JP3342095B2 - Ultrasonic spray device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic spray device used for a humidifier for adjusting humidity in a room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic atomizer having a structure in which a perforated vibration plate is fixed to a rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric vibrator and having an ultrasonic exciter has been applied for a patent by Japanese Patent Application No. 2-273001.
In addition, a simple structure for supplying a liquid to the ultrasonic atomizer was filed on April 22, 1991 under the name of "ultrasonic color organ" (Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 3-11919).
1). When supplying the liquid to the ultrasonic atomizer in the “ultrasonic color organ” filed on April 22, 1991, a liquid retaining material is used as a means for supplying the liquid to the diaphragm. . That is, a liquid holding material containing a liquid is brought into contact with a diaphragm, and the diaphragm is vibrated to atomize the liquid. In such a conventional atomizing device,
It is necessary to bring the liquid into contact with the diaphragm and to continuously supply the liquid without inhibiting the vibration of the diaphragm. The contact load between the diaphragm and the liquid retaining material greatly affects the atomization function.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of a relationship between a diaphragm and a liquid retaining material in a conventional atomizing apparatus. This is an example in which the liquid retaining material pushes up the diaphragm. In such a case, the amount of atomization is reduced, and if left unattended, this may cause separation between the piezoelectric vibrator and the diaphragm.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the relationship between a diaphragm and a liquid retaining material in a conventional atomizing apparatus. This is an example in which the liquid retaining material is not in contact with the diaphragm. In such a case, the distance between the diaphragm and the liquid retaining material may be too large to form a liquid film. If a liquid film is not formed, atomization cannot be performed.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a conventional atomizing device. In order to achieve the maximum atomization efficiency by adjusting the degree of contact between the diaphragm and the liquid retaining material, the positional relationship is adjusted by adjusting the dimensions of each part of the diaphragm or deforming the liquid retaining material. Accuracy was secured. Therefore, in view of production technology, mass production required a long time. In addition, it is difficult to maintain a uniform contact relationship between the diaphragm and the liquid-retaining material even after long-time operation, and when using for a long time, fine-tune the contact relationship between the diaphragm and the liquid-retaining material. Needed. That is, there was a problem in durability.

[0006]

The conventional ultrasonic atomizer has a problem in durability, and requires a long time for mass production in terms of production technology.

An object of the present invention is to realize stable atomization by always keeping the degree of contact between the diaphragm and the liquid retaining material constant.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic spraying device that improves the durability of the device and enables mass production without requiring long-term labor.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic spraying apparatus, wherein a sponge, a fiber bundle or another hydrophilic liquid retaining material is brought into contact with a perforated diaphragm fixed to a piezoelectric vibrator. In an ultrasonic spraying device for atomizing a liquid from a plate, the liquid retaining material has a liquid absorbing end and an atomizing end, the liquid absorbing end is immersed in a supply source of the liquid, and the atomizing end is loaded. The liquid contacted with the vibration plate by the adding means, and the liquid sucked up from the liquid suction end appears on the surface of the atomization end and comes into contact with the vibration plate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic spray device is characterized in that the load applying means comprises a compression coil spring, a plate spring or another spring.

[0010]

The ultrasonic spray device of the present invention employs a structure in which the atomizing end of the liquid retaining material is brought into contact with the diaphragm by a load applying means. The liquid retaining material has a liquid absorbing end for absorbing liquid and an atomizing end for supplying the liquid sucked up by the liquid absorbing end to the diaphragm. The atomizing end needs to supply the liquid to the diaphragm efficiently. Therefore, it is necessary to always generate a stable liquid film between the diaphragm and the atomizing end, and it is necessary to adjust the degree of contact between the diaphragm and the atomizing end, the contact area, and the like. In the ultrasonic spraying device of the present invention, a compression coil spring, a plate spring and other springs are used as load applying means. Therefore, since the atomizing end is always in contact with the diaphragm with a constant load, the degree of contact between the diaphragm and the atomizing end is always stable. In this way, it is possible to withstand changes in the environment due to continuous use for a long time without the need for difficult and troublesome adjustment, and thus it is possible to always achieve stable spraying.
In addition, from a production technology perspective, it is possible to overcome variations in each device in each device and to overcome variations at the time of component replacement, thus facilitating mass production. Become.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of an ultrasonic spraying device according to the present invention. This embodiment includes a system unit 1, a spring 2, a nozzle 3, a liquid retaining material 4, a liquid storage chamber 5, a housing 6, a cover 7, and a battery 8. The system unit 1 includes a piezoelectric vibrator 9, a diaphragm 10 and a drive circuit 11, which are housed in a case 12. During use, the liquid storage chamber 5 is filled with liquid, and substantially the lower half of the liquid retaining material 4 is immersed in the liquid. The liquid retaining material 4 is made of acetate fiber or the like.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the system unit 1. The diaphragm 10 contacts the liquid retaining material 4 on its lower surface. The diaphragm 10 has a large number of minute through holes 13. The shape of the through hole 13 is a mortar shape. The diameter of one opening is 100 μm, the other is 10 μm, and 14
They are arranged at equal intervals of 0 μm.

When the ultrasonic atomizer of FIG. 1 is driven, when an AC signal having a frequency substantially equal to the resonance frequency of the composite of the piezoelectric vibrator 9 and the vibration plate 10 is applied to the piezoelectric vibrator 9, the piezoelectric vibrator 9 is driven. Excited. At this time, the frequency of the AC signal substantially matches one of the resonance frequencies of the piezoelectric vibrator 9 alone. Since a structure is adopted in which the vibration plate 10 is integrally connected and fixed to at least one end face of the piezoelectric vibrator 9, the vibration plate 10 vibrates with the piezoelectric vibrator 9 with the excitation of the piezoelectric vibrator 9. The vibrator is vibrated in such a manner that the fixed portion with the plate 10 is a fixed end. The diaphragm 10 is always in contact with the liquid retaining material 4 with a constant load due to the pressure of the spring 2. The constant load is set within a limit load that impairs the atomizing function. That is, the system unit 1 is set such that the position of the center of gravity becomes the suspension fulcrum. The pressure f1 of the spring 2 is such that the required load f2 applied to the diaphragm 10 is f2 =
The value is set to satisfy the relationship of Af1 / B.
Here, A is the distance between the suspension branch and the spring 2, B is
Indicates the distance between the suspension branch and the liquid retaining material 4. Diaphragm 10
When the liquid is supplied from the liquid retaining material 4, the liquid is guided to the through-hole 13 provided in the diaphragm 10 by capillary action.
The liquid becomes fine and uniform particles and flows out to the exit side of the through-hole 13, and is atomized efficiently.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the ultrasonic spraying device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a piezoelectric vibrator 9, a vibration plate 10, a liquid retaining material 4, a spring 2, and a guide pipe 1 are provided.
4. It comprises a fall prevention guide 15 and a liquid storage tank 16. The guide pipe 14 is fixed to the liquid retaining material 4, and the liquid for atomization is sucked up from the lower end of the liquid retaining material 4. Guide pipe 1
4 and the fall prevention guide 15 are adjacent to each other with a small gap. The two ends of the spring 2 contact the bottom of the liquid storage tank 16 and the lower end of the guide pipe 14, respectively.
The liquid retaining material 4 is pushed up. As a result, the liquid retaining material 4 comes into contact with the diaphragm 10. At this time, the pressure of the spring 2 is set so that the liquid retaining material 4 always contacts the diaphragm 10 with a constant load.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the ultrasonic spraying device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a piezoelectric vibrator 9, a vibration plate 10, a liquid retaining material 4, a spring 2, and a fall prevention guide 1 are provided.
5, comprising a storage tank 16 and a guide pipe 17. The guide pipe 17 is fixed to the liquid retaining material 4, and the liquid for atomization is sucked up from the lower end of the liquid retaining material 4. Guide pipe 17
And the fall prevention guide 15 are adjacent to each other with a minute gap therebetween. Each end of the spring 2 is provided with a fall prevention guide 15
The liquid retaining material 4 is pushed up by contacting the upper part of the upper part and the upper part of the guide pipe 17. As a result, the liquid retaining material 4
And the diaphragm 10 come into contact with each other. At this time, the pressure of the spring 2 is set so that the liquid retaining material 4 always contacts the diaphragm 10 with a constant load. If the ultrasonic spraying device of FIG. 4 is used, it is possible to spray all the liquid in the liquid storage tank 16.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the load of the spring 2 and the spray amount in the ultrasonic spray device shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. However, in FIG. 5, the load and the spray amount each indicate a normalized value. The "permissible range" shown in FIG. 5 indicates the allowable range of the load of the spring 2 which is most suitable for maximizing the atomization efficiency, and the black circles indicate actual measured values for the spring 2 shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. . By adding the spring 2 to the liquid supply structure, errors such as positional accuracy of the diaphragm 10 and dimensional accuracy of the liquid retaining material 4 are absorbed by the spring 2. Therefore, the atomization efficiency can be improved without inhibiting the vibration of the diaphragm 10.

[0017]

According to the ultrasonic spraying device of the present invention, the liquid retaining material can be brought into contact with the diaphragm with a constant load by using a compression coil spring, a plate spring and other springs. , The liquid supply capacity can be maintained. Therefore, there is no need for precise adjustment of the dimensions of the diaphragm, fine adjustment of the positional relationship between the liquid retaining material and the diaphragm, and furthermore, it can withstand environmental changes due to continuous use for a long time. Thus, it is possible to provide a spraying device that can always realize stable spraying. In addition, from the viewpoint of production technology, it is possible to overcome variations between devices in each device, and also to overcome variations during component replacement.
Mass production can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of an ultrasonic spraying device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a system unit 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the ultrasonic spray device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the ultrasonic spraying device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a load of a spring 2 and a spray amount in the ultrasonic spray device shown in FIG. 3 or FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of a relationship between a diaphragm and a liquid retaining material in a conventional atomizing device.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the relationship between the diaphragm and the liquid retaining material in the conventional atomizing device.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a conventional atomizing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 System unit 2 Spring 3 Nozzle 4 Liquid retaining material 5 Liquid storage room 6 Housing 7 Cover 8 Battery 9 Piezoelectric vibrator 10 Diaphragm 11 Drive circuit 12 Case 13 Through hole 14 Guide pipe 15 Fall prevention guide 16 Storage tank 17 Guide pipe

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masaki Shimizu 6-13-11 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Mikuni Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoru Inoue 6-13-11 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Shares (72) Inventor Koji Toda 1-49-18, Futaba, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture (56) References JP-A-4-322290 (JP, A) JP-A-63-252569 (JP, A) (58) ) Surveyed field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B05B 17/06 F24F 6/12

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ultrasonic spraying device for atomizing a liquid from a vibrating plate by bringing a sponge, a fiber bundle, or another hydrophilic liquid retaining material into contact with a perforated vibrating plate fixed to a piezoelectric vibrator. The material has a liquid-absorbing end and an atomizing end. The liquid-absorbing end is immersed in the supply source of the liquid, the atomizing end comes into contact with the diaphragm by a load applying means, and is sucked up from the liquid-absorbing end. The ultrasonic spray device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is exposed on a surface of the atomizing end and comes into contact with the diaphragm. 2. The ultrasonic spraying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said load applying means comprises a compression coil spring, a plate spring, or another spring.