JP3231678B2 - Ozone generator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ozone generator used for ozone sterilization, ozone decolorization, etc., and more particularly to an ozone generator intended to increase the concentration of ozone generated by using a large number of ultraviolet lamps. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ozone (O ₃ ) has a strong oxidizing power,
Demonstrates excellent effects such as sterilization, deodorization, and decolorization. When sterilizing food packaging containers or decolorizing textiles using the oxidizing power of ozone, an ozone generator that efficiently generates high-concentration ozone is required.

As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional ozone generator 80
Has a large number of ultraviolet lamps 18 arranged in a container 86 having an intake port 82 and an exhaust port 84. In addition, the above exhaust port 84
Is externally connected to an external pump 64 in an airtight manner. When the ultraviolet lamp 18 is turned on and the pump 64 is operated, the room air flows from the intake port 82 to the container 86.
Is taken in. The air introduced into the inside is ozonized by the action of ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184.9 nm emitted from the ultraviolet lamp 18, and is led out of the container 86 through the exhaust port 84.

[0004]

In the case of the ozone generator 80 having such a structure, the number of the ultraviolet lamps 18 is increased according to the purpose of use, so that the required high concentration ozone can be reduced. You should get it.

[0005] However, the ultraviolet lamp 18 usually emits ultraviolet light of 184.9 nm wavelength which has a strong ozone generating action,
Ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 253.7 nm, which exerts ozonolysis, is also emitted. For this reason, if many ultraviolet lamps 18 are concentrated in a limited space, the ozone generated from the ultraviolet lamps 18 is radiated from the adjacent ultraviolet lamps 18.
It is immediately decomposed by the ultraviolet light having the wavelength of 3.7 nm, and there is a problem that the concentration of ozone emitted from the exhaust port 84 does not increase for the number of the ultraviolet lamps 18.

The present invention has been devised in view of such problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to form ozone between adjacent ultraviolet lamps even when the ultraviolet lamps are densely arranged. An object of the present invention is to provide an ozone generator which can effectively avoid the generations from canceling each other and can easily supply a relatively high concentration of ozone.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an ozone generator according to the present invention has a plurality of ultraviolet lamps arranged in a container having an inlet and an outlet, and the ultraviolet lamp of each ultraviolet lamp is provided. At least the ultraviolet radiating portion is individually housed in a shielding cylinder made of a material having an ultraviolet shielding property, and the shielding cylinder causes air taken into the container from the intake port to the ultraviolet radiating portion of the ultraviolet lamp. It is configured to have one end opening for guiding and the other end opening for discharging generated ozone to the exhaust port side. It is desirable to dispose an ultraviolet absorbing material such as a fluororesin on the inner surface of the shielding cylinder.

As described above, if the ultraviolet ray radiating portion of each ultraviolet ray lamp is housed in a shielding cylinder having an ultraviolet ray blocking characteristic, radiation is radiated from a plurality of adjacent ultraviolet ray lamps.
It is possible to effectively prevent ozone from disappearing due to the superimposing action of 253.7 nm ultraviolet rays. As a result, the concentration of ozone supplied from each of the shielding cylinders increases, and as much ozone is emitted from the exhaust port as the number of ultraviolet lamps increases. In addition, by disposing an ultraviolet absorbing substance on the inner surface of the shielding cylinder, it is possible to effectively suppress the ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 253.7 nm generated in the shielding cylinder from being irregularly reflected and decomposing ozone therein.

By the way, in order to increase the concentration of ozone released from each of the shielding cylinders, it is important to distribute the air taken in from the intake port to each shielding cylinder as evenly as possible. Therefore, it is desirable to dispose guide means for distributing the air taken in from the air inlet to one end opening of each shielding cylinder in the container. Further, in order to prevent the ozone generated in the container from flowing backward and being released into the room from the intake port and adversely affecting the human body, at least one of an ozone filter and an ozone decomposition catalyst is provided inside the intake port. It is desirable to arrange them.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, an ozone generator 10 according to the present invention includes a plurality of ultraviolet lamps 18 in a container 16 made of plastic or the like having an intake port 12 and an exhaust port 14. Built-in. As shown in FIG. 2, the container 16 is formed by joining a first hopper member 20 and a second hopper member 22 each having a funnel shape. A large number of the ultraviolet lamps 18 are collectively arranged in the frame member 26 in a state of being housed in the cylindrical shielding tube 24, respectively, and form one light emitting unit 28.

In FIG. 2, the frame member 26 has a length of 10 × width.
A light-emitting unit 28 in which ten 100 ultraviolet lamps 18 in total are arranged is illustrated. The first hopper member 20
When joining the second hopper member 22 and the
The frame member 26 is fixedly arranged in the container 16 by engaging the step 26 with the step 30 formed in the opening of each hopper member.

At the rear end of the first hopper member 20, a rectangular tubular intake pipe 32 is integrally formed, and the rear end opening of the intake pipe 32 corresponds to the intake port 12. . Intake pipe section
Inside the catalyst 32, a catalyst 34 having an ozonolysis action is disposed. This catalyst is made of a mixture of TiO ₂ and Ag ₂ O or CuO, or MnO ₂ , and has many vents 36. Further, a cylindrical exhaust pipe portion 38 is formed at a distal end portion of the second hopper member 22, and a distal end opening of the exhaust pipe portion 38 corresponds to the exhaust port 14.

Next, an engagement relationship between the frame member 26, each of the ultraviolet lamps 18 and the shielding tube 24 will be described with reference to FIGS. The bottom surface of the frame member 26 is formed of a substrate 40, and a plurality of through-hole groups 42 are formed on the surface of the substrate 40 for each ultraviolet lamp 18 (FIG. 3).
The ultraviolet lamp 18 is inserted into the large through hole 44 formed in the center.
And a pair of through holes 5 formed in the flange portion 48 of the ultraviolet lamp 18.
Fixing the substrate 40 and the ultraviolet lamp 18 is completed by screwing screws 54, 54 into the through holes 50, 52 after aligning the through holes 52, 52 with the through holes 52, 52 on the substrate 40 side. . Next, a pair of metal pieces 56, 56 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the shielding cylinder 24.
Through the small through holes 58, 58 from the opposite side of the substrate 40, respectively. Since the metal piece 56 has flexibility,
The shielding cylinder 24 is fixedly arranged on the front surface of the substrate 40 by folding outward on the rear surface of the substrate 40. Note that the pair of semilunar through-holes 60 formed in the substrate 40 function as vents.

The shielding cylinder 24 is made of aluminum, and has a fluorine resin layer 62 as an ultraviolet absorbing material disposed on the inner surface thereof (FIG. 4). As a method of arranging the fluororesin layer 62, for example, a pipe made of fluororesin (trade name: Teflon) having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the shielding cylinder 24 may be used.
To be tightly inserted into the inner surface of the substrate. Alternatively, a sheet made of a fluororesin may be inserted into the shielding cylinder 24 in a state of being wound several times in a cylindrical shape, and may be closely attached to the inner surface of the shielding cylinder 24 by using the restoring force. Alternatively, a fluororesin may be adhered to the inner surface of the shielding tube 24. The fluororesin layer 62 may have a single-layer structure, or may have a multi-layer structure.
Although not shown, a pair of lead terminals is led out from each ultraviolet lamp 18, and each lead terminal is connected to a power source (not shown).

When the ozone generator 10 is used, first, a driving power supply is supplied from a power supply (not shown) to turn on the ultraviolet lamps 18 and to operate a pump 64 airtightly connected to the exhaust port 14. By the operation of the pump 64,
Air is taken into the container 16 from the inlet 12. Since the inner wall surface of the first hopper member 20 forms a funnel-shaped wall surface whose diameter increases from the intake port 12 side toward the ultraviolet lamp 18 side, the taken-in air spreads along the wall surface. The light reaches the ultraviolet lamp 18. The arriving air penetrates into the shielding cylinder 24 through the semilunar through-hole 60 formed in the substrate 40 and the rear end opening 66 of the shielding cylinder 24, where it is irradiated with ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 184.9 nm to ozone (O _3). ).

At this time, ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 253.7 nm having an ozone-eliminating action are also emitted from the ultraviolet lamps 18. However, since the ultraviolet lamps 18 are separated by the shielding cylinder 24, at least a plurality of adjacent It is possible to prevent the ozone just generated from being reduced by the superposition of the ultraviolet light having the wavelength of 253.7 nm emitted from the ultraviolet lamp 18. Also,
Most of the ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 253.7 nm generated in each shielding cylinder 24 is immediately absorbed by the fluororesin layer 62, so that ozone can be reduced to a minimum.

It should be noted that 253.7 nm incident on the fluororesin layer 62
Some of the ultraviolet rays having the wavelength may not reach the inner surface of the shielding cylinder 24 without being absorbed by the fluororesin layer 62. However, the shielding tube 24 is made of aluminum having excellent reflection characteristics, and the ultraviolet rays reaching the inner surface are reflected there and pass through the fluororesin layer 62 again, so that the ultraviolet rays are absorbed even in this return process. Become. Therefore, it is possible to absorb most of the ultraviolet rays by appropriately increasing the thickness and the number of the fluororesin layers 62.

The ozone released from the distal end opening 68 of the shielding cylinder 24 reaches the inside of the second hopper member 22 and is collected at the exhaust port 14 along the inner wall surface. The high-concentration ozone released from the exhaust port 14 is guided to a predetermined target via the air supply pipe 70, and operations such as sterilization, deodorization, and decolorization are realized.

Incidentally, the conventional ozone generator shown in FIG.
In the case of using 80 (with 100 built-in ultraviolet lamps), when the flow rate of air supplied from the intake port 82 was 5 liter / min, the concentration of ozone released from the exhaust port 84 was 5 to 10 ppm. On the other hand, when the ozone generator 10 is used, when the flow rate of air supplied from the intake port 12 is 15 liter / min, the concentration of ozone released from the exhaust port 14 reaches 80 to 120 ppm. Was confirmed. Inlet 12
Considering that the greater the flow rate of air taken in from the air, the lower the ozone concentration emitted from the exhaust port 14 tends to be, the ozone generation efficiency of the ozone generator 10 according to the present invention is smaller than that of the conventional example. You can see how good it is. By arranging the fluororesin layer 62 on the inner surface of the shielding cylinder 24, an effect of preventing the aluminum shielding cylinder 24 from being oxidized by ozone can be expected.

Since the ozone decomposition catalyst 34 is disposed in the intake pipe section 32, even if the ozone in the container 16 flows backward, the ozone comes into contact with the ozone decomposition catalyst 34 and is decomposed into oxygen. Therefore, ozone harmful to the human body can be prevented from being released indoors. Instead of the ozone decomposition catalyst 34,
An ozone filter made of activated carbon or the like may be arranged,
Alternatively, the ozone decomposition catalyst 34 and the ozone filter may be used in combination.

When the first hopper member 20 and the second hopper member 22 are joined, it is necessary to realize high airtightness so that ozone generated inside the container 16 does not leak outside. On the other hand, in consideration of maintenance of the ultraviolet lamp 18 incorporated in the light emitting unit 28, it is desirable that the first hopper member 20 and the second hopper member 22 be easily detachable. Therefore, although not shown, the first hopper member 20 and the second hopper member 22 are not illustrated.
It is conceivable to open and close the hinges so that they can be freely opened and closed, and to provide a seal member such as rubber at each joint portion so as to close both of them via an appropriate lock mechanism.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which a guide plate 72 for dispersing air is disposed in the first hopper member 20, and other configurations are the same as those of the ozone generator 10 described above. The guide plate 72 is arranged to distribute the air taken into the container 16 from the air inlet 12 to the ultraviolet lamps 18 almost equally, and spreads from the air inlet 12 side toward the ultraviolet lamp 18 side. As described above, a plurality of guide plates 72 are radially arranged. That is, the guide plate 72 includes a plurality of vertical guide plates 72a for dispersing air in the up-down direction and a plurality of left-right guide plates 72b for dispersing in the left-right direction.

Since the inner wall of the first hopper member 20 is inclined in a divergent shape, the air taken in from the air inlet 12 is basically dispersed in a wide range along the inner wall. If the number of lamps 18 or the overall shape of the ozone generator 10 is increased, sufficient air may not always be supplied to the ultraviolet lamps 18 at a location away from the center of the substrate 40. If such a guide plate 72 is provided, the air taken in from the air inlet 12 is forcibly dispersed in a wide range, and is supplied to the ultraviolet lamps 18 almost uniformly. As a result, the generation efficiency of ozone in each ultraviolet lamp 18 is improved, and the concentration of ozone exhausted from the exhaust port 14 can be increased.

Using means other than the guide plate 72, the air inlet
The air taken in from 12 may be forcibly dispersed. For example, although not shown, each shielding cylinder 24
A similar effect can be achieved by connecting one end of a flexible tube to the distal end opening 68 and connecting the other end of the tube to the exhaust port 14.

[0025]

According to the ozone generator of the present invention, since the ultraviolet ray radiating portion of each ultraviolet lamp is housed in the shielding cylinder as described above, even if the installation density of the ultraviolet lamp is increased, the ozone It is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of ozone depletion between ultraviolet lamps due to superposition of 253.7 nm wavelength ultraviolet light having an erasing effect, and as a result, it is possible to increase the concentration of ozone released from the exhaust port .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an entire ozone generator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an internal structure of the ozone generator.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an engagement relationship between an ultraviolet lamp and a shielding tube of the ozone generator.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the ultraviolet lamp and the shielding cylinder.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a modified example of the ozone generator according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a conventional ozone generator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Ozone generator 12 Intake port 14 Exhaust port 16 Container 18 UV lamp 24 Shield tube 34 Catalyst 62 Fluororesin layer 66 Rear opening 68 Front opening 72 Guide plate

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of ultraviolet lamps are arranged in a container having an inlet and an outlet, and at least an ultraviolet radiating portion of each of the ultraviolet lamps is individually placed in a shielding cylinder made of a material having an ultraviolet shielding property. One end opening for guiding the air taken into the container from the intake port to the ultraviolet radiation portion of the ultraviolet lamp,
An ozone generator having an opening at the other end for discharging generated ozone to the exhaust port side. 2. The ozone generator according to claim 1, wherein an ultraviolet absorbing substance is disposed on an inner surface of the shielding cylinder. 3. The ozone generator according to claim 1, wherein guide means for distributing the air taken in from the air inlet to one end opening of each shielding cylinder is arranged in the container. . 4. The ozone generator according to claim 1, wherein at least one of an ozone filter and an ozone decomposition catalyst is disposed inside the intake port.