JP2022030783A - Open structure type ion generator - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an ion generator which is safe and efficient for a human body.SOLUTION: There is provided an ion generator in which an ion generation unit of the ion generator for supplying ions in the air is safely constituted by using a high-resistance needle electrode having the 8th-13th power Ω of a volume resistivity 10. The high-resistance needle electrode has a simple, inexpensive and disposable structure such as punching type. By employing a high-resistance material, a barrier structure that protects a human body from the high voltage needle electrode is eliminated, ion obstacles in the midway of ion discharge are eliminated and ions can be easily and inexpensively generated.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

The present invention relates to the structure and mechanism of an ion generator in an electric ion generator for supplying positive or negative ions to a room.

It is known that in rural areas, many negative ions are generated in the air near water fields, and in urban areas, there are no negative ion generation environments, so there are many positive ions. In response to this, the effects on the health of negative ion deficiency in urban areas have been studied in Germany and other countries since the 1910s. In recent literature, negative ions are said to be effective in relieving stress and anxiety, sterilizing bacteria, and reducing mites and the like. Against this background, various negative ion generators that improve the ion balance by supplying negative ions into the air are mainly provided.
Further, for industrial use, the principle of these ion generators is also used in a device or the like that generates positive and negative ions to neutralize the ions and prevent the structure in the room from being charged. This will generate both positive and negative ions.

Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-126946

An electric ion generator generally applies a high voltage to a sharp-edged acicular structure made of a conductor, thereby generating a strong unequal electric field at the sharp-edged tip of the acicular structure. Efficiently generate ions by utilizing the phenomenon of releasing ions. The sharper the tip of the metal part, which is the conductor, the stronger the unequal electric field when a high voltage is applied, so it is possible to generate ions even at a relatively low voltage of several kV. ..

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of a conventional electric ion generator. In this example, a negative voltage is applied and negative ions are generated. At this time, the high voltage applied to the needle-shaped structure is, for example, about 3 kV to 10 kV. Therefore, if a human body such as a user or an object is carelessly brought close to each other, a discharge accompanied by an arc occurs. The electric shock puts the human body in a shock state due to direct or indirect electric shock through an object. Although the needle structure is used in this example, any structure may be used as long as it generates a remarkable unequal electric field, and a thin wire structure such as an electrostatic precipitator may be used or ions may be generated.
To prevent these dangers, the electric ion generator is a lid or shield placed on the front of the needle, at the tip of the tip, to prevent the human body from directly touching the needle structure part to which a high voltage is applied. And a protective structure such as a barrier structure is applied. As a result, the user can prevent electric shock such as electric shock and electric shock.

However, this safety structure that prevents the human body from directly touching the needle structure may cause the performance of the electric ion generator to deteriorate, which is mainly due to the following two problems. It is brought about by the occurrence or combination in.

The first problem is, for example, in the case of constructing a barrier structure with an insulator on the front surface of the needle so as not to directly touch the needle for safety. If there is an insulator on or near the front of the needle, some of the ions generated on the surface of the insulator will inevitably adhere, and the surface of the insulator will easily reach a voltage of several kV due to surface charging. Rise. Then, since the voltage affects the surrounding electric field and distorts it, the orbit of the ion is not stable, and depending on the physical configuration, the electric field at the needle tip is also significantly reduced. In an extreme case, the charge on the surface of the insulator distorts the electric field around the needle, so that no ions are generated at all. As described above, the provision of the insulator in the vicinity of the needle structure portion where ions are generated causes an unstable phenomenon of ion generation mainly caused by electric field disturbance due to charging. The ion generation mechanism has a problem that the surrounding structure is charged due to the distribution of ions generated by itself, and the ion generation function is often affected.
For these reasons, it is not generally practiced to place a structure such as an insulator in the vicinity of the needle structure portion for ion generation of an electric ion generator. However, when it is manufactured for the purpose of being used by general consumers as a product, it is absolutely necessary to place it for safety reasons. In that case, the barrier structure is placed in front of the needle structure, knowing that the function will deteriorate. It is a thing. At this time, it is one alternative to construct the front barrier with a high resistance substance so that a large charge is not generated, but this will be described in the second problem phenomenon described below.

The second problem phenomenon is when the above-mentioned barrier structure is composed of a conductor, a metal, or the above-mentioned high-resistance substance instead of an insulator. At this time, if these structures are potentially floating, the voltage rises due to charging by ions and becomes an unstable state equivalent to the above, so that the ground potential or the high voltage needle electrode is almost grounded. Generally, the electric potential is fixed to a commercial power source, which is an electric potential. By installing a conductor fixed to the ground potential or a potential considered to be almost ground in this way on the front surface of the needle as a barrier for safety measures, the influence of charging such as an insulator can be removed.
However, if an electrode grounded with a conductive material or the like is placed in front of a needle structure that generates ions for safety, most of the ions are absorbed by the electrode having this ground potential. Eventually, a new problem arises in which most of the amount of ions released to the outside is absorbed by this barrier structure, which suppresses the total amount of ions released to the outside. Become.

In this way, for safety purposes, people do not touch the high voltage part. Since a barrier structure installed on the front side of the needle structure is required, it is required as a realistic product to configure the device with priority on the safety function at the expense of the original ion generation function. Originally, if the barrier structure disappears, the amount of ions generated will generally increase several times, depending on the configuration, but due to this safety structure, commercially available ion generators are forced to suppress the amount of ions generated. It is manufactured.
For this reason, in order to increase the amount of ions generated even a little, the barrier structure is given a potential to repel ions, or an antistatic material is used, but the device becomes complicated and the outer shell is used. The size of the case must be bulky, and the size required for safety is larger than the size required for the function to generate ions, and the device may be larger than necessary. These tend to make the device more complex, more costly, larger and more complex than necessary, and as a result expensive. In addition, some commercially available equipment has antistatic coating applied, but most of the antistatic coating is temporary, and in particular, it rapidly deteriorates due to ozone generated secondarily by the needle structure. There are many, and only temporary effects can be expected. As a permanent antistatic material, some devices use wood for the housing, but it is unstable due to humidity and flammable, so there is a safety problem for the housing of equipment that involves electric discharge. It remains.
FIG. 2 is a part of a conventional example according to Patent Document 1, in which a suction plate or the like using a plate having a high resistance almost equivalent to that of the present invention is exposed to the outside as a main component. The adsorption plate does not generate ions and adsorbs particles charged by ions. Although this is a simple structure, it is an ion adsorption plate, not a basic structure for generating ions, and has a different structure from the present proposal.

The barrier structure is necessary for safety, but as an experimental example, in order to compensate for the decrease in the amount of ions generated due to the attachment of the safety barrier, the number of needles that generate ions is increased to eight to generate the amount of ions. An example of a comparative test of the amount of ion generated by a general ion generator with an increased value and an ion generator having a single needle structure with the safety barrier intentionally removed is shown. This result is almost the same. This result shows that a single needle structure can generate a sufficient amount of ions without a safety barrier. This is common and easily observed.

The present invention is characterized in that a semiconductor material such as a conductive resin having a high volume resistivity is used for the needle structure portion, which is the main portion for generating ions, or the ultrafine wire portion. The shape may be a so-called needle structure, or a pseudo needle structure in which a thin plate is wedge-shaped and the tip is sharpened. In such a rust-shaped structure, since the material can be easily processed by a general Thomson type or the like, it is possible to make an inexpensive structure.
In the following, whether the polarity of the voltage is positive or negative is not mentioned except when it is considered necessary, and the voltage is expressed as a value as an absolute value.

Most of the general conductive resin materials have low efficiency, and as a so-called conductive plastic, the volume ratio resistance is around 10 to the 6th power Ω, which is a low category for conductive resins, that is, relatively as a resin material. Highly conductive resin is often used. These are excellent as conductive resins, but in order to construct the ion generating part, which is the object of the present invention, inexpensively, easily, compactly, and with a simple structure, for example, in order to eliminate the safety barrier structure, the following problems are solved. There is.

Specifically, these conductive resin plastics have a problem that the low efficiency is too small, that is, the conductivity is too good. As an example, when a plate material of 30 cm square is constructed of these resins, the resistance between the ends is about 1 MΩ, for example, although it depends on the resin material. In the case of this value, if a short-circuit circuit is generated between the ground potential portion and the external ground potential portion due to an accident or the like, the leakage current becomes 1 mA at 1000 V, and an electric shock phenomenon accompanied by a sufficient electric shock occurs.
Further, in order to efficiently generate ions, a high voltage of several kV to 10 kV is applied to the needle structure as a voltage, but in the case of a material having a resistance of this level, an arc is generated when a structure having a ground potential is brought close to the needle structure. A phenomenon accompanied by a discharge sound due to electric discharge occurs, which gives a shock to the human body, and a so-called electric shock phenomenon due to an electric shock occurs, which is dangerous. As a result, it is necessary to provide a barrier structure for protecting the human body, for example, on the front side of the needle structure portion for generating ions so that the structure cannot be directly touched.
In this case, even if a current limiting resistance is inserted to reduce the leakage current, the charge is accumulated by the DC voltage due to the electrostatic capacity with the surrounding structure, and the discharge phenomenon accompanied by an electric shock occurs. It may occur, and it is possible to simply increase the resistance value and decrease the steady short-circuit current, but it is protected because a large short-circuit current will flow as a transient phenomenon until the steady state is reached. Simply adding a resistance circuit to increase the resistance value does not lead to a fundamental solution.

In this way, when a conductive resin of around 10 6 Ω is used because it is safe to touch the needle structure part, which is an electrode constituting the high voltage ion generating part, for example, an experiment. It was confirmed that a barrier structure for safety is still required in order to obtain an electric shock due to an electric shock, although it depends on the voltage and the thickness of the material. This result is a result that was fully expected even by the above-mentioned theoretical calculation. This is a case where an insulator is used as the material of the needle electrode, but it is inappropriate because the volume low efficiency is 10 to the 15th power or more and the surface is charged, and this is not suitable because the current itself that generates ions is used. It cannot be used because it cannot be flushed. On the other hand, since the ion current may be about 10 nA, the resistance value for obtaining a short-circuit current of 10 nA is calculated by taking a high-voltage power supply of 10 kV as an example, and the resistance value = 10 kV / 10 nA = 1000 MΩ. Although it depends on the sheath structure, if a plate material up to several mm is used, it can be estimated that a material having a volume resistivity of about 10 to the 10th power to the 13th power is appropriate.

Therefore, just in case, we verified with various volume low efficiency plate materials and accumulated actual data. As a result, the volume is low in the range of 10 to the 10th power to the 13th power Ω as predicted, although it depends on the voltage and shape. It was confirmed that the efficiency plate material is effective. For example, even if a high voltage of 10 kV is applied to a plate material of several mm or if it is touched directly by hand, an electric shock phenomenon accompanied by an electric shock does not occur, and a discharge that can be grasped by the human body even if a structure having a ground potential is brought close to it. Was confirmed not to be observed. In other words, the surface is not charged, it does not snap and discharge like static electricity, and because of its high resistance, it is natural that you do not continue to touch it and get an electric shock. This is because the resistance value of the structure is several hundred MΩ to 1000 MΩ or more, depending on the size, and does not reach the current value for electric shock. Furthermore, electric shock is caused by electric charge discharge as a transient phenomenon due to drifting capacity between the surrounding structure and the surrounding structure. However, if the volume low efficiency is high, the resistance value as a distribution constant becomes high, and it is a material of several cm square. However, since the voltage drops sufficiently with a current of about 10 nA, even if the ground structure comes into contact with the material, the voltage at the contact portion drops instantaneously, and the discharge phenomenon is suppressed before the discharge occurs. ..

Such a material is not a so-called conductive resin, but a material in a region generally called an antistatic resin. If the resistivity is larger than this, for example, 10 to the 13th power Ω, even if the structure is several cm, it will be several thousand MΩ, etc. Can't and isn't suitable.
This problem is a problem that accompanies to some extent when using a high resistance material, and until just before the needle becomes thin, make the high resistance material thick and secure the width to the tip of the actual needle. It is possible to maintain an effective ion current by using a device that lowers the resistance of the needle.

Further, in the case of a resin material, it is possible to have a needle structure or an extra-fine wire structure, but since it is difficult to give strength, only a few mm at the tip is assisted with metal wire, graphite, silicon carbide, etc. It is also effective to use a composite structure made of a semiconductor material having a relatively low resistivity. Since a needle electrode structure or the like is constructed using a material having high resistivity, the higher the efficiency is, the more the ion current is suppressed, and the amount of ions generated is small. It is possible to maintain an appropriate amount of ion current by selecting a resistivity that does not become a resistance and, if necessary, devising the thickness and width.

In this way, by using an ion generating part that applies a high voltage as an appropriate high-resistance semiconductor material, it is possible to have a safe electrode configuration that can be touched by humans, so it is common knowledge that, for example, 10 kV. Even if a voltage that is considered to be a high and dangerous voltage is applied to the semiconductor, the ion generating portion can be exposed to the outside without any danger. The reason why this structure is safe is that even when a material to which a high voltage is applied is touched, the voltage of the tip portion instantly drops to a safe voltage with a small current of about several nA due to its high resistance with a distributed constant.
In addition, structures that are considered to be electrically bare charging parts are dangerous, and even in various general standards, the current value at the time of short circuit is 0.5mA as a condition of a safe circuit that is not regarded as a charging part. It is required to be ~ 1.0 mA or less, and this is also fully satisfied. Even with high resistance, the charging current continues to flow, so if a large insulated metal plate is touched for a long time, there is a risk that the metal plate will be charged at a high voltage. These are cleared by a guard structure in which the tilted structure does not directly hit the needle tip, an intermittent applied voltage method, and a discharge circuit with a high resistance that does not affect the output.

As described above, the barrier structure that inhibits the emission of ions becomes unnecessary, and the high-voltage needle structure can be exposed and configured. In addition, it is possible to integrally process the resin with a Thomson type or the like, and it is possible to construct the resin at low cost.

Basic structure of conventional ion generator Image of an ion adsorption plate using a conventional high-resistance resin An example of the ion generator of the present invention with the high resistance needle electrode exposed. An example of the ion generator of the present invention with multiple needle electrodes exposed Example of an ion generator with protective resistance inserted in multiple needle electrodes An example in which an auxiliary needle electrode made of a material with relatively low volume resistance is configured at the tip. An example of stacking high-resistance plates in multiple stages in order to reduce the resistance to the tip of the needle. An example of a wedge-shaped needle electrode with a configuration that increases resistance toward the tip. An example of a configuration in which the needle electrode is rectangular halfway and the resistance is constant halfway. An example composed of a flat plate made of a high resistance material with a round hole grounded in the counter electrode. An example composed of a cylinder of high resistance material grounded to the counter electrode An example with a protect guide that protects the needle electrode from the external structure An example of providing a discharge resistor that discharges when the applied voltage is turned off.

FIG. 3 shows the basic configuration of this proposal. The high resistance needle electrode 13 that generates ions is a material made of a high resistance resin having a volume low efficiency of at least 10 8 Ω or more, for example, 10 10 to 13 Ω. In this example, a material having a width of 30 mm, a width of 100 mm, and a thickness of 3 mm is used, and the tip is sharpened in a triangular shape. The needle of a normal ion generator sharply processes the tip R to about 50 μm or less to increase the electric field strength at the tip, which makes it possible to sufficiently generate ions even at a voltage of, for example, about 3 kV. .. If the voltage is set too high with a general ion generator, it is necessary to secure insulation separations in various places so that the surrounding structures will not be discharged, and it is also necessary to take care to prevent dirt and contamination, which is possible. It is structurally simpler and cheaper to configure with the lowest possible voltage.

On the other hand, the high-resistance needle electrode 13 of the present invention is a so-called blank type and can sufficiently generate ions even if the tip is sharp enough to be easily stripped. This is because the voltage of the negative high-voltage power supply 2 in this example can be set as high as, for example, -10 kV, so that it is not necessary to use a sharp-tip needle to generate ions even if the voltage is intentionally low. .. Furthermore, because it is a material with high resistance, the voltage of the material partially drops due to its own high resistance before flashover, so it is also a so-called self-protection structure, and even if it is a high voltage, strict consideration is given to its routing. There is also the advantage that is unnecessary. In addition, it is generally a soft resin, and even if it is made with a structure with a sharp tip, it does not have a height that pierces the skin and bends flexibly, so it is basically safe to expose it to the outside.

As a result, due to the presence of high resistance evenly distributed throughout the material, even when the voltage of the negative high-voltage power supply 2 is extremely high at -10 kV, there is no electric shock even if it comes into direct contact with the human body, and it is safe. Since it can be used, the high resistance needle electrode 13 can be configured by being exposed to the outside. A protection resistor 11 that limits the current may be inserted on the output side of the negative high voltage power supply 2.
If the needle electrode 13 with high resistance should come into contact with the ground potential, the short-circuit current is, for example, about 10 nA. For this reason, it is a small value of about 1/100 compared to 0.5mA to 1.0mA, which is a guideline for the short-circuit current value that is not regarded as a dangerous charging part, which is defined by various standards. However, since it is not regarded as a charging unit, it does not require any auxiliary safety structure such as an insulating structure for safety according to the standard and a mesh structure for ensuring separation to prevent electric shock.
These eliminate the need for a safety barrier structure that was placed in front of the needle electrode in the conventional product. As a result, it is possible to supply 100% of the generated ions to the space as they are without being affected by the barrier structure.

If the high-resistance needle electrode 13 is configured with a volume and low efficiency of about 10 to the 6th power, the short-circuit current also increases, and when combined with the above-mentioned negative high-voltage power supply 2 of -10 kV, a discharge accompanied by an electric shock when touched by a human body. Will occur, and the value will be untouchable. It is possible to adjust the size of the electrode so that the value of the short-circuit current is 0.5 mA or less, which the standard does not consider as a charging part, but in reality, this is the level because an electric shock with actual pain occurs. Low efficiency poses a challenge. Therefore, it is a realistic value to secure at least about 100 times the material of the high resistance needle electrode 13 and at least about 10 8 Ω or more, for example, 10 10 to 13 Ω described above. It can be properly configured with values.

FIG. 4 shows a plurality of high-resistance needle electrodes 13 configured in parallel in the horizontal direction. This is because if safety is emphasized and a material with a high volume resistivity is used, the voltage drops even with a minute ion current, so if the amount of generated ions decreases, the purpose is to compensate for it, and the room is large. It is configured to be spread out in the horizontal direction for the purpose of emitting ions in a range.
Since the high resistance needle electrode 13 is safe to touch, it is naturally exposed to the outside, and since the protective barrier structure is not on the front as in the conventional type, the ions are obediently in the room. It is released to the whole. In this example, it is drawn separately, but it may be integrated into a comb shape so that it can be easily replaced. Generally, the ion discharge electrode is cleaned regularly because dirt adheres to the tip of the needle due to an electric field. In the present invention, for example, a disposable electrode structure may be used in which a comb-shaped multi-stage electrode is replaced with a single touch. High-resistance resin materials are inexpensive, and by manufacturing them all at once by shaving, they are extremely inexpensive, so they can be thrown away without cleaning.

FIG. 5 is an example in which a protective resistor 11 is provided in front of each high resistance needle electrode 13 in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which the second auxiliary needle electrode 14 is configured at the sharp tip of the high resistance needle electrode 13. The second needle electrode may be made of metal, or may be made of a resin or ceramic material having a high resistance of about 10 to the 6th power, and may be made of graphite, for example, which is used for pencils. The characteristic of the configuration is that the material of the high resistance needle electrode 13 is about 10 to the 10th power to the 13th power Ω, whereas the material constituting the kyk 14 with the auxiliary needle is at least 10 to the 6th power or less. It is desirable to have. Further, it is desirable that the size is about Φ0.1 to 0.5 and the length is about 20 mm or less, and if it is too long, the electric shock may be large, so it is important to keep the size small. The thickness should be thin when the voltage is low, but it is not necessary to consider it when the voltage is high, and the appropriate size may be determined for physical reasons such as easy breakage. However, since metal needles are hard and may hurt the skin, flexible structures such as graphite and silicon carbide threads are preferable.
Regarding the operation, since the current can be collected at the contact surface between the auxiliary needle electrode 14 and the high resistance needle electrode, a large amount of generated ion current can be supplied, and the voltage at the tip is partially reduced by the ion current. It is possible to avoid w. Since the size of the auxiliary needle electrode 14 is limited, there is no electric shock or electric shock due to touching the tip.

FIG. 7 is an example in which the structure of the high resistance needle electrode 13 is a stepwise multi-stage stacking structure. By doing so, the resistance value up to just before the tip of the needle can be lowered, so that the voltage drop due to the ion current can be suppressed, and it is possible to secure a relatively large amount of generated ions.
FIG. 8 is an image diagram of a wedge-shaped high resistance needle electrode 13 for comparison with FIG. 7. According to the conventional way of thinking, such a sharp and rusty shape makes sense in order to make the tip sharp and make it an electric field concentrated shape, but in the case of a high resistance material, the distribution of the material itself. Since the voltage drop of the material itself due to the ion current is affected by the resistance, the resistance value becomes a size that cannot be ignored in proportion to the shape that becomes thinner toward the tip, and the amount of ion generation decreases. FIG. 7 is an example of a method for preventing an increase in resistance by stacking a plurality of them, particularly in the case of forming a wedge shape or the like.
FIG. 9 shows the basic shape of solving these problems. The high-resistance needle electrode 13 has a rectangular shape until just before, and the basic structure is such that the resistance does not decrease unnecessarily, and 30 to 45 ° immediately before the tip forming the needle structure. It has a triangular shape with a relatively wide angle, and the tip has a soft needle shape. ,

FIG. 10 has a structure similar to that of the conventional type, but is characterized in that the needle portion and the counter electrode are exposed to the outside, and there is no protective barrier structure. The basic configuration is a high-resistance needle electrode 13 that is exposed to the outside of the device and a counter electrode (round hole type) 15 of the needle that is configured on the opposite surface thereof, and both are configured to be exposed to the outside. The counter electrode (round hole type) of the needle may be made of metal or the like, but may be made of a high resistance resin material in consideration of disposable use during cleaning.
In FIG. 11, the counter electrode of FIG. 10 is the counter electrode (cylindrical type) 16 of the needle.

FIG. 12 is an example in which the protect guide 17 is configured so that the external structure does not hit the exposed high resistance needle electrode 13.

FIG. 13 shows that when the external structure accidentally touches the high-resistance needle electrode 13 and the external structure is a floating conductor, the charged charge is transferred to a negative high-voltage power supply at intervals. This is an example in which a discharge resistance 19 for discharging when 2 is turned off is added. It is turned off periodically at intervals, and it is possible to check whether the electric charge is touching the external structure by the time constant detection circuit of the voltage drop (not shown), so it is a countermeasure in the unlikely event of a charging phenomenon. ..

1 Needle-shaped structure with conductor 2 Negative high-voltage power supply 3 Grounding 4 Counter electrode (hollow pipe-shaped structure)
5 Safety barrier structure 6 High resistance resin plate 7 Electrostatic repulsion plate 8 Positive high voltage power supply 9 Negative ion generator 10 Negative ion 11 Protective resistance 12 Ion generator body 13 High resistance needle electrode 14 Auxiliary needle electrode 15 Needles Counter electrode (round hole type)
16-needle counter electrode (cylindrical type)
17 Protect guide 18 Power cord 19 Discharge resistance

Claims (2)

In an electric ion generator, it has one or more high-resistance needle electrodes, and the volume resistance of the constituent materials of those needle electrodes is 10 to the 8th to 13th power Ω, and the needle electrodes are the main body. An ion generator characterized by being exposed to the outside of the device. The ion generator according to claim 1, wherein an auxiliary needle electrode having a length of 10 6 Ω or less and a length of 2 cm or less is provided at the tip of the high resistance needle electrode.

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