JP2622682B2 - Sterilization and disinfection equipment using ozone gas - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to medical, dental, and barber machinery, and an apparatus for disinfecting and sterilizing bacteria and the like adhered to such materials.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when disinfecting and sterilizing the above-mentioned instruments, etc., it is common to heat and sterilize them, but depending on what is heated at that time, it may be thermally deformed or heated. In some cases, sufficient heating cannot always be performed because of the possibility of damage. This is particularly noticeable when heating an instrument or the like having a precision structure.

In order to avoid the problem caused by this heating, it is conceivable to perform disinfection and sterilization with a gas containing ozone, that is, an ozonized gas. However, in this case, an ozonizer is naturally required, and this generally tends to be large, and the power source And expensive ones are required, and to further increase the bactericidal effect,
If the concentration of ozone gas is increased, if it leaks, it has a bad effect on the human body, and this concentration has its own limit.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention is problematic in the case of performing disinfection and sterilization by the above-described heating or in the case of performing it with ozonized gas, that is, deformation of various instruments to be disinfected and sterilized by heating. It is an object of the present invention to improve the reliability of disinfection and sterilization as compared with the conventional one, by causing adverse effects on the human body due to damage, damage, and leakage of ozonized gas.

Another object is to improve the generation efficiency of ozone gas and to reduce the size and power of the ozonizer.

Still another object is to perform the disinfection and sterilization with ozone gas more strongly than the conventional one.

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, a part of the inner surface of a sterilization chamber having a sealed structure is formed by a surface discharge type ozonizer, and a raw material gas inlet such as oxygen or air, an ozone killer, and a humidifier are provided in the sterilization chamber. Respectively, a ozone monitor is connected downstream of the ozone killer, and a surface induction electrode for embedding the creeping discharge type ozonizer in the thickness of the fine ceramic dielectric, and a linear electrode provided on the surface of the dielectric. It comprises a corona discharge electrode, a high-frequency high-voltage power supply connected between these two electrodes, and a creeping discharge generation area formed on the dielectric surface.

Action The equipment to be disinfected is stored and sealed in the container-shaped sterilization chamber, and the ozonizer in the sterilization chamber is operated to generate an ozonized gas. Is filled with ozone gas, and the stored instruments and the like are disinfected and sterilized. In particular, when using the above-described planar induction electrode and linear corona discharge electrode as an ozonizer, a high-frequency high voltage is applied between both electrodes to generate a creeping discharge along the surface of the fine ceramic dielectric, This portion is defined as an ozone gas generation area.

Also, air or oxygen is supplied from the raw material gas inlet into the sterilization chamber, and the action of the above-mentioned discharge of electricity is given to this air or the like.
Ozonated gas may be generated.

Then, when the ozone concentration in the sterilizing chamber becomes sufficiently high, the inside and the humidifier supply moisture to increase the humidity of the ozone gas inside, thereby increasing the disinfecting and sterilizing effect.

After the disinfection and sterilization are completed, the ozonized gas in the sterilization chamber is sent to ozone killer and replaced with clean air or oxygen,
The discharged ozonized gas is removed by heating the ozone gas with an ozone killer or decomposition by a catalyst or absorption of the ozone gas by an adsorbent, confirming it with an ozone monitor, discharging it to the outside air, and then discharging it to ozone. The sterilization chamber is opened when no gas is contained, and instruments and the like are taken out of the chamber.

EXAMPLE As shown in FIG. 1, a container-shaped sterilization chamber 1 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a fine ceramic dielectric 2 made of high-purity alumina or the like, and this is placed on a bottom plate 18 and a lid 19 is placed thereon. Place and seal. Reference numeral 16 denotes an insulating cylindrical insulating layer having a large number of small holes provided inside the inner wall of the sterilizing chamber 1, and in this example, a layer of ceramic or Teflon. However, the storage basket itself may be made of an electrically insulating material such as ceramic or Teflon, and in this case, the Teflon layer and the like can be omitted.

An air valve 20, a dehumidifier 22,
Communicating the dehumidifier 22, and the suction pump 23, when the air and the raw material gas drives the suction inlet pump 23 draws air 24, and dried over dehumidifier 22, SO ₂ through activated carbon tank 21
After removing ammonia and the like, it is introduced into the sterilization chamber 1.
The activated carbon tank 21 is made of, for example, molecular sheep or silica gel. When using oxygen as the source gas, use an air valve 20
Is closed, the oxygen valve 20a is opened, and oxygen is directly introduced from the oxygen cylinder 24a into the sterilization chamber 1 via the raw material gas inlet 3.

An outlet valve 26, a circulating pump 27, a humidifier 5, an inlet valve 28, and a circulating gas inlet are sequentially provided to the circulating gas outlet 25 of the bottom plate 18.
29, the outlet valve 26 and the inlet valve 28 are opened, and the circulation pump 27 is driven to circulate the ozonized gas in the sterilization chamber 1 through the humidifier 5.
This raises the humidity of the ozonized gas by the humidity generated.

Further, a discharge valve is sequentially provided at the ozonized gas discharge port 30 of the bottom plate 18.
31, ozone killer 4, ozone monitor 14, and discharge pump 15
The discharge valve 31 is opened, and the discharge pump 15 is driven to drive the disinfected and sterilized ozonized gas to the ozone killer 4, which decomposes or adsorbs ozone. The concentration of the ozonized gas is measured by the ozone monitor 14 to confirm that it is safe for the human body, and is discharged as safe gas 32 into the outside air.

Next, a planar induction electrode 7 is embedded in the thickness of the fine ceramic dielectric 6 forming the sterilization chamber 1 described above, and the dielectric
A plurality of linear corona discharge electrodes 8 are provided in parallel on the inner surface of the substrate, and a high-frequency high-voltage power supply 9 is connected between the electrodes 7 and 8 to generate a creeping discharge along the inner surface of the dielectric 6. A discharge generation area 10 is formed, and a raw material gas such as oxygen or air in the sterilization chamber 1 existing in this area 10 is ozonized, and the instruments and the like housed in the sterilization chamber 1 are disinfected by the ozonized gas. It is to sterilize.

The above description is about the case where a raw material gas such as air or oxygen is supplied into the sterilization chamber 1 at normal pressure. After generating ozone under normal pressure, the raw material gas is further introduced under pressure to sterilize and disinfect the ozonized gas. It may be press-fitted into a slit of a device or gauze or the like to be completely sterilized.

Further, a cooling fin 33 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical fine ceramic dielectric 6, and the cooling fin 33 is cooled by the cooling fan 34, and the humidity generated in the ozone generating area 10 is increased by the heat generated at the time of the above-described creeping discharge. To prevent ozone gas from decomposing by heat.

Effect Since the present invention is as described above, the sterilization chamber can be immediately filled with the ozone gas generated by the ozonizer, and various instruments and the like housed therein can be disinfected and sterilized. Even if it is easy, there is no risk of damaging it.

In addition, the ozone gas that has been disinfected and sterilized can be decomposed or adsorbed by ozone killer and then discharged to the outside air. There is no risk of adversely affecting

Further, since the humidifier is connected to the sterilizing chamber, the humidity of the ozone gas in the sterilizing chamber can be given, and the disinfecting and sterilizing action can be enhanced.

Further, since the ozonizer is composed of the planar induction electrode and the linear corona discharge electrode embedded in the fine ceramic dielectric as described above, the generation efficiency of ozone gas can be remarkably improved, and sterilization with such an ozonizer can be achieved. Since the chamber is configured, the concentration of ozone gas in the sterilization chamber can be increased to perform powerful sterilization with a simple structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a part of the disinfecting and disinfecting apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sterilization room 2 ... Ozonizer 3 ... Material gas inlet 4 ... Ozone killer 5 ... Humidifier 6 ... Fine ceramic dielectric 7 ... Planar induction electrode 8 ... Linear corona discharge electrode 9 ... High-frequency high-voltage power supply 10 ... Creepage discharge area 11 ... Activated carbon tank 12 ... Dehumidifier 13 ... Suction pump 14 ... Ozone monitor 15 ... Discharge pump 16 ... Teflon layer 17 ... Storage basket

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A part of an inner surface of a sterilization chamber having a sealed structure is formed by a surface discharge type ozonizer, and a raw material gas inlet such as oxygen or air, an ozone killer, and a humidifier are communicated with the sterilization chamber, respectively. A surface induction electrode for communicating the ozone monitor downstream of the ozone monitor, and further embedding the creeping discharge type ozonizer in the thickness of the fine ceramic dielectric; a linear corona discharge electrode provided on the surface of the dielectric; An apparatus for sterilizing and disinfecting with ozone gas, comprising: a high-frequency high-voltage power supply connected between both electrodes; and a creeping discharge generation area formed on the surface of the dielectric. 2. A patent wherein the sterilizing chamber is connected to an activated carbon tank, a dehumidifier, and a suction pump sequentially at a raw material gas inlet, and an ozone killer, an ozone monitor, and a discharge pump are sequentially connected to an ion gas outlet thereof. An apparatus for sterilizing and disinfecting with ozone gas according to claim 1. 3. The apparatus for sterilizing and disinfecting with ozone gas according to claim 1, wherein the linear corona discharge electrode is electrically insulated from an instrument storage area inside thereof by a porous insulating layer. . 4. An apparatus for sterilizing and disinfecting with ozone gas according to claim 1, wherein the sterilizing chamber contains a storage basket formed of an electrically insulating material therein.