case of a filter having an outer diameter of about 310 mm, it is usually 50 mm. About 100mm. The inner diameter is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 200 mm or more. The shape of such a filter itself is known as described in Patent Document 3.

  The rotor 10 is connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating means via the bearing 34 via the plate-like support member 8. The support member 8 is provided so as to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotor. For example, the whole plate-like support member may be inclined at the same angle, or may be partially inclined by adding a twist to a part of the support member. Good. The support member 8 shown in FIG. 1 is an example in which a twist is applied to form an inclination, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the illustrated support member 8 has a shape along a radial straight line centered on the rotation shaft 32, but is not limited to this, and for example, curves along a parabola that goes around the rotation shaft 32 toward the outer peripheral side. The shape may be sufficient. This support member acts like a propeller of an aircraft, and sends air into a rotary filter internal space (a space surrounded by the filter 12 and means a space below the support member 8). There is an effect of increasing the air volume in the direction (arrow B in FIG. 1A). Therefore, the direction of inclination is set to a direction in which the air flow in the direction of arrow B is promoted when the rotor rotates. The number of the supporting members 8 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 3 or more from the viewpoint of strength, and those having too many are not preferable from the viewpoint of ease of production and maintenance, and are usually about 8 or less.

  Each member mentioned above is stored in the casing. As the casing, for example, a casing in which air outlets are gathered at one place by a snail-shaped partition wall (see FIG. 2) can be preferably used. The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is a vertical type in which the rotary filter 6 is maintained in the vertical direction (the direction of FIG. 1B), but the air cleaner of the present invention is limited to such a vertical type. Alternatively, the rotary filter 6 can be used as a horizontal type in which the rotary filter 6 is maintained in the horizontal direction (the direction of FIG. 1A) or a type in which the rotary filter 6 is maintained in other directions. However, from the viewpoint of compacting the installation space, a vertical type in which the rotary filter 6 is maintained in the vertical direction or a similar direction is preferable. In the present specification, for convenience of explanation, “upper”, “lower”, “upper”, “lower” are based on the positional relationship when the rotary filter 6 is maintained in the horizontal direction so that the rotor 10 is on the upper side. ”,“ Upper surface ”,“ lower surface ”, and the like are sometimes used, but such expressions do not limit the scope of the present invention to a horizontal device. Therefore, the terms “upper filter frame” and “lower filter frame” also mean “upper” and “lower” when the rotary filter is maintained in the horizontal direction as described above. These expressions regarding other members are also the same.

  The basic principle of a vertical air cleaner as an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 (voltage application means will be described later). Although FIG. 2 is an exploded view, when assembling, the positions indicated by the alternate long and short dash lines are arranged on a single straight line. 3 and 4 are schematic cross-sectional views of the air purifier shown in FIG. 2, and are views observed in a state where the rotary filter 6 is maintained in a horizontal direction with the rotor 10 on the upper side (horizontal state). Indicates. In this state, the air inlet 24 is located on the upper side and the rotating means (motor 30 in the figure) is located on the lower side.

  The air cleaner of the present invention is characterized in that the filter is held in a state of being suspended from the rotor when viewed from the direction shown in FIG. For the purpose of clearly showing such features of the present invention, FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a more specific product.

  In this specific example, the casing includes an upper casing 20 and a lower casing 22. An upper surface of the upper casing 20 is provided with an air inlet 24 for sucking air into the internal space of the rotary filter, and the lower casing 22 has a partition wall 26 that partially surrounds the rotary filter 6. Provided. The partition wall 26 does not completely surround the rotary filter 6, and a part of the partition wall 26 opens to the outside of the casing to form an air outlet 28 (FIG. 4). The rotary filter 6 is accommodated inside the partition wall 26. The motor 30 which is a rotating means is provided on the lower casing side. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower casing 22 has a two-stage structure. As shown in FIG. 4, the motor 30 is fixed inside the lower casing 22 (this point is omitted in FIG. 3).

  2 to 4, a part of the upper casing 20 is separable as a panel 21. As described above, the upper casing 20 has a part located on the upper surface of the rotary filter 6 as the detachable panel 21 so that the rotary filter 6 and the high-voltage electrode 50 described later can be easily removed, and the filter and the electrode are replaced. Is preferable. As described above, in the upper casing 20, the air suction port 24 is provided in the upper surface portion of the rotary filter 6. Therefore, when the panel 21 is formed, the air suction port 24 is provided in the panel 21. .

  When the gap 40 between the lower filter frame 16 and the lower casing 22 is increased, the amount of air discharged through the gap 40 without passing through the filter 12 is increased. Decreases. Therefore, it is preferable that the gap 40 be sufficiently narrow.

  In the air cleaner of the present invention, the filter 12 is conductive. The air cleaner of the present invention includes an electrode for continuously performing corona discharge between the conductive filter 12 and means for applying a voltage between the electrode and the filter 12 (hereinafter referred to as “voltage application”). It may also be referred to as “means”). For example, the filter may be grounded and a high potential may be applied to the electrode, or a potential having an opposite polarity may be applied to each of the filter and the electrode. The voltage between the electrode and the filter is not particularly limited, but about 5 kV to 20 kV is appropriate. Note that the potential applied to the electrode may be positive or negative.

  By including a conductive material in the filter 12, conductivity can be imparted to the filter 12. Examples of the conductive material include, but are not limited to, particles or fibers such as activated carbon, carbon, copper, stainless steel, tin, nickel, zinc, and titanium. Such a conductive material is used for part or all of the filter 12 to form a filter, or a well-known conductive paint containing a metal such as tin, nickel, or zinc is applied to the filter surface, A conductive filter can be obtained, for example, by impregnating the filter in a conductive paint. More specifically, for example, a layered activated carbon sandwiched between commercially available non-woven fabrics can be used as a filter material, but is not limited thereto.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 are specific examples of grounding the filter. The electrodes and voltage application means shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 also show a preferred example of the present invention, like the other members, and the scope of the present invention is specifically shown in FIGS. It is not limited to the shape and structure shown.

  The position where the high voltage electrode 50 is provided is the space inside the rotary filter in the casing. That is, it is in the partition wall 26 of the lower casing 22, surrounded by the filter 12, and in the space below the support member 8. The high voltage electrode 50 is mounted on the lower casing 22 so as to be located in this space. With such a configuration, the high voltage generator 54 for applying a potential to the high voltage electrode 50 can be fixed to the lower casing 22 side, and further, high voltage can be directly transmitted to the high voltage electrode 50 without using a sliding surface. . Therefore, unlike the configuration in which the high pressure generator is provided on the upper casing side as described in Patent Document 3, it is not necessary to attach or detach the high pressure generator when replacing the filter, so that the reliability of the apparatus is improved. In addition, the creepage distance from the outer surface of the casing can be increased rather than the configuration in which the high-voltage electrode is provided on the upper casing side. Can be prevented. By applying a high voltage between the high voltage electrode 50 and the filter 12, corona discharge occurs between the high voltage electrode 50 and the filter 12. As will be described later, since the air to be cleaned by the filter 12 passes through this discharge space before passing through the filter, the dust contained in the air to be cleaned is easily charged and adheres to the filter. As a result, the dust collection effect of the air cleaner is improved.

  In the specific examples shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the high-voltage electrode 50 has a ring shape and is composed of a ring-shaped electric wire supported by a holder 52 (FIG. 5). The high pressure generator 54 is provided on the lower casing 22 side. One of the legs of the holder 52 is configured as a contact 51 for connecting to the high voltage generator 54 and is attached together with the contact 53 on the lower casing 22 side where the terminal 56 exists, so that the high voltage electrode 50 is connected to the terminal 56 and the high voltage. It is electrically connected to the high voltage generator 54 via the electric wire 58.

  By arranging the high-voltage electrode in a ring shape and aligning the rotation filter center point with the center point of the ring electrode, the distance between the filter and the high-voltage electrode fixed to the casing is kept constant even during rotation. Therefore, it is preferable that a charge can be uniformly applied to the filter. The size of the ring is preferably a size close to the inner peripheral bent portion of the filter 12, and is not particularly limited, but may be a size having a diameter that is at least half of the inner diameter of the filter 12. However, the shape of the electrode is not limited to the ring shape, and any electrode having a shape that can keep the distance between the filter and the electrode constant is preferable as in the case of the electrode made of a ring-shaped electric wire, for example, a cylindrical electrode Etc. can also be preferably used. Since the high-voltage electrode is a consumable part, it is detachably attached from the lower casing 22. In the illustrated example, the high voltage electrode 50 and the holder 52 can be attached and detached by removing the panel 21 and the rotary filter 6.

  3 and 4, a conductive paint 60 is applied to the lower surface side of the upper filter frame 14 so as to come into contact with the filter 12 as shown by a thick line in FIG. Since the conductive paint 60 is a liquid at the time of application, for example, as described above, even if the filter 12 is made of a material in which a conductive layer such as an activated carbon layer is sandwiched between non-woven fabrics or the like, it can be applied as shown in FIG. The conductive paint can penetrate into the inside of the filter and connect to the conductive layer. The conductive paint 60 shown in FIG. 1 (b) is partially connected to the upper surface side through the side surface of the upper filter frame 14 (marked with * in FIG. 1). ) And FIG. 3, the upper filter frame 14, the rotor 10, the support member 8, and the hole 38 of the flange portion 36 are applied in a line shape. Inside the hole 38, the bearing 34 and the conductive paint 60 are connected. Since the bearing 34 is made of a conductive material such as metal, the conductive filter 12 and the motor shaft (rotary shaft 32) are electrically connected via the conductive paint 60 and the bearing 34. The motor shaft is electrically connected to the motor casing via a bearing (the bearing and the motor casing are omitted in FIG. 3). Therefore, by grounding the motor casing, the grounding of the filter is achieved, and the potential of the filter can be set to 0V.

  At the time of use, by rotating the motor 30, the rotor 10 and the filter 12 are rotated and a high voltage is generated in the high-voltage generator 54, and a potential is applied to the high-voltage electrode 50. The rotational speed of the motor 30 is not particularly limited and is appropriately selected depending on the shape of the filter and the dimensions of the apparatus, but is usually about 50 to 3000 rpm, preferably about 100 to 1000 rpm. Then, since the filter 12 is bent in a wave shape as shown in the drawing, the filter 12 functions as a blade of the impeller to generate wind, and the air existing in the rotary filter inner space surrounded by the filter 12 is After passing through the filter 12, the air is blown out from an air outlet 28 provided on the side surface of the lower casing 22. At the same time, air is sucked from the upper surface of the upper casing 20 (in the illustrated example, the air inlet 24 provided in the panel 21) (arrow C (intake air) and arrow D (outlet) in FIG. 4B). Air)). Here, since the support member 8 having a twist acts like a propeller of an airplane due to the rotation of the rotor, the suction of air into the rotary filter inner space is promoted. The filter 12 allows air to pass through. However, since the rotation speed of the filter 12 is high, the filter 12 can serve as a blade of the impeller due to the air resistance of the filter 12. Thus, since the air located in the rotary filter inner space surrounded by the filter 12 passes through the filter 12 and is discharged to the outside, the air discharged to the outside is cleaned by passing through the filter 12. Will be. Further, since corona discharge occurs between the high voltage electrode 50 to which a high potential is applied by the high voltage generator 54 and the grounded filter 12, the air to be cleaned located in the internal space of the rotary filter is discharged into the discharge space. And then through the filter 12. As a result, the dust contained in the air to be cleaned is charged and easily attached to the filter, so that the air cleaning effect is further enhanced. In addition, since ozone is generated in the discharge space and the odor component is decomposed, the deodorizing effect is further enhanced together with the adsorption of the odor component by the filter.

  Although ozone is harmful at high concentrations, ozone can be decomposed into harmless carbon dioxide by contacting with activated carbon as is known in the art. By including a material having an ozonolysis action in the filter 12, ozone can be preferably decomposed. Materials having an ozonolysis action are known in this field, and examples thereof include activated carbon. Since activated carbon is a conductive material as described above, for example, by adding activated carbon to the filter 12 by sandwiching the activated carbon layer with a non-woven fabric as described above, the filter 12 is simultaneously provided with conductivity and ozonolysis. This is preferable.

An air cleaner with the above-mentioned mode for grounding the filter was prepared, and the amount of ozone generated by operating in a 1 m ³ sealed chamber was examined. It was very low.

  In addition, as above-mentioned, the air cleaner of this invention is not limited to the aspect which earth | grounds a filter, You may provide the electric potential of opposite polarity to each of a filter and an electrode. For example, a belt-like line made of a conductive material is provided on the surface of the upper filter frame 14 or the lower filter frame 16 in an annular shape, and the filter 12 and the line are electrically connected by applying a conductive paint or the like. By providing a conductive brush on the casing in contact with the casing and connecting the conductive brush to a high-voltage generator, a potential can be applied to the filter via the rotating sliding surface.

  Although the air cleaner has been described above, the air cleaner can be used as a humidifier by holding the filter 12 with moisture. This can be easily achieved, for example, by continuously spraying water on the filter 12 in a shower form from a water absorption pipe (not shown). When such a filter 12 is used, since air absorbs moisture when passing through the filter 12, both air cleaning and humidification can be performed simultaneously.

It is a figure which shows a preferable example of the rotary filter used by this invention. Arrow A indicates the direction of rotation of the rotary filter, and arrow B indicates the direction of air flow. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows one preferable Example of the air cleaner of this invention. It is a schematic cross section which shows one specific example of the air cleaner of this invention which applies a high voltage between a filter and an electrode by earth | grounding a filter and giving a high electric potential to an electrode. It is the figure which described the schematic cross section shown in FIG. 3 more concretely. It is a figure which shows a preferable example of the electrode used by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

6 Rotary Filter 8 Support Member 10 Rotor 12 Filter 14 Upper Filter Frame 16 Lower Filter Frame 17 Lower Column 18 Filter Unit 20 Upper Casing 21 Panel 22 Lower Casing 24 Air Suction Port 26 Bulkhead 28 Air Blowout Port 30 Motor 32 Rotating Shaft 34 Bearing 36 Flange Part 38 hole 40 gap 50 high voltage electrode 51 holder side contact 52 holder 53 lower casing side contact 54 high voltage generator 56 terminal 58 high voltage electric wire 60 conductive paint

Claims (5)

A ring-shaped rotor;
A ring-shaped filter unit attached to the rotor, the filter unit including a conductive filter that surrounds an inner region of the rotor and is bent in a wave shape so that irregularities are formed in a radial direction of the rotor When,
Rotating means for rotating the rotor;
An electrode for continuously performing corona discharge with the filter provided in a space surrounded by the filter;
Means for applying a voltage between the electrode and the filter;
A casing for housing the rotor and the filter unit, wherein an air suction port for sucking air to be cleaned from outside into a space surrounded by the filter; and air discharged through the filter A casing having an air outlet for discharging to
The rotor is connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating means via a plate-like support member provided so as to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotor rotating shaft, and the rotor is connected to the filter inside the casing. An air purifier arranged on the air inlet side of the unit, and the air sucked from the air inlet enters a space surrounded by a filter through an opening defined by the rotor and the support member .   The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the filter is grounded.   The air cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the filter includes activated carbon.   4. The electrode according to claim 1, wherein the electrode has a ring shape having a diameter of one half or more of an inner diameter of the filter, and is provided so that a center point of the ring coincides with a rotation axis of the filter. The air cleaner according to item 1.   The air humidifier which made the said filter hold | maintain a water | moisture content in the air cleaner of any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4.

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