JP2011104553A - Sterilizing filter and mask using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sterilizing filter capable of annihilating bacilli and viruses by electric discharge, and to provide a mask using the same. <P>SOLUTION: The sterilizing filter has a constitution in which a first conductive cloth 1, an electric insulation cloth 2, and a second conductive cloth 3, all of which have air permeability are laminated. The mask using the sterilizing filter includes a battery (a) applying voltage for annihilating the bacilli and the viruses by electric discharge, and a mask body (b) in which an outer cover 4 and an inner cover 5, having air permeability, sewn together on their peripheral part and which houses the sterilizing filter between both the covers with the first conductive cloth placed outside, wherein the first and the second conductive cloths are connected respectively with different poles of the battery. Both of conductive cloths consist of non-woven fabric formed by twining short fibers, having conductivity or a mesh body composed of a fiber having conductivity, and a nap is raised on the respective surfaces for electric discharge. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sterilizing filter capable of killing bacteria and viruses by electric discharge, and a mask for preventing and detoxifying bacteria and viruses by capturing and dying using the sterilizing filter.

  A wide variety of masks are on the market for new influenza measures, etc., but can be broadly divided into the following two types. One is to cut bacteria and viruses with a filter with fineness of eyes, and in this case, the cutting efficiency is increased by multilayering the filter. The other is to impregnate and attach an inorganic or organic disinfectant (effect) agent such as a photocatalyst to the mask fabric to kill bacteria and viruses. For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a mask using a fabric or paper sheet impregnated with a paste and then coated with titanium oxide. A mask using a fiber sheet to which an ascorbic acid derivative is fixed is disclosed.

Since it is a necessary condition that the mask is not breathtaking, the opening is about 30 μm even with the finest (about 400 mesh) in the case of an inexpensive general commercial mask excluding special masks for poison gas and bacteria research. If it is 100 mesh, the opening is about 200 μm. On the other hand, the size of the bacteria is generally about 1 to 10 μm, and the virus is about 1/1000 of the bacteria and is 80 to 100 nm. Even if the mask fiber is given a bactericidal effect, most of the virus is not cut by the mask and hardly touches the mask fiber, and the virus is not killed but is taken into the body by breathing.
A special mask capable of cutting viruses is very expensive and large and heavy, so that it does not look good on the appearance, and the work is hindered. For this reason, there is a demand for a mask that can cut viruses at low cost, with almost no change in appearance and workability.

  Patent Document 3 below discloses a mask having a structure capable of electrically collecting pollen, house dust, etc. in the air. Such a mask has a sterilizing effect and an inert effect. However, there is a problem that active bacteria and viruses remain attached to the filter unit for dust collection after use.

WO2006 / 049067 JP 2004-313415 A JP 7-24077 A

It is an object of the present invention to provide a filter capable of cutting bacteria and viruses and a mask capable of cutting bacteria and viruses at a low cost with almost no change in appearance and workability.
As a result of various studies, the present inventors have used conductive non-woven fabrics (first and second conductive fabrics) with small fineness of breathing as electrodes, and these two sheets have the same fineness of little breathing. Sandwiching an electrically insulating fabric (nonwoven fabric or mesh body) and applying a plus to one of the conductive fabrics and a minus to the other, the bacteria and viruses charged while floating in the air are applied to the oppositely charged electrode. The present invention was completed by discovering that the bacteria and viruses can be prevented from being taken into the human body by being killed by electroadsorption and discharge at that time. Even if bacteria and viruses are not charged while drifting in the air, the bacteria and viruses are forcibly charged when passing through the conductive cloth (electrode) located outside, and then on the inside. It was confirmed that a discharge occurred between the bacteria and the electrode while passing through the oppositely charged electrode, and the effect was exhibited.

  The sterilization filter of the present invention has a function of killing bacteria and viruses by electric discharge, and the filter is sequentially laminated with a first conductive fabric having air permeability, an electrically insulating fabric, and a second conductive fabric. The first and second conductive fabrics are any one of a nonwoven fabric entangled with conductive short fibers and a mesh body made of conductive fibers, and The surface of the said 1st and / or 2nd electroconductive fabric has the mark for charging.

Further, the mask of the present invention that can solve the above problems has a function of killing bacteria and viruses by electric discharge, and the mask is
a) a battery capable of applying a voltage for killing bacteria and viruses by discharging;
b) Peripheral portions of the outer cover and the inner cover having air permeability are sewn, and each of them has air permeability between the outer cover and the inner cover in order from the outer cover to the inner cover. A first conductive fabric connected to the positive electrode or negative electrode of the battery, an electrically insulating fabric, and a second conductive fabric connected to a battery electrode different from the first conductive fabric are stored in a stacked state. A mask body,
The first and second conductive fabrics are any one of a nonwoven fabric entangled with conductive short fibers and a mesh body made of conductive fibers, and the first and / or second conductive fabrics. The surface of the conductive fabric has a mark for discharging.

According to the present invention, in the mask having the above characteristics, at least one of the first and second conductive fabrics is a fiber selected from the group consisting of rayon, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, and cotton. It is also characterized by being a non-woven fabric containing cut fibers obtained by plating a conductive metal on the surface.
Furthermore, the present invention is the mask having the above-described feature, wherein at least one of the first and second conductive fabrics contains at least 5% by weight of the cut fiber. .

According to the present invention, in the mask having the above characteristics, at least one of the first and second conductive fabrics includes a fiber or a conductive carbon fiber kneaded with a conductive metal or conductive carbon. It is also characterized by being a non-woven fabric.
The present invention is also characterized in that, in the mask having the above characteristics, the electrically insulating fabric is a nonwoven fabric having a thickness of 20 to 200 μm.
Both ends of the mask main body constituting the mask of the present invention are generally provided with ear hooks, but when the peripheral portion of the inner cover of the mask main body can be brought into close contact with the human body, for example, a weak adhesive substance is provided on the peripheral portion. In the case of a coated configuration, it is not necessary to provide an ear hook.

  In the sterilization filter and mask of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the electrical insulating fabric that is the intermediate layer prevents discharge from occurring between the first conductive fabric and the second conductive fabric, Since one of the two conductive fabrics is applied positively and the other is applied negatively, if the bacteria or viruses that have passed through the outermost outer cover are charged, the charge is opposite When the distance between the bacteria or virus and the conductive fabric reaches the discharge distance, a discharge occurs, and as a result, the bacteria or virus Will die. In the present invention, even if bacteria or viruses in the air are not charged, the bacteria or viruses are charged to the same charge as the conductive cloth by passing through the first conductive cloth, and then When the distance between the bacteria or virus and the conductive fabric reaches the discharge distance, a discharge occurs and the bacteria or virus is killed.

It is a figure which shows the layer structure of the sterilization filter of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the mask of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the layer structure of the mask main body which comprises the mask of this invention, and a connection state with a battery.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sterilizing filter of the present invention has a configuration in which a first conductive fabric 1, an electrically insulating fabric 2, and a second conductive fabric 3, all having air permeability, are laminated. The first conductive fabric 1 and the second conductive fabric 3 are used by being connected to different electrodes of the battery. Hereinafter, preferred specific examples of the mask of the present invention using this sterilizing filter are shown in the drawings. The present invention will be described in detail below, but the present invention is not limited to those illustrated in the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mask of the present invention includes a battery a and a mask body b having a shape suitable for covering the nose and mouth of a human body, and the mask body b is an outer cover having air permeability. In the case of a mask having an ear hook portion, the ear hook portion c is provided at both ends of the mask body b. In general, the outer cover 4 and the inner cover 5 are gauze, but are not limited thereto.

  And, inside the outer cover-inner cover sewing body, as shown in FIG. 3, the sterilizing filter of the present invention has air permeability in order from the outer cover 4 toward the inner cover 5, One conductive cloth 1, an electrically insulating cloth 2, and a second conductive cloth 3 are accommodated in a laminated state. In the mask of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 2, a battery accommodating portion 6 for accommodating a battery is provided between the outer cover 4 and the inner cover 5 below the mask body b, and a button type is included therein. Batteries are to be accommodated. However, the battery housing portion 6 may be outside the mask body b. In this case, a connector connected to both conductive fabrics is provided on the mask body b, and this is a battery serving as a battery housing portion by an electric wire. What is necessary is just to connect with a case, and it is desirable for a battery case to have the magnitude | size and shape suitable for accommodating in a breast pocket. In this case, a switch may be provided between the battery case part and between the connector and the battery case so that the power can be turned on and off.

  In the present invention, when the battery housing 6 is provided in the mask body, a substantially C-shaped or U-shaped plastic female member is attached to the mask body side, and the battery is placed on the pedestal portion in the female member. It is preferable that the male member in a state can be inserted / removed and the electrode of the button-type battery and the conductive fabric are in direct contact with each other when the male member on which the battery is mounted is inserted into the female member. In the present invention, such a structure can reduce the weight of the mask, and can prevent swallowing by dropping the button-type battery. In order to securely fix the male member to the female member, it is preferable to provide a structure in which one member is provided with a small convex portion and the other member is provided with a concave portion corresponding thereto, and these are fitted to each other. In the present invention, general dry batteries, film batteries, batteries and the like can be widely used in addition to the button type battery. In the present invention, the mask can be repeatedly used by replacing the battery a.

In the mask of FIG. 2, the lower sides (positions of circles indicated by dotted lines) of the first conductive fabric 1 and the second conductive fabric 3 are connected to the positive electrode side or the negative electrode side of the battery a by electric wires. However, this connection method is not limited to that illustrated in the drawings. For example, a thin net-like copper, nickel, stainless steel or the like having a thickness of 0.02 mm to 0.1 mm is used for each conductive fabric. It may be bonded with a conductive adhesive (trade name: Dotite), or may be sewn with conductive metal fibers.
The battery a in the present invention only needs to have a voltage that can kill bacteria and viruses by discharging. However, if the voltage is too high, it is dangerous to the human body. The thing of about ~ 24V is preferable. This is because when a voltage of 24 V or higher is applied, the conductive fibers described later may melt or generate smoke. In the mask of the present invention, safety is maintained by avoiding application of a voltage of 24 V or higher. be able to. Furthermore, a switch for turning on / off the voltage application may be provided, and an LED with a small amount of power consumption may be provided to indicate that the switch is in an on state and a voltage necessary for discharging. .

In the mask of the present invention, the positive electrode of the battery a is connected to one of the first conductive fabric 1 and the second conductive fabric 3, and the other conductive fabric is connected to the negative electrode of the battery a. What is necessary is just to discharge between the surface of any one of the 1st conductive fabric 1 and the 2nd conductive fabric 3, and the microbe and virus which adjoined the said surface. The first conductive fabric 1 and the second conductive fabric 3 suitable for such discharge may be the same type or a combination of different types, a non-woven fabric in which short fibers having conductivity are entangled and , Selected from mesh bodies made of conductive fibers. As a nonwoven fabric entangled with conductive short fibers, cut fibers obtained by plating a conductive metal on the surface of a fiber selected from the group consisting of rayon, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene and cotton. In this case, the metal plated on the surface is preferably gold, silver, copper, nickel or the like having excellent conductivity. And the surface of the nonwoven fabric which comprises the 1st conductive fabric 1 and the 2nd conductive fabric 3 is provided with the micrometer-order thickness of the discharge (thin hair planted on the nonwoven fabric surface) for discharge. As a result, discharge from the tip (terminal) of the incision tends to occur, sterilization efficiency increases, and there is no need to provide a booster for increasing the voltage. In order to form a fluff on the surface of the non-woven fabric, the surface of the above-mentioned non-woven fabric may be buffed (buffed). It is preferable that about 1,000 spots are present.
In the present invention, the terminal present on the surface of the conductive nonwoven fabric is preferably made of short fibers having a fiber length of 5 to 51 mm when the nonwoven fabric is produced by a dry method, and short if the wet method is used. Even if it is 20 g / m ² , the amount of conductive short fibers is 5%, and the size is 9 cm × 13 cm, there are 15,000 or more terminals. However, when the fiber length is 5 mm or less, the number of terminals is increased, but the bonding area is small and the fiber may drop, and there is also a danger of inhalation during breathing. There are preferably one or more terminals per ^two unit areas.
In the present invention, as the first conductive cloth 1 and the second conductive cloth 3, a mesh body made of metal fibers having conductivity can be used. As such a mesh body, a mesh made of metal fibers can be used. An adhesive (a metal mesh with a flocking process) in which a pile made of conductive fiber or fibrous metal is applied to the surface by applying an adhesive in advance to the surface of the body can be used.

As a preferred example of the first conductive fabric 1 and the second conductive fabric 3 in the present invention, a nonwoven fabric containing at least 5 wt%, preferably 10 to 25 wt% of the cut fibers plated with the metal is mentioned. However, when the proportion of such fibers is less than 5% by weight, sufficient conductivity cannot be obtained. Examples of such a conductive fabric include a non-woven fabric containing 10% by weight of conductive polyester short fibers whose surface is silver-plated. The thickness of the conductive fabric suitable for the present invention is 20 to 100 g / m ^2, and the particularly preferred 50 g / ^{m 2} front and rear, so ventilation exceeds 150 g / ^{m 2} is deteriorated undesirably.

In the present invention, even if at least one of the first conductive fabric 1 and the second conductive fabric 3 is a non-woven fabric containing fibers kneaded with a conductive metal or conductive carbon, it contains conductive carbon fibers. It may be a non-woven fabric. When the first conductive fabric 1 and the second conductive fabric 3 in the present invention are mesh bodies made of conductive fibers, the mesh size of the mesh body is 100 to 400 mesh so as not to cause breathing. It is preferable that
On the other hand, the electrically insulating fabric 2 sandwiched between these electrically conductive fabrics has air permeability and can electrically insulate the first electrically conductive fabric 1 and the second electrically conductive fabric 3 from each other. The thickness of the first conductive fabric 1 and the thickness of the second conductive fabric 3 should be selected so as not to contact each other. That is, when the height of the first conductive fabric 1 in the vertical direction is h ₁ and the height of the second conductive fabric 3 in the vertical direction is h ₂ , the electricity has a thickness exceeding h ₁ + h _2. An insulating fabric 2 is used. Thus, although the thickness of the electrically insulating fabric 2 varies depending on the length of the conductive fabric used, it generally has a thickness of 20 to 200 μm, preferably 30 to 120 μm. The thickness is particularly preferable.
In the present invention, the size of the first conductive fabric 1, the electrically insulating fabric 2, and the second conductive fabric 3 is not particularly limited, but the size suitable for the mask application is a breathing part from the nose and mouth. 70-120 mm × 120-180 mm is desirable so that the cover can be covered.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples.
Example 1 Production Example of Conductive Fabric Silver fibers were applied to a commercially available polyester fiber having a diameter of 9 μm and cut to prepare a short fiber having a fiber length of 38 mm. And, 25% by weight of this silver-plated polyester, 3% by weight of polyester fiber (thickness 6 μm, fiber length 38 mm) as a heat-bonding fiber, and 72% by weight of polyester fiber not treated with silver plating (thickness 9 μm, fiber length 38 mm) %, And heat-sealed fibers were melted to produce a conductive nonwoven fabric (50 g / m ² ) having a structure in which silver-plated polyester short fibers were entangled.
The conductive nonwoven fabric thus obtained has a thickness of 170 μm and an electric resistance value of about 7 Ω / 10 cm. On this surface, there are theoretically about 27,700 pieces of terminals (terminals) per size of 9 cm × 13 cm. It will exist.

Example 2: Thickness selection experiment of an electrically insulating fabric as an intermediate layer Using the conductive fabric of Example 1 as an electrode, and using an electrically insulating fabric as an intermediate layer, a commercially available nonwoven fabric with a thickness of 80 μm, The conductive fabric and the electrically insulating fabric were tested for the dry / wet state, and the insulation properties when the thickness of the electrically insulating fabric was changed (in the case of one sheet and in the case of two sheets). The voltages used in the experiment were 0V, 3V, 6V, 12V, and 15V, and the current at that time was measured. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

  From the results of Table 1 above, the electrically insulating fabric is independent of the dry / wet state of the two conductive fabrics (electrodes) and the dried / wet state of the electrically insulating fabric (interelectrode insulator) of the intermediate layer. In the case of one sheet, current flows and insulation of the two conductive fabrics cannot be obtained. However, when two sheets of electrically insulating fabric are stacked (thickness: 160 μm), no current flows in either case. It has been found that the sheet of conductive fabric is completely insulated. The reason why insulation could not be obtained with one 80 μm-thick nonwoven fabric is that there is a thin indentation present on the surface of the conductive fabric located on the front surface side and a thin skin present on the surface of the conductive fabric located on the back surface side. The incision is considered to be in contact with the non-woven fabric portion, and this result indicates that a thickness of 160 μm is required to separate the incisions.

Example 3: Manufacturing Example of Mask of the Present Invention As the first and second conductive fabrics, a conductive fabric (9 cm × 13 cm) containing 5% by weight of the silver-plated fiber used in Example 1 was prepared and electrically insulated. A commercially available gauze (10 cm × 14 cm) was prepared as an outer cover and an inner cover by preparing two layers of 80 μm-thick non-woven fabric (9 cm × 13 cm) as a conductive fabric. And after attaching an electric wire to the 1st and 2nd electroconductive cloth, it has arrange | positioned and laminated | stacked on both surfaces of the said electrically insulating cloth, and obtained the sterilization filter.
Next, an outer cover and an inner cover are arranged and laminated on both surfaces of the sterilizing filter, and a battery accommodating portion (battery charging portion) for accommodating a small button battery is provided on the lower end side of the mask. The peripheral edge of the cover was sewn, and a rubber string was attached to make a mask having the appearance and structure shown in FIG. 2. A button-type lithium battery (3V) was placed in the battery housing part to produce the mask of the present invention.

Example 4: Experiment I for confirming bactericidal effect I
Three masks of the present invention prepared in Example 3 and a commercially available gauze mask as a control were prepared, respectively, and SEK count method (S. aureus, size 0.8 × 1.0 μ, NBRC-12732). ) To examine the bactericidal effect of the mask. The mask of the present invention used in the experiment has about 27,710 discharge terminals per size of 9 cm × 13 cm, and most viruses are negatively charged. The conductive cloth positioned was a positive electrode, and the conductive cloth positioned inside was a negative electrode. The measurement results after 18 hours are shown in Table 2 below.

  From the results in Table 2 above, when a commercially available gauze mask is used, the number of Staphylococcus aureus increases after 18 hours, whereas in the case of a nonwoven fabric containing 5% by weight of silver-plated fibers. 18 hours later, S. aureus was not detected, and the bactericidal effect of the mask of the present invention was confirmed. This is presumably because the bacteria passing through the mask were killed by the discharge.

Example 5: Experiment II for confirming bactericidal effect
Using the mask of the present invention produced in Example 3, it was sprayed with S. aureus were cultured to 10 ⁵ in the air, forced dropped by the fan, changing the voltage between the conductive cloth 3V, 6V, the 12V The difference in sterilization effect due to discharge was investigated. The test method is as follows.
A petri dish (diameter 10 cm, Nutrient Broth agar medium) is placed in a glass box (35 cm × 35 cm × 25 cm, fan (diameter 5 cm), spray hole (diameter 1 cm)), and the number of viable bacteria (S. aureus, size 0. 8 × 1.0 μ, NBRC-12732) 48 hours later, the number of colonies on the agar medium was measured. In Table 3 below, “mask” is a measurement sample in which the upper surface of the petri dish is covered with a commercially available gauze mask, and “electrode () V” is a constant voltage between the conductive fabrics in the mask of the present invention. Is a measurement sample that covers the upper surface of the petri dish in a state of being applied, and “control” refers to a measurement sample in which the upper surface of the petri dish is not covered.

  From the experimental results in Table 3 above, in a commercially available gauze mask, Staphylococcus aureus passes through the mask and falls onto the agar medium. However, in the case of the mask of the present invention incorporating a sterilizing filter, Staphylococcus aureus It was confirmed that the mortality of Staphylococcus aureus increased as the voltage between the conductive fabrics increased from 3V to 12V with little passage.

  The present invention can be easily configured by connecting different electrodes of the battery to the two conductive fabrics constituting the sterilizing filter, whether the bacteria or viruses passing through the filter are charged or not, Since the bacteria and viruses can be killed by the discharge from the markings present on the surface of the conductive fabric, it can be used for various purposes. Suitable applications are applicable not only to the above-described masks but also to various types of filters for electrical appliances such as indoor filters and air conditioners.

a Battery (Power)
b Mask Body c Ear Hang 1 First Conductive Fabric 2 Electrical Insulating Fabric 3 Second Conductive Fabric 4 Outer Cover 5 Inner Cover 6 Battery Housing

Claims (7)

  A sterilizing filter having a function of killing bacteria and viruses by electric discharge, wherein the filter has a structure in which a first conductive cloth having air permeability, an electrically insulating cloth, and a second conductive cloth are sequentially laminated. The first and second conductive fabrics are any one of a nonwoven fabric entangled with conductive short fibers and a mesh body made of conductive fibers, and the first and / or Alternatively, the sterilizing filter, wherein the surface of the second conductive fabric has a mark for discharging. A mask having a function of killing bacteria and viruses by electric discharge,
a) a battery capable of applying a voltage for killing bacteria and viruses by discharging;
b) Peripheral portions of the outer cover and the inner cover having air permeability are sewn, and each of them has air permeability between the outer cover and the inner cover in order from the outer cover to the inner cover. A first conductive fabric connected to the positive electrode or negative electrode of the battery, an electrically insulating fabric, and a second conductive fabric connected to a battery electrode different from the first conductive fabric are stored in a stacked state. A mask body,
The first and second conductive fabrics are any one of a nonwoven fabric entangled with conductive short fibers and a mesh body made of conductive fibers, and the first and / or second conductive fabrics. A mask characterized in that the surface of the conductive fabric has a mark for discharging.   A cut in which at least one of the first and second conductive fabrics is formed by plating a conductive metal on the surface of a fiber selected from the group consisting of rayon, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, and cotton. The mask according to claim 2, wherein the mask is a nonwoven fabric containing fibers.   The mask according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the first and second conductive fabrics includes at least 5% by weight or more of the cut fibers.   5. The method according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the first and second conductive fabrics is a fiber kneaded with a conductive metal or conductive carbon or a non-woven fabric containing conductive carbon fibers. The mask according to claim 1.   The mask according to claim 2, wherein the electrically insulating fabric is a nonwoven fabric having a thickness of 20 to 200 μm.   The mask according to claim 2, wherein ear hooks are provided at both ends of the mask main body.

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