JP3234719U - Foam generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a foam generator capable of easily generating bubbles containing an ozone / air mixed gas by combining an ozone / air mixed gas and a cleaning agent.
SOLUTION: A bubble generator 1 is provided with an ozone / air mixed gas generating unit 10 for generating an ozone / air mixed gas obtained by diluting and mixing ozone gas with air, and a discharge end 11a at the tip, and is provided with an ozone / air mixed gas. Ozone / air mixed gas is continuously or intermittently sent out from the discharge end into the ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11 and the cleaning agent solution 4 whose temperature is relatively higher than room temperature in the container. It includes a foam generating unit configured to generate foam 5 containing a mixed gas. The foam generator can be applied to fields such as medical treatment, beauty, and food as well as industrial fields, and is particularly preferably applicable to shampoo stands and the like in the beauty field.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to a foam generator capable of easily generating foam containing an ozone / air mixed gas.

Ozone, which is gaseous at normal temperature and pressure, has high oxidizing power, so it is a highly toxic substance that irritates the eyes, nasal cavity, and throat at high concentrations, and has a very bad effect on the human body at high concentrations. The permissible concentration of ozone in the working environment is set to 0.1 ppm or less. However, since ozone does not adversely affect the human body at a low concentration, it has been effectively and safely used in fields such as medical treatment, beauty, welfare, and food while controlling its concentration in recent years.

For example, in the field of cosmetology, we propose an ozone skin cleansing device that can remove dirty components adhering to the skin surface by supplying good ozone to the skin surface used for bathtubs or face wash containers to generate bubbles. (See Patent Document 1). The configuration of this ozone skin cleaning device is shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the ozone skin cleaning device 30 includes an air supply unit 31 in a housing, an ozone generation unit 32 that generates ozone gas, and an ozone diluting unit that mixes and dilutes ozone gas to the extent that air does not harm the human body. It is composed of 33 and an on-off valve 35 which is controlled by an air supply amount control unit 34 and ejects an ozone-containing gas diluted by the ozone diluting unit 33. A probe (not shown) made of a porous material is attached to the downstream tip of the on-off valve 35. By immersing this probe in warm water, bubbles with a fine diameter can be obtained, and the skin and body parts of the face to be washed by these bubbles can be effectively washed with ozone, resulting in facial treatment, skin whitening treatment, and whitening treatment. Etc., it can be suitably used.

Certainly, if the skin and body parts of the face are exposed to warm water in which fine-diameter bubbles and ozone are eluted for a certain period of time, a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained. On the other hand, if a surfactant such as a cleaning agent is used in combination with ozone, the synergistic action of the two is expected to have the same or better cleaning effect in a shorter period of time. A device that can be used in combination with the above-mentioned surfactant has been desired.

In addition, in this specification, "bubble" and "foam" are used in a general meaning. That is, a "bubble" is a state in which a gas exists in a liquid and is surrounded by the liquid and floats, and a "foam" is a state in which bubbles are increased and closely formed on the surface of the liquid. I will say.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-34566

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a foam generator capable of easily generating bubbles containing an ozone / air mixed gas by combining an ozone / air mixed gas and a cleaning agent. With the goal.

The purpose is to provide an ozone / air mixed gas generator that generates an ozone / air mixed gas obtained by diluting and mixing ozone gas with air, and an ozone / air mixed gas sending portion that has a discharge end at the tip and sends the ozone / air mixed gas. The ozone / air mixed gas is continuously or intermittently sent out from the discharge end into the trachea and the cleaning agent solution having a temperature relatively higher than room temperature in the container to generate bubbles containing the ozone / air mixed gas. It is achieved by a foam generator characterized by including, and a foam generator configured to do so.

The discharge end can be configured to deliver an ozone / air mixed gas into the cleaning agent solution through a porous partition wall. By passing through the porous partition wall in this way, the diameter of the bubbles (ozone / air mixed gas) sent out as bubbles in the cleaning solution solution becomes smaller, making it difficult for bubbles to break, and as a result, effective generation of bubbles is possible. It becomes. The discharge end may be incorporated into the container so that the porous partition wall is exposed from the bottom of the container into the detergent solution.

In the present invention, the foam generation unit foams the detergent solution in the container with bubbles of an ozone / air mixed gas to generate bubbles. Various conventionally known containers can be used, and a part of the container may be open to the outside air or sealed, for example, a shampoo stand in the beauty field; a sink or bathtub at home; an industrial tank, etc. There is a wide range of things.

When the container is an industrial tank, the foam generating unit can be configured to apply a shearing force and / or a discharge flow force to the cleaning agent solution in which bubbles of the ozone / air mixed gas are present. This will further promote the formation of foam. Further, it may be provided with a heated water supply unit for supplying hot water or hot water to the foam generation unit and a cleaning agent supply unit for supplying a cleaning agent, respectively, and cleaning for supplying a heated detergent solution to the foam generation unit. The agent solution supply unit may be provided. By providing a warm water supply unit and a cleaning agent supply unit or a cleaning agent solution supply unit in this way and controlling the amount of hot water or hot water and the cleaning agent or the cleaning agent solution input to the foam generation unit, only the batch type can be used. Instead, it will be possible to generate bubbles by an automatic continuous method.

Further, the foam generator of the present invention may include a foam extraction unit for extracting foam. The foam extraction unit can be configured to suck out foam from the foam generation unit by a suction pump. By using the suction pump in this way, it becomes possible to automatically generate bubbles generated in batch or continuously.

According to the foam generator of the present invention, the combination of the ozone / air mixed gas and the cleaning agent can easily generate bubbles containing the ozone / air mixed gas, whereby the cleaning agent and ozone act synergistically. , The cleaning effect can be enhanced.

It is a figure explaining one Embodiment of the bubble generator which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of another embodiment of the foam generator of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically one conventional example of the ozone / air mixed gas generation part.

The foam generator of the present invention can be suitably applied to fields such as medical treatment, beauty, food, and industrial fields. In the following, the application of the foam generator of the present invention to the beauty field and the application to the industrial field will be described in detail. The embodiment of the present invention described below is an example, and can be appropriately changed as long as the essence of the present invention is the same.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the foam generator of the present invention by taking a shampoo stand used in the beauty field as an example. In this figure, the foam generator 1 of the present embodiment is composed of an ozone / air mixed gas generating unit 10, an ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11, and a shampoo stand (a container in the foam generating unit) 3.

The ozone / air mixed gas generating unit 10 in the present embodiment is not particularly limited as long as it is configured so that air can be mixed with ozone gas, diluted to a concentration that is not harmful to the human body, and supplied to the fine foam generating unit 18. , Various conventionally known ones can be used. For example, the known ozone skin cleaning device 30 shown in FIG. 3 can be suitably used as the ozone / air mixed gas generating unit 10.

The ozone skin cleaning device 30 shown in FIG. 3 includes an air supply unit 31, an ozone generation unit 32, an ozone dilution unit 33, an air supply amount control unit 34, and an on-off valve 35. The ozone generating unit 32 is composed of, for example, a discharge electrode, a dielectric electrode, and an external high-frequency high-voltage power source to generate ozone. The ozone diluting unit 33 mixes ozone and air and dilutes the ozone concentration to such an extent that it does not harm the human body. It is preferable that the ozone concentration can be appropriately set according to the application of the foam generator of the present embodiment. The air supply unit 31 plays a role of supplying the air used for mixing in the ozone dilution unit 33, and is configured to include, for example, an air pump or the like to take in outside air. The gas supply amount control unit 34 is configured to send a control signal to an on-off valve 35 provided in a flow path downstream of the ozone dilution unit 33 based on an appropriate setting to control the opening / closing valve 35 opening / closing valve 35.

The ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11 is for sending the ozone / air mixed gas generated by the ozone / air mixed gas generation unit 10 to the shampoo stand (foam generation unit) 3, and the valve 12 is on the way. A discharge end 11a is provided at the tip. The valve 12 can send or stop the ozone / air mixed gas to the shampoo stand 3 by opening and closing the valve 12. The opening / closing operation of the valve 12 may be manual or electric using an electric valve.

The shape of the discharge end 11a is not particularly limited as long as the ozone / air mixed gas can be discharged into the detergent solution in the shampoo stand. It may be inserted in 18, or a dedicated instrument may be provided separately. As a dedicated device, for example, a porous partition wall having an area equal to or larger than the cross-sectional area of the air supply pipe 11 is provided, and ozone / air mixed gas is discharged through a fine communication port that communicates the partition wall in the thickness direction. Those configured to be used can be preferably used. By making the ozone / air mixed gas into fine bubbles in the detergent solution in this way, the foam generation unit 18 can set a long ascent time in the detergent solution and bubble rupture as described later. There is an advantage that it becomes difficult to do.

In the present embodiment, the discharge end 11a is incorporated in the bottom of the shampoo stand 3 as a container. Here, the term "incorporated" means a state in which the discharge end 11a and the ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11 are fitted into the storage space provided at the bottom of the container and the opening penetrating inside and outside in the thickness direction of the container. However, a state in which the ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11 is fitted in the opening and the discharge end 11a is placed on the bottom surface of the container, or the discharge end 11a is not provided in the shampoo stand in particular. It also includes a state in which the ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11 is dropped and the discharge end portion 11a is submerged in the cleaning agent solution.

While the customer P is sitting on the chair C, he puts his head on the shampoo stand 3 that stores hot water containing an appropriate amount of shampoo agent, and then operates the ozone / air mixed gas generator 10 to send the hair. When bubbles of ozone / air mixed gas are ejected from the trachea 11 through the discharge end 11a into the shampoo solution 4, a large amount of bubbles 5 containing the ozone / air mixed gas are contained on the surface of the shampoo solution 4 of the shampoo stand 3. The head and hair of the user P will be exposed to a large amount of foam 5. In that state, a beautician (not shown) roughens the hair with foam 5 and massages the head of user P. By doing so, the dirt on the scalp of the user P is removed and the hair becomes smoother, and the synergistic action of ozone and the shampoo agent (cleaning agent) is brought about. In addition, by selecting the type of shampoo agent, the obtained foam can be a smooth, creamy and highly stable fine foam.

The application of the foam generator of the present invention to a shampoo stand has been described above, but in addition to this, even when the container is a sink or a bathtub, the discharge end 11a can be incorporated into the sink or the bathtub. Further, in the present embodiment, a shampoo agent is used as a cleaning agent, but in the case of a sink or a bathtub, it may be used as a cleaning agent such as dish detergent, body soap and soap.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 2 schematically shows another embodiment of the foam generator of the present invention. In this figure, the foam generator 2 of the present embodiment includes an ozone / air mixed gas generating unit 10, an ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11, a hot water supply unit 13, a cleaning agent supply unit 16, a fine foam generating unit 18, and a fine foam generator. It is mainly composed of a foam sucking portion 21. Since the ozone / air mixed gas generation unit 10 has already been described, a duplicate description will be omitted below.

The ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11 is for sending the ozone / air mixed gas generated by the ozone / air mixed gas generation unit 10 to the foam generation unit 18, and the valve 12 is in the middle and the discharge end is at the tip. 11a is provided. When the foam generator 1 of the present embodiment is operated in a batch system, the valve 12 can be opened and closed manually or electrically at the start and end of foam generation. Further, when the bubble generator 1 of the present embodiment is automatically continuously operated, the opening / closing and the opening degree may be controlled by a signal from a separately provided control unit (not shown).

The foam generation unit 18 in the present embodiment is composed of a stirring tank (container) 3 provided with a stirring blade 20 that rotates directly connected to a motor 19 (a speed reducer may be provided) as a drive source. The stirring tank 3 may be hermetically sealed or may be open at the top. The size of the stirring tank 3 can be appropriately set in consideration of the required amount of foam to be generated and the like. Further, the shape of the stirring blade 20 is not particularly limited as long as an appropriate shearing force can be applied to the detergent solution, and a known shape commonly used in a low-viscosity to medium-viscosity liquid phase can be used. Further, the rotation speed of the stirring blade can be appropriately set in the range of low speed rotation or medium speed rotation because the shearing force of the stirring blade destroys bubbles and bubbles of the ozone / air mixed gas in the cleaning agent solution.

The foam generation unit 18 extracts a part of the detergent solution from the stirring tank with or instead of rotating the stirring blade 20 that gives a shearing force to the detergent solution, and passes through a pump (not shown) to the detergent solution. A part of the above may be returned to the stirring tank in a pressurized state to give a discharge flow force. By applying shear force, discharge flow force, or both to the detergent solution in this way, the generation of fine bubbles is promoted, and the bubbles are stored on the upper surface of the detergent solution while increasing its volume.

The hot water supply unit 13 in the present embodiment has a function of heating or boiling water by a heat source provided therein. The water temperature of the water to be heated can be appropriately changed in the range of up to 100 ° C. depending on the type of the cleaning agent and whether it is a liquid or a solid. By using hot water or boiling water in this way, the cleaning agent is easily dissolved, and the foaming of the cleaning agent is quick and good.

The hot water or hot water heated by the hot water supply unit 13 is sent to the foam generation unit 18 through the hot water pipe 14. A valve 15 is provided in the middle of the hot water pipe 14, and water can be passed and shut off by opening and closing the valve 15 manually or electrically. Further, the valve 15 may control the opening degree by a control signal from a control unit (not shown) to control the amount of hot water or hot water sent to the foam generation unit 18.

The cleaning agent supply unit 16 in the present embodiment has a function of supplying a liquid or solid cleaning agent to the foam generation unit 18 at room temperature. The cleaning agent can be sent to the foam generation unit 18 through the supply path 17 after weighing. The supply path 17 is not particularly limited as long as it is a transportation means suitable for each of the cases where the cleaning agent is liquid or solid at room temperature. In addition, the cleaning agent may be supplied manually regardless of whether it is a liquid or a solid.

Examples of the cleaning agent include various conventionally known surfactants such as anionic surfactants (including soaps such as bar soap), cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and nonionic surfactants. One of these can be used depending on the properties and uses of the foam generated by the foam generator of the present embodiment. Further, two or more kinds of surfactants of the same kind or different kinds may be used in combination. By appropriately selecting the type of this cleaning agent, a large amount of smooth, creamy, and highly stable fine foam can be easily generated.

The cleaning agent supply unit 16 may supply the cleaning agent to the hot water supply unit 13 instead of the foam generation unit 18. By changing the supply destination of the cleaning agent in this way, the cleaning agent solution can be prepared in advance in the hot water supply unit 13 and the solution can be supplied to the foam generation unit 18 as the cleaning agent solution supply unit. The concentration of the detergent solution can be appropriately set according to the intended use of the foam to be generated.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, hot water or hot water is charged from the hot water supply unit 13 and the cleaning agent is charged from the cleaning agent supply unit 16 into the foam generation unit 18. The amount of liquid (height of the liquid level) at this time is the position of L of the foam generation unit 18 (stirring tank) as shown in FIG. The height L of the liquid level can be appropriately set as long as a space capable of storing an appropriate amount of generated foam can be secured.

Bubbles of the ozone / air mixed gas are continuously or intermittently released from the discharge end portion 11a arranged at the lower part of the foam generation portion 18, and the stirring blade 20 is rotated. The rotation speed of the stirring blade 20 is adjusted within the above range while observing the state of bubbles in the detergent solution and bubbles generated on the upper surface of the solution, and is set to conditions in which bubbles are likely to be generated.

The hot water supply unit 13, the cleaning agent supply unit 16, and the foam generation unit 18 may be housed in one housing depending on the purpose and amount of foam used, and are configured as separate devices. You can also do it.

The foam generator of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 can perform continuous operation or batch operation by providing a control unit (not shown). Since the cleaning agent solution decreases as the operation is continued, it is advisable to replenish the hot water and the cleaning agent from the hot water supply unit 13 and the cleaning agent supply unit 16. For replenishment of hot water and detergent, for example, a sensor such as a liquid level gauge is installed in the foam generation unit 18, a control unit (not shown) monitors changes in the liquid level, and the set lower limit of the liquid level is reached. By the way, the valve 15 of the hot water supply unit 13 is opened, hot water or hot water is charged into the foam generation unit 18 through the hot water pipe, and a predetermined amount of detergent is charged into the fine foam generation unit 18 from the detergent supply unit 16. Can be done. By incorporating such simple control, the foam generator 1 of the present embodiment can easily and automatically generate continuous foam. The control unit may be housed in the housing of 1 described above, or may be provided as a separate body.

The foam generated by the foam generation unit 18 can be appropriately extracted manually or mechanically and used for the purpose of fine foam. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the foam extraction unit 21 is provided and is configured to mechanically extract the foam. The foam extraction unit 21 may be housed in the housing of 1 described above, or may be configured as a separate device.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the foam extraction unit 21 is composed of a suction pipe 22, a valve 23 provided in the middle thereof, a suction pump 24, and a foam transport pipe 25. Although it depends on the performance of the suction pump 24 and the amount of foam generated in the foam generation unit 18, when the generation of fine foam in the fine foam generation unit 18 has progressed, the valve 23 is opened and the suction pump 24 is continuously or intermittently operated. Foam can be easily taken out by driving to. The opening / closing of the valve 23 and the operation of the suction pump 24 can also be performed via the control unit described above, for example, by manually turning on / off a switch (not shown).

As described above, the foam generator of the present invention can easily generate bubbles containing an ozone / air mixed gas with a simple facility. In addition, by selecting a cleaning agent, the foam generator of the present invention can generate smooth, creamy and highly stable fine foam. The generated foam or fine foam has a synergistically advantageous effect on both ozone and the cleaning agent, and the foam generator of the present invention is used in fields such as beauty, medical care, welfare, and food. It can also be effectively used in various manufacturing industries.

1 Foam generator 2 Foam generator (shampoo stand)
3 Container 4 Cleaning agent solution 5 Foam 10 Ozone / air mixed gas generator 11 Ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe 11a Discharge end 12 Valve 13 Hot water supply unit 14 Hot water pipe 15 Valve 16 Cleaning agent supply unit 17 Cleaning agent supply path 18 Foam Generation unit 19 Electric motor 20 Stirring blade 21 Foam extraction unit 22 Suction pipe 23 Valve 24 Suction pump 25 Foam transport pipe

Claims (8)

An ozone / air mixed gas generator that generates an ozone / air mixed gas obtained by diluting and mixing ozone gas with air.
An ozone / air mixed gas air supply pipe that has a discharge end at the tip and sends the ozone / air mixed gas.
The ozone / air mixed gas is continuously or intermittently sent out from the discharge end into the detergent solution having a temperature relatively higher than room temperature in the container to generate bubbles containing the ozone / air mixed gas. A foam generator comprising: and a foam generator configured in. The foam generator according to claim 1, wherein the discharge end portion sends out the ozone / air mixed gas as bubbles into the cleaning agent solution through a porous partition wall. The foam generator according to claim 2, wherein the discharge end portion is incorporated in the container, and the porous partition wall is exposed from the bottom surface of the container so as to be exposed in the cleaning agent solution. 6. Foam generator. The foam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a heated water supply unit that supplies hot water or hot water to the foam generation unit and a cleaning agent supply unit that supplies a cleaning agent. The foam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a cleaning agent solution supply unit that supplies a heated cleaning agent solution to the foam generation unit. The foam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising sucking out the fine bubbles from the foam generating unit by a suction pump. The foam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the container is a shampoo stand, a sink, or a bathtub.

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