JP2011124007A - Ion generating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stabilize ion balance and equalize the amount of ions generated from two ion generating elements. <P>SOLUTION: In an ion generating apparatus serving as a static charge eliminating apparatus, two ion generating elements 11, 12 generate positive and negative ions, and a discharge current detection portion 87 detects a discharge current signal flowing by the generated ions through current detecting electrodes 27a, 27b. A drive voltage determining portion 86 of the static charge eliminating apparatus divides the ion generating status from the ion generating elements correspondingly to values of Δ into four statuses, when making the value be denoted by Δ, which is obtained by subtracting from a discharge current signal value a target signal value corresponding to a desired ion amount. When the difference between ion generating statuses generated respectively from the two ion generating elements 11, 12 is two levels or more, it controls voltage generating circuits 71, 72 so that the drive voltage to be impressed on the ion generating element divided into a larger ion amount status is reduced, and the drive voltage to be impressed on the ion generating element divided into a smaller ion amount is maintained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ion generator that generates positive ions and negative ions.

  Conventionally, ion generators that alternately generate positive ions and negative ions are known. In the ion generator described in Patent Document 1, positive and negative ions are alternately applied to two discharge needles (ion generating elements) by applying either a positive voltage or a negative voltage, which are different from each other. Are generated alternately. This ion generator detects a discharge current flowing by the generated ions, and controls the voltage applied to the two discharge needles according to the discharge current value.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-273294 (FIG. 4)

  By the way, the present inventors have found that the ion generating element has hysteresis, and the amount of increase / decrease in ions differs depending on whether the applied voltage is increased or decreased.

  Here, for example, the ion generation amount of positive ions and negative ions respectively generated from two ion generation elements of the ion generation device is attempted to be equalized in the vicinity of a predetermined amount. Then, for example, when one ion generation amount is larger than a predetermined amount, the other ion generation amount is smaller than a predetermined amount, and the ion balance is inclined to one ion polarity, An attempt is made to reduce the ion generation amount and increase the ion generation amount of the other ion generation element.

  In such a case, if the ion generation amount of one ion generation element is decreased and the ion generation amount of the other ion generation element is increased, the ion generation amount of one of the ion generation elements becomes excessive due to hysteresis. Will increase or decrease. Then, it becomes difficult to generate ions uniformly from the two ion generating elements without stabilizing the ion balance. Furthermore, not only the hysteresis of the ion generating element but also the structure of the ion generating device may be involved in excessive increase / decrease of the ion generation amount.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ion generator that stabilizes the ion balance and equalizes the amount of ions generated from two ion generating elements.

  The ion generator of the present invention includes two ion generation elements that generate different ions of positive ions and negative ions, and two discharge currents that respectively detect discharge current signals flowing by the ions generated from the two ion generation elements. A detection means; a drive voltage determination means for determining two drive voltages to be applied to the two ion generating elements based on the two signal values respectively detected by the two discharge current detection means; and the drive voltage Two drive voltage application means for applying the two drive voltages determined by the determination means to the two ion generating elements, respectively, and the drive voltage determination means is respectively provided by the two discharge current detection means. The two detected signal values are determined according to combinations with respect to each predetermined reference value.

  According to the ion generator of the present invention, the determination is made according to the combination of the two signal values with respect to the respective predetermined reference values, so that it is possible to cope with the influence of the structure of the ion generating element and the ion generating device.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the combination with respect to each said predetermined reference value has the area | region of several steps divided by the difference from the said predetermined reference value. According to this, the determination according to the combination of the two signal values with respect to each predetermined reference value can be determined more finely.

  Further, it is preferable that the drive voltage determination unit suppresses one of addition or subtraction of the drive voltage by the drive voltage determination unit in a specific region of the combination with respect to each predetermined reference value. According to this, in a specific region of the combination with respect to each predetermined reference value, by suppressing one of the addition or subtraction of the drive voltage by the drive voltage determining means, an excessive amount generated from one ion generating element due to hysteresis is generated. Increase and decrease of ions can be suppressed, ion balance can be stabilized, and the amount of ions generated from the two ion generating elements can be made uniform.

  In the specific region of the combination, the two signal values respectively detected by the two discharge current detecting means are compared with each reference value, the difference is upside down, and the magnitude of the difference is A region having a predetermined amount is preferable. According to this, when the amount of ions generated from the two ion generating elements is more than a predetermined amount across the reference amount, the two ion generating elements are suppressed by suppressing one of the drive voltage addition or subtraction. The amount of ions generated from can be made uniform.

  At this time, the drive voltage determining means subtracts the drive voltage to be applied to the ion generating element on the side detected above the reference value, to the ion generating element on the side detected below the reference value. It is preferable to hold the drive voltage to be applied. According to this, when the increase amount of ions when the drive voltage is added due to hysteresis is larger than the decrease amount of ions when the drive voltage is subtracted, the amount of ions generated from the two ion generation elements is made equal. be able to.

  The drive voltage determining means holds a drive voltage applied to the ion generating element on the side detected above the reference value, and applied to the ion generating element on the side detected below the reference value. The driving voltage to be added may be added. According to this, when the increase amount of ions when the drive voltage is added due to hysteresis is smaller than the decrease amount of ions when the drive voltage is subtracted, the amount of ions generated from the two ion generating elements is made equal. be able to.

  In the specific combination area, a value obtained by subtracting a first signal value corresponding to a predetermined ion generation amount from a signal value detected by one of the discharge current detection means is larger than a first threshold value greater than zero. The value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by the other discharge current detecting means is preferably a region smaller than a second threshold value smaller than zero. According to this, the amount of ions generated from one of the ion generating elements is larger than a predetermined amount of generated ions, more than the amount of generated ions corresponding to the first threshold, and the amount of generated ions from the other ion generating element is predetermined. The amount of ions generated from the two ion generating elements is stabilized by stabilizing the ion balance caused by the ions generated from the two ion generating elements when the amount of generated ions is smaller than the amount of ions generated and corresponding to the second threshold value. Can be made even.

  In the specific combination area, a value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from a signal value detected by one of the discharge current detection means is greater than 0, and the signal detected by the other discharge current detection means A region obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the value may be smaller than the second threshold value. According to this, the ion generation amount from one ion generation element is larger than the predetermined ion generation amount, the ion generation amount from the other ion generation element is smaller than the predetermined ion generation amount, and further corresponds to the second threshold value. When the amount of ions generated is smaller than the amount of ions generated, the amount of ions generated from the two ion generating elements can be made uniform.

  Further, the specific combination area is detected by one of the discharge current detection means and a value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by one of the discharge current detection means is larger than the first threshold value. The value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the obtained signal value may be an area smaller than 0. According to this, the amount of ions generated from one of the ion generating elements is larger than a predetermined amount of generated ions, more than the amount of generated ions corresponding to the first threshold, and the amount of generated ions from the other ion generating element is predetermined. When the amount of ions generated is smaller than the amount of ions generated, the amount of ions generated from the two ion generating elements can be made uniform.

  In the specific combination area, a value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by the discharge current detecting means is a first stage smaller than the second threshold value, and is equal to or greater than the second threshold value. It is divided into the following second stage, a third stage that is greater than 0 and less than or equal to the first threshold value, and a fourth stage that is greater than the first threshold value, and is classified according to the signal values detected by the two discharge current detecting means. It is preferable that the region has a difference of two or more steps. According to this, the drive voltage can be easily determined by dividing the value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by the discharge current detecting means into four stages.

  Since it determines according to the combination with respect to each predetermined reference value of two signal values, it can respond to the influence of the structure of an ion generating element or an ion generator.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the static elimination apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view before attaching a gas tank and an element unit to a housing | casing. It is a perspective view before attaching an element unit to a case. It is a schematic plan view of a static elimination apparatus. It is a perspective view when an element unit is viewed from below. It is a perspective view when an element unit is viewed from above. It is a top view of an ion generating element. It is an enlarged view of the dashed-dotted line area | region of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic partial enlarged view of FIG. 1. It is the schematic which shows the electrical connection of a static elimination apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a static elimination apparatus. It is an internal circuit diagram of a voltage generation circuit. It is a figure which shows the voltage waveform each applied to two ion generating elements. It is a schematic plan view explaining the time of static elimination.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The static eliminator according to the present embodiment is a device that generates positive ions and negative ions on a charged object to be discharged, which is transported in one direction on a transport surface, and performs static elimination on the object to be neutralized. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a static eliminator according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view before the gas tank and the element unit are attached to the housing. FIG. 3 is a perspective view before the element unit is attached to the housing. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the static eliminator. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the element unit as viewed from below. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the element unit as viewed from above.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the static eliminator 1 (ion generator) is supported by a support member (not shown), and below the transfer surface 30a of the transfer device (not shown) in the Y direction (from left to right in FIG. 1). It faces the static elimination object 30 conveyed in the (conveying direction toward) with a predetermined interval.

  Moreover, the static elimination apparatus 1 has the housing | casing 2 which accommodates the various board | substrates mentioned later. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the housing 2 is long in the X direction (a direction perpendicular to the Y direction in the transport surface 30 a) and can be separated in the Y direction. It is comprised from the housing | casing 2b. Moreover, the housing | casing 2 is a flat plate arrange | positioned in the inside in the Y direction, and has the partition plate 7 which partitions internal space into two regarding Z direction (direction which goes to the bottom from FIG. 1). Yes.

  One end of the partition plate 7 is connected to the lower end of the right casing 2b and extends to a position overlapping the lower end of the left casing 2a in parallel with the Y direction. The right housing 2b has an L-shape that extends from both ends of the partition plate 7 along the X direction toward the transport surface 30a (Z direction) and is bent toward each other (center with respect to the Y direction). Two grooves 2c are formed. Thus, the space above the partition plate 7 in the housing 2 is the upper space, and the lower space is the lower space having the opening 2e formed by the groove 2c. A protrusion 6b of a gas tank 6 described later engages with the groove 2c. Further, on the inner side in the Y direction with respect to the two grooves 2c of the right housing 2b, a plurality of rows of fitting holes 2d that are spaced apart in the X direction are formed in two rows in the Y direction. .

  In the upper space of the housing 2, a control board 4 and a plurality of power supply boards 5 are arranged in order from one end in the X direction. In the lower space of the housing 2, a plurality of gas tanks 6 and a plurality of element units 3 are arranged in order from above. The plurality of element units 3 and the plurality of gas tanks 6 are arranged along the X direction without gaps. The plurality of gas tanks 6 arranged along the X direction communicate with each other. The plurality of element units 3, the plurality of gas tanks 6, and the plurality of power supply substrates 5 overlap each other along the Z direction.

  The control board 4 and the plurality of power supply boards 5 are fixed to the inner wall surface of the right casing 2b in a state where the left casing 2a and the right casing 2b are separated, and the left casing 2a and the right casing 2b. By fitting the body 2b, it is accommodated in the upper space of the housing 2. As described above, the control board 4 and the plurality of power supply boards 5 can be easily arranged in the housing 2 along the X direction.

  In addition, a plurality of connectors 42 are provided in the housing 2 so as to overlap with the plurality of power supply boards 5 along the Z direction, and are electrically connected to the corresponding power supply boards 5. The plurality of connectors 42 are electrically connected to a plurality of connectors 41 of the element unit 3 described later. A plurality of connectors 42 corresponding to one power supply board 5 are arranged side by side in the X direction, and project downward from two openings 6c, which will be described later, formed near the center of the gas tank 6 corresponding to the power supply board 5. .

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, 7 segment LED85 is arrange | positioned at the surface of the right housing | casing 2b. The 7-segment LED 85 displays the state of the static eliminator 1 to the user, such as displaying that it can be seen that ions are generated.

  Next, the element unit 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the element unit 3 has a support 3a molded from a resin, has a long shape in the X direction, and forms part of the bottom surface when viewed from the X direction. Two slopes 3c and 3d having a reverse C-shape are provided. On the two inclined surfaces 3c and 3d, plate-like ion generating elements 11 and 12 that are long in the X direction are respectively disposed with the stabilizing electrodes 26a and 26b (see FIG. 9) interposed therebetween.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6, the some connector 41 is arrange | positioned along the X direction in the center regarding the Y direction of the support body 3a. The connector 41 is electrically connected to power supply terminals 62 and 64 (described later) of the ion generating elements 11 and 12, stabilization electrodes 26 a and 26 b, and current detection electrodes 27 a and 27 b via wirings. Then, by attaching the element unit 3 to the housing 2, the plurality of connectors 41 are fitted and electrically connected to the plurality of connectors 42 through the openings 6 c of the gas tank 6.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, two protrusions 3 e that are separated in the X direction and extend in the Z direction are formed on both ends of the support body 3 a along the X direction. The element unit 3 is detachably attached to the housing 2 by fitting the protrusion 3e of the support 3a into the fitting hole 2d of the housing 2. The protrusion 3e of the support 3a is urged outward in the Y direction and is fitted in the fitting hole 2d, and can be easily removed from the fitting hole 2d in the housing 2 by pressing inward in the Y direction. Can do. With this configuration, the element unit 3 can be attached to and detached from the housing 2 without touching the ion generating elements 11 and 12. In addition, among the plurality of element units 3 arranged in the X direction, only the element unit 3 to be replaced can be easily attached to and detached from the housing 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 are arranged close to each other in the Y direction with the longitudinal direction parallel to the X direction, and the two inclined surfaces 3c and 3d of the support 3a Different ions, either positive ions or negative ions, are generated from the two ion generation surfaces 11a and 12a (see FIG. 9) opposite to the opposing surfaces. In the present embodiment, negative ions are generated from the ion generating surface 11a of the ion generating element 11 located downstream in the transport direction, and positive ions are generated from the ion generating surface 12a of the ion generating element 12 positioned upstream in the transport direction. To do.

  The inclined surface 3c of the support 3a forms an acute angle that is 45 degrees open to the downstream side in the transport direction with the transport surface 30a on which the static elimination object 30 is transported. Therefore, the ion generating surface 11a of the ion generating element 11 disposed on the inclined surface 3c forms an acute angle that is 45 degrees open to the downstream side in the transport direction with the transport surface 30a. Further, the inclined surface 3d of the support 3a forms an acute angle that is 45 degrees open to the upstream side in the transport direction with the transport surface 30a. Accordingly, the ion generation surface 12a of the ion generation element 12 disposed on the inclined surface 3d forms an acute angle that is 45 degrees open to the upstream side in the transport direction with the transport surface 30a. That is, the two ion generation surfaces 11a and 12a are inclined at the same angle in opposite directions with respect to the transport surface 30a.

  The element unit 3 includes a cover 9 that covers the outer surface of the support 3a. The cover 9 covers the peripheral portions of the two ion generating elements 11 and 12, and the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 are fixed to the support 3a, respectively. The cover 9 is formed with an opening so as to expose a part of the ion generating surfaces 11a and 12a of the two ion generating elements 11 and 12, and a plurality of gas jet ports 6a to be described later. A plurality of holes 9a are formed at positions facing each other.

  Further, current detection electrodes 27a and 27b are arranged on the surfaces of both sides of the cover 9 where the ion generating elements 11 and 12 are sandwiched with respect to the carrying direction. The two current detection electrodes 27a and 27b are for respectively detecting discharge currents flowing by the charges of the ions generated from the two ion generation elements 11 and 12, respectively, and are subject to charge removal from the two ion generation elements 11 and 12. The ion distribution generated toward the object 30 is arranged at a place having little influence on the distribution. Specifically, the ion generating elements 11 and 12 are located farther from the transport surface 30a than the ion generating elements 11 and 12, and are disposed above the ion generating elements 11 and 12. Holes are formed in the current detection electrodes 27 a and 27 b at positions corresponding to the holes 9 a of the cover 9. In addition, the technique in which the electrode contacts the ions generated from the ion generating elements 11 and 12 and receives electric charge so that the discharge current value flowing through the electrode is regarded as the ion generation amount is a conventionally known technique.

  Next, the ion generating elements 11 and 12 will be described. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the ion generating element. FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of the one-dot chain line region of FIG. FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view schematically showing FIG. Since the ion generating elements 11 and 12 have the same configuration except for generating different polarities due to different applied pulse voltages, only the ion generating element 11 will be described. The description of 12 is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the ion generating elements 11 are arranged side by side in the X direction by arranging the plurality of element units 3 in the X direction. As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the ion generating element 11 is configured by disposing the ion generating electrode 16 and the induction electrodes 17 a and 17 b on the front surface 15 a and the back surface 15 b of the dielectric 15, respectively. The surface 15a of the dielectric 15 is a surface opposite to the inclined surface 3c of the support 3a, and the back surface 15b is a surface facing the inclined surface 3c.

  The dielectric 15 is a long rectangular plate in which a large number of mica are laminated with an adhesive. The dielectric 15 has a thickness of 70 μm in this embodiment. The dielectric 15 is not limited to a mica laminate, and may be ceramic, glass, polymer, or the like. In addition, power supply terminals 62 and 64 are formed on the surface 15a of the dielectric 15 so as to be electrically connected to the power supply substrate 5 and to which a voltage applied from the power supply substrate 5 is supplied. The power feeding terminals 62 and 64 overlap along the X direction, and are arranged on the inner side with respect to the X direction than both ends of the ion generating electrode 16. The power supply terminals 62 and 64 are electrically connected to the corresponding connector 41 via a wiring (not shown).

  The ion generating electrode 16 is made of stainless steel on the surface 15a of the dielectric 15 and has a plurality of fine triangular protruding electrodes protruding from the linear electrode 16a and the linear electrode 16a in the short direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. 16b. The plurality of protruding electrodes 16b are arranged in two rows in a staggered manner with the linear electrodes 16a sandwiched at equal intervals along the X direction. In the present embodiment, the width X of the linear electrode 16a, the length Y of the bottom of the protruding electrode 16b, and the height Z of the protruding electrode 16b are 0.1 mm. The angle α formed from the two sides forming the protruding electrode 16b is 53.13 degrees, and the distance L between the apexes 16c of the two adjacent protruding electrodes 16b is 0.3 mm. Yes.

  In addition, one end portion (lower end portion in FIG. 7) of the ion generation electrode 16 is electrically connected to the power supply terminal 62 via a wiring 61 that is bent inward with respect to the X direction from both ends of the ion generation electrode 16. .

  The induction electrodes 17 a and 17 b are formed of stainless steel on the back surface 15 b of the dielectric 15 like the ion generation electrode 16, and are parallel to the ion generation electrode 16. Further, the two linear electrodes 17 a and 17 b are arranged on both sides of the ion generation electrode 16 when the induction electrodes 17 a and 17 b are viewed from the ion generation electrode 16. In the present embodiment, the distance K in the short direction from the protruding electrode 16b to the induction electrode 17b is 0.05 mm. The material of the ion generating electrode 16 and the induction electrodes 17a and 17b is not limited to stainless steel, but is a single metal such as carbon, tungsten, aluminum, copper, gold, tantalum, tungsten or nickel, or an alloy thereof, or conductive. Ceramics may be used.

  Further, one end portion (the upper end portion in FIG. 7) of the induction electrodes 17a and 17b is connected to the power supply terminal 64 via a wiring 63 bent inward with respect to the X direction from both ends of the induction electrodes 17a and 17b and through holes (not shown). Electrically connected.

  Further, a surface protective layer 18 that covers the surface 15 a of the dielectric 15 and the ion generating electrode 16 is formed on the entire surface 15 a of the dielectric 15. The surface protective layer 18 is formed for the purpose of preventing peeling of the dielectric 15 and improving moisture resistance, and is made of, for example, a silica-based coating material or an acrylic coating material.

  In addition, a back surface protective layer 19 that covers the back surface 15b of the dielectric 15 and the induction electrodes 17a and 17b is formed on the entire back surface 15b of the dielectric 15. The back surface protective layer 19 is made of, for example, a silicon-based coating material or an epoxy-based coating material.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the stabilization electrode 26a is arrange | positioned between the back surface protective layer 19 of the ion generating element 11, and the slope 3c of the support body 3a. A bias voltage having the same polarity as the ions generated from the ion generating electrode 16 is applied to the stabilizing electrode 26a. That is, since negative ions are generated from the ion generation electrode 16 of the ion generation element 11, a negative bias voltage is applied to the stabilization electrode 26a corresponding to the ion generation element 11. Further, in order to generate positive ions from the ion generation electrode 16 of the ion generation element 12, a positive bias voltage is applied to the stabilization electrode 26b corresponding to the ion generation element 12. In this embodiment, bias voltages of minus 12V and plus 12V are applied, respectively.

  The ion generation element 11 generates negative ions from the ion generation electrode 16 by applying a negative pulse voltage between the ion generation electrode 16 and the induction electrodes 17a and 17b using the induction electrodes 17a and 17b as a reference potential. . The ion generating element 12 applies positive pulse voltage from the ion generating electrode 16 by applying a positive pulse voltage between the ion generating electrode 16 and the induction electrodes 17a and 17b with the induction electrodes 17a and 17b as a reference potential. appear.

  Here, if the stabilization electrode 26a is not provided and the generation of negative ions from the ion generation electrode 16 of the ion generation element 11 is continued, the amount of ions generated from the ion generation electrode 16 decreases. This is presumably because the back surface protective layer 19 is charged with a polarity opposite to that of ions generated from the ion generating electrode 16 and the generated ions are attracted. When the support 3a is made of a resin, the support 3a is charged in addition to the back surface protective layer 19. By providing the stabilizing electrode 26a to which a negative bias voltage is applied to the ion generating element 11 that generates negative ions as in the present embodiment, the back surface protective layer 19 or the support 3a is additionally provided. Prevent charging. As a result, the amount of ions generated from the ion generating electrode 16 does not decrease and stabilizes.

  1 to 4, the gas tank 6 is hollow, and has a gas inlet 6e and a gas outlet 6f at both ends in the X direction. In two adjacent gas tanks 6, the gas inlet 6 e of one gas tank 6 and the gas outlet 6 f of the other gas tank 6 are connected to communicate with each other. In the center of the gas tank 6, two openings 6 c that are arranged in the X direction and penetrated in the Z direction are formed. As described above, the plurality of connectors 42 protrude from the openings 6c of the gas tank 6, and the plurality of connectors 42 and the plurality of connectors 41 are fitted and electrically connected through the openings 6c.

  If the connector 42 is fitted and electrically connected to the connector 41 from the space around the gas tank 6 without passing through the opening 6c of the gas tank 6, the apparatus becomes large. Therefore, the connector 42 and the connector 41 are fitted and electrically connected via the opening 6c of the gas tank 6, so that the apparatus can be reduced in size. In particular, when the element unit 3 is provided with the stabilization electrodes 26a and 26b and the discharge current detection electrodes 27a and 27b to be multifunctional, the effect is further increased because the number of connecting portions increases and the connector becomes larger.

  Further, by inserting the connector 42 into the opening 6c of the gas tank 6, the position of the gas tank 6 can be fixed, and even if the gas tank 6 is thermally expanded, the position of the gas tank 6 is not easily displaced. Further, the thickness of the gas tank 6 (length in the Z direction) can be increased by the length of the connector 42 in the Z direction, and the volume of the gas tank 6 can be increased. Further, a notch 6d that is recessed in the center in the Y direction is formed at a position overlapping the protrusion 3e of the support 3a and the fitting hole 2d of the housing 2 in the Z direction of the gas tank 6 (see FIG. 3). Accordingly, the position of the gas tank 6 with respect to the XY plane can be fixed by fitting the protrusion 3 e of the support 3 a into the fitting hole 2 d of the housing 2.

  In addition, the surface of the gas tank 6 facing the element unit 3 penetrates in the Z direction so that the internal space communicates with the external space, and a plurality of gas jets 6a through which the internal space sends gas in the Z direction. Are arranged in two rows with the element unit 3 interposed therebetween in the Y direction. The surface area of the gas tank 6 where the gas delivery line is formed is a protruding portion 6g protruding in the Z direction. The protruding portion 6g gives a predetermined direction to the gas flow, and a stable gas flow can be performed. A part of the element unit 3 is fitted between the two rows of protrusions 6g, and the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 are positioned between the two rows of protrusions 6g in the Y direction.

  The gas tank 6 is connected to a gas supply source (not shown). As the gas supplied from the gas supply source, air gas or inert gas such as nitrogen is suitable. The gas supplied from the gas supply source is sent from the gas outlet 6a of the gas tank 6 through the hole 9a of the cover 9 and the holes of the current detection electrodes 27a and 27b in the direction orthogonal to the transport surface 30a. That is, the gas delivered from the plurality of gas ejection ports 6a of the gas tank 6 extends in the X direction with the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 sandwiched with respect to the transport direction and facing the direction orthogonal to the transport surface 30a. Gas curtain is formed.

  Here, since the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 generate ions, dust easily adheres due to static electricity. Therefore, by forming a gas curtain corresponding to each of the two ion generating elements 11 and 12, ions generated from the ion generating surfaces 11a and 12a of the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 toward the transport surface 30a are respectively generated. Since the distribution area is shielded from the surroundings by the gas curtain, the surrounding dust is difficult to adhere to the two ion generation surfaces 11a and 12a. In addition, ions generated from the two ion generation surfaces 11a and 12a flow to the transfer surface 30a more efficiently, and the charge removal object 30 can be neutralized more effectively. Further, since the gas curtain is formed with the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 sandwiched therebetween, it is possible to prevent the ions generated from the two ion generating surfaces 11a and 12a from being dispersed. In addition, since the gas curtain is formed in a direction perpendicular to the transport surface 30a, positive ions and negative ions generated from the two ion generation surfaces 11a and 12a are less likely to be mixed and neutralized.

  Next, attachment of the gas tank 6 and the element unit 3 to the housing 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the gas tank 6 is attached to the housing 2 by engaging the projection 6b of the gas tank 6 with the groove 2c of the housing 2 and sliding the gas tank 6 along the X direction. . The gas tanks 6 slidably arranged on the housing 2 are connected to each other by a gas inlet 6e and a gas outlet 6f, and the fitting hole 2d of the housing 2 and the notch 6d of the gas tank 6 overlap each other along the Z direction. Be placed. Then, when the power supply substrate 5 and the connector 42 are arranged at positions overlapping with the gas tanks 6 in the casing 2 along the Z direction, the connector 42 protrudes from the opening 6c of the gas tank 6 as shown in FIG. In this state, the element unit 3 is moved in the Z direction, and the protrusion 3e of the support 3a is fitted into the fitting hole 2d of the casing 2 through the notch 6d of the gas tank 6, whereby the element unit 3 is While being securely attached to the body 2, the connector 42 and the connector 41 are fitted and electrically connected. By attaching the element unit 3 to the housing 2 in this way, the connector 42 and the connector 41 can be reliably electrically connected, and the work of electrically connecting the connector 42 and the connector 41 can be reduced. Can do.

  Thus, the structure which ejects gas by utilizing the gas tank 6 is simple. The plurality of element units 3 provided with the ion generating elements 11 and 12 are detachably attached to the housing 2 along the Z direction. Therefore, for example, when replacing or maintaining the ion generating elements 11 and 12 that are worn or damaged due to long-term use, the elements provided with the ion generating elements 11 and 12 with the other element units 3 attached. Only the unit 3 can be easily removed along the Z direction, and the ion generating elements 11 and 12 can be easily replaced or maintained. Moreover, the static elimination apparatus 1 long in the X direction can be formed.

  Next, the electrical system of the static elimination apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating electrical connection of the static eliminator. In FIG. 10, the ground line is not shown. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the static eliminator. FIG. 12 is an internal circuit diagram of the voltage generation circuit. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing voltage waveforms applied to the two ion generating elements, respectively. FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view for explaining static elimination.

  First, electrical connection of the static eliminator 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, the control board 4 and the power supply board 5 are electrically connected to each other via the positive and negative drive voltage signal lines, the discharge current signal line, the voltage control signal line, and the PWM signal line. Yes. The power supply substrate 5 and the element unit 3 include a drive voltage supply line to the plus side induction electrode 17 and the ion generation electrode 16, a drive voltage supply line to the minus side induction electrode 17 and the ion generation electrode 16, and a plus side and a minus side. Are electrically connected via the discharge current detection lines and the stabilizing electrode bias lines. For connection between the power supply board 5 and the element unit 3, the connector 42 of the power supply board 5 and the connector 41 of the element unit 3 shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 are used.

  Next, the internal configuration of the control board 4 will be described with reference to FIG. The control board 4 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which programs and data for controlling various operations are stored, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing various operations to generate signals for controlling the various operations, and a CPU RAM (Random Access Memory) etc. that temporarily stores data such as the calculation results in the are included. Alternatively, the control board 4 may be configured by a logic IC, ASIC, FPGA, or the like. The control board 4 functions as an oscillation control unit 81, a voltage control unit 82, and a determination unit 83. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, when the static eliminator 1 is configured by connecting a plurality of pairs of power supply substrates 5 and element units 3 in the X direction, the control substrate 4 can be used in common. it can. The signal transfer from the CPU of the control board 4 to each pair and the control processing for each pair can be performed sufficiently quickly by a well-known time sequential operation or the like.

  Next, the internal configuration of the power supply board 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, the power supply substrate 5 includes a plus-side voltage generation circuit 71, a minus-side voltage generation circuit 72, a plus-side current / voltage conversion circuit 73, and a minus-side current / voltage conversion circuit 74. And a stabilizing electrode power source 75 on the plus side and a power source 76 for the minus side stabilizing electrode.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the two voltage generation circuits 71 and 72 have a common power supply 51, and each have a drive circuit 52, a transformer 53, and a secondary circuit 54. The voltage output from the power supply 51 is applied to the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 via the corresponding drive circuit 52, transformer 53, and secondary circuit 54, respectively. At this time, since a negative pulse voltage is applied to the ion generating element 11, negative ions are generated, and since a positive pulse voltage is applied to the ion generating element 12, positive ions are generated.

  The plus-side current / voltage conversion circuit 73 converts the discharge current flowing through the plus-side current detection electrode 27b into a discharge voltage and sends it as a discharge current signal to the control board 4 via the discharge current signal line. The negative-side current / voltage conversion circuit 74 converts the discharge current flowing through the negative-side current detection electrode 27a into a discharge voltage and sends it as a discharge current signal to the control board 4 via the discharge current signal line.

  The plus-side stabilizing electrode power source 75 applies a positive bias voltage having the same polarity as the ions generated from the ion generating electrode 16 of the ion generating element 12 to the stabilizing electrode 26b via the stabilizing electrode bias line. . The negative side stabilization electrode power source 76 applies a negative bias voltage having the same polarity as the ions generated from the ion generation electrode 16 of the ion generation element 11 to the stabilization electrode 26a via the stabilization electrode bias line. .

  The voltage control unit 82 of the control board 4 includes a drive voltage determination unit 86 and a discharge current detection unit 87. A discharge current signal obtained by converting discharge currents detected by the two current detection electrodes 27a and 27b into discharge voltages by the current / voltage conversion circuits 73 and 74 is input to the discharge current detection unit 87. The drive voltage determination unit 86 converts the two discharge current signals detected by the discharge current detection unit 87 into digital values and compares them, and discharges detected by the current detection electrodes 27a and 27b based on the comparison result. Voltage control signal values (digital values) are generated so that the current signal matches the target signal value corresponding to the desired ion amount, that is, the target ion amount is generated from the two ion generating elements 11 and 12, respectively. To do. The voltage control signal converted from the voltage control signal value to the voltage value is sent from the control board 4 to the two voltage generation circuits 71 and 72 of the power supply board 5 through the voltage control signal line. The two voltage generation circuits 71 and 72 receive the respective voltage control signals and change the drive voltages applied to the two ion generation elements 11 and 12 so as to coincide with the target voltage value corresponding to the desired ion amount. That is, when generating the voltage control signal value, the voltage control unit 82 performs feedback control so that the discharge current signal value matches the target voltage value.

  Specifically, a value obtained by subtracting a target signal value corresponding to a desired ion amount from a discharge current signal value detected by the discharge current detection unit 87 from the current / voltage conversion circuits 73 and 74 on the plus side and the minus side, respectively, is Δ And And the drive voltage determination part 86 classifies the ion generation state from the ion generating element according to the value of (DELTA) into four states. As shown in Table 1, when Δ is larger than the threshold value, that is, when more ions than the amount of ions corresponding to the threshold value are generated from the corresponding ion generating element, it is set as above. Further, when Δ is larger than 0 and smaller than the threshold value, that is, when ions larger than the desired ion amount and smaller than the ion amount corresponding to the threshold value are generated from the corresponding ion generating element, it is determined as middle. . Further, Δ is 0 or less and is (0−threshold) or more, that is, ions corresponding to (0−threshold) corresponding to (0−threshold) are generated from ions corresponding to (0−threshold). If it is, it will be the lower side. Further, when Δ is smaller than (0−threshold), that is, when ions smaller than the ion amount corresponding to (0−threshold) are generated from the corresponding ion generating element, it is set as below. The threshold value is appropriately determined according to the use environment and the ion generation status.

  Based on the matrix table shown in Table 1, the drive voltage determination unit 86 compares the ion generation state from the positive-side ion generation element and the ion generation state from the negative-side ion generation element, and compares the two ion generation states. The driving voltages applied to the generating elements 11 and 12 are determined. For example, if the positive and negative ion generation states are both up, the drive voltages applied to the two ion generation elements 11 and 12 are decreased by a predetermined value.

  Here, the present inventors show that the ion generating elements 11 and 12 have hysteresis, and the amount of increase / decrease in ions differs when the drive voltage to be applied is added by a predetermined value and when it is subtracted by a predetermined value. I found out. More specifically, in the ion generating elements 11 and 12 in the present embodiment, the increase in ions when the drive voltage is added by a predetermined value is larger than the decrease in ions when the drive voltage is subtracted by a predetermined value. I found out. As can be seen, the ion generating elements 11 and 12 have a characteristic that when the drive voltage is changed, the amount of ion generation is difficult to decrease and easily increases. It is considered that the ion balance can be stabilized by actively carrying out the above.

  Therefore, the two discharge current signals are in a specific combination region, that is, the ion generation state generated from each of the two ion generation elements 11 and 12 has a difference in polarity from the reference value as above and below, and In the case where the magnitude of the difference is two or more steps and there is a predetermined amount of difference, the drive voltage determination unit 86 reduces the drive voltage applied to the ion generating elements divided into large states and reduces the difference. The voltage generating circuits 71 and 72 are controlled so as to hold the driving voltage applied to the ion generating elements classified into the states.

  As shown in Table 1, there are six cases where the difference in the ion generation state from the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 is two or more, of which there are three cases where the plus side is in a large state, and the minus side is There are three cases where the situation becomes large. For example, in the three cases where the plus side is large, the plus side is up, the minus side is down, the plus side is up, the minus side is down, and the plus side is up and the minus side is down. is there. In these cases, the drive voltage determination unit 86 reduces the drive voltage applied to the plus-side ion generation element 12 by a predetermined value, and generates a voltage so as to hold the drive voltage applied to the minus-side ion generation element 11. The circuits 71 and 72 are controlled.

  Then, the ion generation amount from the negative ion generation element 11 does not change, the ion generation amount from the positive ion generation element 12 decreases, and approaches the ion generation amount from the negative ion generation element 11. In this way, by suppressing an increase in the amount of ion generation from the negative ion generation element 11 with a small amount of ion generation, the ion balance due to the ions generated from the two ion generation elements 11 and 12 is stabilized, and the two The amount of ions generated from the ion generating elements 11 and 12 can be made uniform, and stable static elimination can be performed on the static elimination object. Further, by dividing Δ into four stages of ion generation states, it is possible to easily determine the drive voltage simply by referring to the matrix table.

  In the three cases where the minus side is in a large state, the minus side is up, the plus side is down, the minus side is up, the plus side is in the middle and down, and the minus side is in the middle up and the plus side is down. In the same manner, the drive voltage is determined. That is, in the drive voltage determination unit 86, the voltage generation circuits 71 and 72 are configured to decrease the drive voltage applied to the negative ion generating element 11 by a predetermined value and hold the drive voltage applied to the positive ion generating element 12. To control.

  The oscillation control unit 81 of the control board 4 selects the pair of the connected power supply board 5 and element unit 3 in a time sequential manner via the PWM signal line, and drives the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 of each pair. A trigger signal related to the timing of applying the voltage is output to the two voltage generation circuits 71 and 72 of the power supply substrate 5, respectively. Then, the two voltage generation circuits 71 and 72 adjust the drive voltage based on the voltage control signal value to the trigger signal via the plus side and minus side drive voltage supply lines, and the ion generation elements 11 and 11 of the element unit 3. The voltage is applied to 12 power supply terminals 62 and 64.

  Here, the drive voltage applied to the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 of one element unit 3 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 13, the positive-side voltage generation circuit 71 applies a positive bias voltage and is controlled by the oscillation control unit 81 to be one cycle (for example, 10 to 500 Hz) with respect to the ion generation element 12. For example, a positive pulse voltage is applied twice in succession. Further, the negative side voltage generation circuit 72 applies a negative bias voltage and is controlled by the oscillation control unit 81 so that a negative pulse is continuously applied to the ion generation element 11 twice in one cycle, for example. Apply voltage. In this embodiment, the pulse width B is 5 μs, the pulse interval C is 300 μs, and the output voltage V is 2.4 kVpk. Note that the number of pulse voltages in one cycle can be variously changed according to the amount of ions to be generated.

  Further, the power supply substrate 5 divides a part of the drive voltage applied to each of the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 via the drive voltage signal line, and sends it to the determination unit 83 of the control board 4 as a drive voltage signal. .

  The determination unit 83 receives the discharge current signal and the voltage control signal from the voltage control unit 82 and further receives the drive voltage signal from the power supply substrate 5 to determine the replacement timing of the ion generating elements 11 and 12 of each unit 3. And the fact is displayed on the 7-segment LED 85. In addition, when the determination unit 83 determines that the replacement time of the ion generating elements 11 and 12 has elapsed, the determination unit 83 transmits a trigger signal to the oscillation control unit 81 in order to stop the generation of ions. Send a signal to stop.

  Next, the charge removal process of the charge removal object 30 by the charge removal apparatus 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 14A, ions are generated from the ion generation electrode 16 portion, which is the center of ion generation, in the longitudinal section along the Y direction of the ion generation elements 11 and 12. The distance M from the ion generating elements 11 and 12 to the transport surface 30a in the direction orthogonal to the transport surface 30a is equal to or greater than the distance N between the two ion generating electrodes 16 of the two ion generating elements 11 and 12. . In the present embodiment, the distance N is 10 mm, and the distance M is preferably 10 to 500 mm. In this distance relationship, the static eliminator 1 can effectively neutralize the static elimination object 30. When the distance M is equal to or less than the distance N, the ion distribution generated from each of the ion generating elements 11 and 12 becomes an independent distribution on the transport surface 30a, and there is a possibility that the static elimination object 30 is overcharged. By setting the distance M to be equal to or greater than the distance N, a coexisting portion of ion distributions generated from the ion generating elements 11 and 12 can be formed on the transport surface 30a, and overcharge of the static elimination object 30 can be prevented. On the other hand, if the distance M is too large, ions generated from the ion generating elements 11 and 12 are diffused outward until they are transported to the transport surface 30a, and excessive neutralization of the ions occurs. The distance M is preferably set within a predetermined distance.

  When the static elimination object 30 is conveyed in the conveyance direction along the conveyance surface 30a and the static elimination apparatus 1 and the static elimination object 30 face each other, the charged polarity of the static elimination object 30 among the generated positive ions and negative ions The ions having the reverse polarity are attracted to the static elimination object 30, and the static elimination object 30 is neutralized. At this time, as described above, the existence of the coexistence region in the distribution of the negative ions and the positive ions generated from the respective ion generating elements 11 and 12 prevents the charge removal object 30 from being overcharged.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, in the present embodiment, when the ion generation state from the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 is separated by two or more stages, the control for suppressing the increase of ions is performed. However, the same control may be performed.

  In the present embodiment, the ion generation state regions of the two ion generating elements 11 and 12 are divided into two upper and lower stages (4 × 4 in a matrix), but only above and below the reference value (in a matrix). It may be divided into 2 × 2) or may be divided into any number of two or more upper and lower stages.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the upper and middle upper thresholds and the lower and middle lower thresholds in the ion generation state are symmetrical values with zero signs except for the positive and negative signs. It does not have to be a symmetric value.

  Further, in the ion generating elements 11 and 12 in this embodiment, the increase in ions when the drive voltage is added by a predetermined value is larger than the decrease in ions when the drive voltage is subtracted by a predetermined value. However, depending on the configuration of the ion generating element, there may be a characteristic that the increase in ions when the drive voltage is increased by a predetermined value is smaller than the decrease in ions when the drive voltage is decreased by a predetermined value. In this case, contrary to the present embodiment, the subtraction of the drive voltage may be suppressed. Specifically, a driving voltage applied to an ion generating element with a large amount of ion generation is held, and a driving voltage applied to an ion generating element with a small amount of ion generation is added. Thereby, the ion balance by the ions generated from the two ion generation elements 11 and 12 is stabilized by suppressing the decrease in the ion generation amount from the ion generation element having a large ion generation amount. The amount of ions generated from 12 can be made uniform, and stable neutralization can be performed on the neutralization target. As described above, the drive voltage determination unit 86 may suppress either addition or subtraction of the drive voltage in accordance with the hysteresis.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 14, for example, in a structure arranged so as to have two reverse-shaped slopes of the ion generating elements 11 and 12, the ion generation amount of one ion generating element is If an attempt is made to increase the amount of ions generated by the other ion generating element, ions tend to be generated more than necessary from the other ion generating element. That is, ions generated more than necessary are neutralized with ions of opposite polarity, and the ion balance is inclined to the other ion polarity. Furthermore, ions of opposite polarity are neutralized, and the amount of ions becomes less than a predetermined amount. As described above, the hysteresis characteristics of the ion generation element may promote excessive increase / decrease in the amount of ion generation due to the structure of the ion generation element due to the structure of the ion generation device. It is possible to prevent the ion generation amount from excessively increasing or decreasing.

  In addition, the shape of the protruding electrode 16b of the ion generating electrode 16 is not limited to a triangular shape, and may be any shape such as a wave shape, a circular shape, or a lattice shape.

  Further, as the applied voltage to the ion generating elements 11 and 12, in the example of FIG. 13, a method of constantly applying a bias voltage is used. However, for ion generation, a pulse voltage having a predetermined peak from the ground voltage (0 volt) is used. The driving method may be a method of applying a voltage, and a known and well-known driving method can be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Static elimination apparatus 11, 12 Ion generation element 27a, 27b Current detection electrode 71, 72 Voltage generation circuit 82 Voltage control part 86 Drive voltage determination part 87 Discharge current detection part

Claims (10)

Two ion generating elements for generating different positive ions and negative ions;
Two discharge current detecting means for respectively detecting discharge current signals flowing by the ions generated from the two ion generating elements;
Drive voltage determining means for determining two drive voltages to be applied to the two ion generating elements based on the two signal values respectively detected by the two discharge current detecting means;
Two drive voltage application means for applying the two drive voltages determined by the drive voltage determination means to the two ion generating elements, respectively,
The ion generator according to claim 1, wherein the driving voltage determining unit determines the two signal values detected by the two discharge current detecting units according to a combination with respect to each predetermined reference value.   2. The ion generator according to claim 1, wherein the combination with respect to each predetermined reference value has a plurality of regions divided by differences from the predetermined reference value.   3. The drive voltage determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the drive voltage determination unit suppresses one of addition or subtraction of the drive voltage by the drive voltage determination unit in a specific region of the combination with respect to each predetermined reference value. Ion generator.   The specific region of the combination compares two signal values respectively detected by the two discharge current detecting means with each reference value, the difference is opposite in the vertical direction, and the magnitude of the difference is a predetermined amount The ion generator according to claim 3, wherein the ion generator is a region having   The drive voltage determining means subtracts the drive voltage applied to the ion generating element on the side detected above the reference value and applied to the ion generating element on the side detected below the reference value The ion generator according to claim 4, wherein a voltage is maintained.   The drive voltage determining means holds the drive voltage applied to the ion generating element on the side detected above the reference value, and applies the drive voltage to the ion generating element on the side detected below the reference value. The ion generator according to claim 4, wherein the voltage is added.   In the specific combination area, a value obtained by subtracting a first signal value corresponding to a predetermined ion generation amount from a signal value detected by one of the discharge current detection means is greater than a first threshold value greater than 0, and the other The value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by the discharge current detecting means is an area smaller than a second threshold value smaller than 0. 7. The ion generator according to item.   In the specific combination area, a value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by one of the discharge current detection means is larger than 0, and the signal value detected by the other discharge current detection means The ion generator according to claim 3, wherein a value obtained by subtracting the first signal value is a region smaller than the second threshold value.   In the specific combination area, a value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by one of the discharge current detection means is larger than the first threshold value, and is detected by the other discharge current detection means. The ion generator according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein a value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from a signal value is a region smaller than 0. The specific combination area is:
A value obtained by subtracting the first signal value from the signal value detected by the discharge current detecting means is a first stage smaller than the second threshold, a second stage not less than the second threshold and not more than 0, and from 0 Dividing into a third stage that is largely below the first threshold and a fourth stage that is greater than the first threshold,
7. The region according to claim 3, wherein the difference between the two stages divided by the signal values detected by the two discharge current detecting means is an area having two or more stages. Ion generator.

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