JP2023136264A - Method for disposing of filter - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a method for disposing of a filter that can prevent a toxic substance from dropping out from a filter when disposing of a filter to which a toxic substance adheres.SOLUTION: A method for disposing of a filter includes a step of disposing of a filter after affixing a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape to a surface located on an outside-air side when the filter is mounted, when a used filter is disposed of.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a method of disposing of a filter, and particularly to a method of disposing of a filter used in an air cleaner.

Air purifiers are used to remove pollen, cigarette smoke, and other substances that are undesirable for the human body (toxic substances) from the air. In addition, with the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus infection, there is a demand for air purifiers that have the effect of removing the virus.For example, an air purifier that filters air with a filter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 An air cleaner having a part is known.

Air purifiers generally filter harmful substances in the air by adsorbing them onto a filter that uses activated carbon or nonwoven fabric. Used filters are often disposed of along with general waste, for example at home, but when discarded, harmful substances that have been adsorbed will fall off the filter and be dispersed into the atmosphere, so There was a risk that people could be re-exposed to hazardous substances. Therefore, there has been a need for a filter disposal method that can reduce the danger to workers as much as possible when disposing of the filter.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2020-162855 (Patent Document 2) discloses a structure in which a paper pack for a vacuum cleaner can be fixed using a magnet from outside the vacuum cleaner, thereby making it possible to remove the paper pack from the vacuum cleaner without applying force when replacing the paper pack. A vacuum cleaner for collecting harmful substances is disclosed that can prevent contamination of the surrounding area without deforming the vacuum cleaner paper pack itself. In the case of paper packs, dirt accumulates inside the paper pack, so it is possible to cover the paper pack with a plastic bag etc. without contaminating the surrounding area, but in the case of air purifier filters, dirt accumulates inside the paper pack. The collection surface that adsorbs harmful substances is exposed to the outside air side (the side opposite to the equipment where air flows in), so when replacing a used filter, the harmful substances will be removed from the filter. There was a risk of it falling off.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-79714 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-162855

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for disposing of a filter that can prevent harmful substances from falling off the filter when disposing of the filter to which harmful substances have been adsorbed.

The above-mentioned problems are solved by the following invention.
1. A method for disposing of a used filter, the method comprising: attaching an adhesive tape to the outside air side surface of the filter when it is attached, and then disposing of the filter.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for disposing of a filter that can prevent harmful substances from falling off the filter when disposing of the filter on which harmful substances have been adsorbed.

Schematic cross-sectional diagram of an air purifier equipped with a filter Schematic cross-sectional view showing adhesive tape pasted on the outside air side surface of the filter after use

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained using figures.

In the filter disposal method of the present invention, when a used filter is disposed of, an adhesive tape is attached to the outside air side surface of the filter, and then the filter is disposed of. On the other hand, after pasting the adhesive tape on the outside air side surface, it is possible to paste the adhesive tape on the equipment side surface of the used filter as well. Furthermore, the filter disposal method of the present invention can be applied to any type of filter used as long as the surface that collects the substances collected by the filter is located on the outside air side opposite to the equipment. However, a particularly suitable application method is a method for disposing of filters used in air cleaners. Hereinafter, the filter disposal method of the present invention will be explained in detail using an example of an air cleaner equipped with a filter so that the surface for collecting harmful substances is on the outside air side of the device.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air cleaner equipped with a filter. In FIG. 1, an air cleaner 1 has an outside air inlet 10 and an inside air outlet 11, and has a blowing means 12 in a gas flow path 16 that connects the outside air inlet 10 and the inside air outlet 11. Furthermore, a replaceable filter 13 is provided on the outside air side of the outside air inlet 10. The air purifier shown in FIG. 1 can be hung around a person's neck using a fixture (not shown), for example. When worn in this way, the outside air inlet 10 takes in outside air from the front of the wearer, and the inside air outlet By blowing air upward from the lower part near the wearer's chin from 11, it can be used, for example, to prevent droplet infection when eating, drinking, or talking. The air purifier 1 can have a housing (not shown) that covers the filter on the outside of the filter 13 (on the side opposite to the blowing means 12), but when the filter 13 is discarded, the housing that covers the filter This is not preferable since it requires removal of the filter (there is a possibility that harmful substances will fall out from the filter 13). Therefore, it is preferable that the filter 13 is simply fixed to the outside air inlet 10. For example, a magnet is attached to a part of the outside air inlet 10, and a metal part such as iron is provided on the filter 13, so that the filter 13 can be easily fixed to the outside air inlet 10. Alternatively, a method of fixing a part of the filter 13 (for example, the outer periphery) to the outside air inlet 10 with a weak adhesive tape, a hook-and-loop fastener, etc. may be used.

As the filter 13, a known filter material can be used. Examples include nonwoven fabric, woven fabric, gauze, paper, etc. Among them, it is preferable to use nonwoven fabric from the viewpoint of achieving both breathability and adsorption of harmful substances. The fibers that make up the nonwoven fabric are not limited, and include glass, polyolefin resin (polyethylene resin, polypropylene resin, etc.), polystyrene resin, polyvinyl alcohol resin, polyether resin, polyester resin, polyimide resin, polyamide-imide resin, polyamide resin, polyacrylonitrile. Known fibers such as resins, polyurethane resins, epoxy resins, polysulfone resins, fluororesins, acrylic resins, polyvinyl chloride resins, cellulose materials (cellulose acetate, natural cellulose, rayon, etc.), or copolymers and composites thereof Illustrated. Among them, polyolefin resins and polyester resins are preferred because they have excellent virus adsorption performance.

Although the average fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the nonwoven fabric is not particularly limited, it is preferably 50 μm or less, more preferably 30 μm or less, from the viewpoint of achieving excellent adsorption performance for harmful substances and suppressing pressure loss. The lower limit of the average fiber diameter is preferably 0.1 μm or more. As a method for measuring the average fiber diameter, 50 fibers are selected from a micrograph showing an enlarged cross section of the nonwoven fabric in the thickness direction, and the arithmetic mean value of the diameters in the fiber cross section can be used. In addition, when the cross-sectional shape of the fiber is not circular, the diameter of a circle having the same cross-sectional area is taken as the fiber diameter.

The fiber length of the fibers constituting the nonwoven fabric is not particularly limited, and may be short fibers or long fibers.

The above-mentioned fibers can be produced by melt spinning, dry spinning, wet spinning, direct spinning (melt blowing, spunbond, electrostatic spinning, etc.), by extracting fibers from composite fibers, by beating fibers, and by beating fibers into fibers. It can be obtained by a known method such as a method for obtaining .

As a method of making fibers into a nonwoven fabric, known methods such as a method of entangling with a needle, a water jet, etc., a method of integrating using a binder, a method of melting and integrating fibers by heat treatment, etc. can be used. When obtaining fibers using a direct spinning method, the fibers may be collected immediately after spinning to form a nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric may be composed of two or more types of fibers having different materials, average fiber diameters, and manufacturing methods.

The apparent density of the nonwoven fabric is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of suppressing pressure loss, it is preferably 250 kg/m ³ or less. Note that the apparent density means the mass per 1 m ³ of nonwoven fabric.

The nonwoven fabric may be subjected to a known post-treatment. For example, a so-called electret treatment may be performed, in which charging is performed using a polar liquid, according to a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-235219.

Although the pressure loss of the filter 13 is not particularly limited, it is preferable that the pressure loss is small in order to obtain a sufficient amount of air. Specifically, it is preferable that the pressure loss measured according to JIS T9001 is less than 60 Pa/cm ² .

Although the microparticle collection efficiency of the filter 13 is not particularly limited, it is preferably 95% or more in a PFE test according to JIS T9001.

The filter 13 contains an antibacterial/antiviral agent (such as benzalkonium chloride), a deodorant (such as activated carbon), a light stabilizer (such as a hindered amine compound), a photocatalyst (such as titanium dioxide), an ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant, It may contain known additives such as plasticizers, pigments, dyes, antistatic agents, lubricants, and surfactants.

The filter 13 may have a single layer structure or a two or more layer structure. For example, it may be a structure in which two or more layers of nonwoven fabrics of different specifications are stacked, such as a combination of a nonwoven fabric containing fibers obtained by a spunbond method and a nonwoven fabric containing fibers obtained by a melt blowing method.

As an example for explaining the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which an adhesive tape is bonded to the outside air side surface of a filter after use. In FIG. 2, filter 13 is covered with adhesive tape 20. In FIG. In addition, in the filter disposal method of the present invention, the work of pasting adhesive tape on the filter on which harmful substances have been adsorbed is performed while the filter is attached to the device, thereby preventing the harmful substances from scattering. It is preferable from the viewpoint of It is desirable that the adhesive tape 20 covers the entire surface of the filter 13, and the area of the adhesive tape 20 is preferably 110 to 200% of the area of the filter 13. Further, a non-adhesive portion may be provided around the adhesive tape in order to improve workability when bonding the adhesive tape. The adhesive strength of the adhesive tape 20 makes it possible to easily remove the adhesive tape 20 even if it sticks to a casing (not shown) other than the filter 13, and the adhesive tape 20 cannot be easily removed from the filter 13. Therefore, the adhesive force to the acrylic plate is preferably 2 to 10 N/25 mm. As the base material of the adhesive tape 20, known materials such as paper, film, and metal can be used, but base materials with low air permeability, such as base materials with a Gurley air permeability of 1000 seconds or more, are preferable, and air-impermeable paper is preferred. Alternatively, a film is preferred. The adhesive included in the adhesive tape 20 can be a known adhesive such as acrylic adhesive, silicone adhesive, urethane adhesive, starch, or glue, and the adhesive may contain an antibacterial and antiviral agent such as a silver compound or a copper compound. It can also contain.

The used filter 13 to which the adhesive tape 20 is attached as described above can be easily removed from the air cleaner without harmful substances falling off the filter. It is also possible to bond an adhesive tape to the other surface of the removed filter 13.

The method for disposing of a filter of the present invention is suitable for disposing of a filter of an air cleaner used in a place where eating and drinking is involved, for example, and can also be applied to disposing of used masks.

1 Air purifier 10 Outside air inlet 11 Inside air outlet 12 Air blower 13 Filter 16 Gas flow path 20 Adhesive tape

Claims (1)

A method for disposing of a filter, which comprises: when disposing of a used filter, an adhesive tape is attached to the outside air side surface of the filter when it is attached, and then the filter is disposed of.