JP4595348B2 - Electrostatic atomizer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrostatic atomizer.

  Conventionally, as an electrostatic atomizer, as shown in FIG. 5, the liquid accumulated in the liquid reservoir 1 is conveyed by a capillary phenomenon in a conveyance unit 2 made of a porous material, and the liquid application electrode 4 is conveyed by a voltage application unit 6. There is known a technique in which a high voltage is applied between the electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3 to charge and atomize the liquid transported by the transport unit 2 (see, for example, Patent Document 1). FIGS. 6A and 6B show the transport unit 2 of the electrostatic atomizer. 6 in FIG. 6 indicates a needle-like atomization unit formed at the center (central portion in plan view) of the upper end of the transport unit 2, and the curved arrow in the transport unit 2 indicates an example of a liquid transport path. .

In the conventional use of electrostatic atomization, water was sprayed and the indoor air and the deposits on the indoor wall surface were deodorized by nano-sized mist with active species (hydroxy radical, superoxycide, etc.) . In that case, immediately after putting the liquid into the liquid reservoir, the transport unit 2 sucks the liquid in the liquid reservoir from the outer surface such as the lower end surface or the outer peripheral surface by capillary action and transports it to the needle-like atomizing unit 9. It takes a long time for the needle-like atomization section 9 to rise until it is atomized, and it has been desired to increase the liquid transport speed in the transport section 2.
Japanese Patent No. 3260150

  The present invention was invented in view of the above-described conventional problems, and the object of the present invention is that the transport unit sucks the liquid from the outer surface and quickly transports it to the central part where the liquid is atomized. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrostatic atomizer that can be used.

In order to solve the above problems, an electrostatic atomizer according to the present invention includes a transport unit 2 that transports liquid from a liquid reservoir 1 and a counter electrode that is disposed so as to face the liquid transport direction of the transport unit 2. 3, a liquid application electrode 4 for applying a voltage to the liquid in the path from the liquid reservoir 1 to the counter electrode side tip of the transport unit 2, and a high voltage between the liquid application electrode 4 and the counter electrode 3. In the electrostatic atomizer having the voltage applying unit 6 to be applied, the transport unit 2 is provided with a hole 5 that opens outward from the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit 2 and extends from the outer peripheral surface toward the center. It is a feature. With such a configuration, the liquid is rapidly transported from the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit 2 to the center direction through the hole 5 formed in the transport unit 2 toward the center, and is located at the center of the transport unit 2. The liquid is quickly transported to the electrostatic atomization unit 9 and the atomization that does not take time to rise is possible.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the hole 5 is formed from the vicinity of the upper end portion of the transport portion 2 to the vicinity of the lower end portion thereof. With this configuration, in addition to the liquid being rapidly conveyed from the outer peripheral surface of the conveying unit 2 toward the center through the hole 5, the liquid is sucked up and linearly rises and quickly rises to the upper end. It is possible to reach the needle-like atomization portion 9 at the center of the head, and it is possible to rise even faster.

  The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, a plurality of holes 5 are provided symmetrically with respect to the central axis of the transport section 2 in plan view. By setting it as such a structure, the efficiency of electrostatic atomization improves further.

In the present invention, the liquid is quickly transported from the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit toward the center by the hole formed in the transport unit, and the liquid is transported quickly to the electrostatic atomization unit at the center of the transport unit. Atomization with quick rise is possible.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the electrostatic atomizer includes a liquid reservoir portion 1, a rod-shaped transport portion 2 made of a plurality of porous materials whose lower ends are immersed in a liquid placed in the liquid reservoir portion 1, and The liquid application electrode 4 for holding the conveyance unit 2 and applying a voltage to the liquid, and held by a holding unit 12 made of an insulator, are opposed to the distal ends of the plurality of rod-shaped conveyance units 2. The counter electrode 3 is provided with a counter electrode 3 and a voltage applying unit 6 for applying a high voltage between the liquid applying electrode 4 and the counter electrode 3. Both the counter electrode 3 and the liquid applying electrode 4 are carbon. It is made of a synthetic resin mixed with a conductive material such as, or a metal such as SUS.

  The transport unit 2 is formed of a porous material in a rod shape, and in this embodiment, the transport unit 2 is made of ceramic particles having a particle size of 2 to 500 μm, and the pores in the gaps are arranged in an open cell shape with 1 to 250 μm. It is formed. The central portion (center portion in plan view) of the upper end portion of the transport unit 2 is a needle-shaped atomizing unit 9 that is pointed like a needle, and a plurality of, in the illustrated example, six rod-shaped transport units 2 are applied with liquid. It is attached to the electrode 4. The plurality of rod-shaped transport units 2 are arranged at equal intervals on a concentric circle centered on the center 10 of the liquid application electrode 4, and the upper part of each transport unit 2 projects above the liquid application electrode 4, The lower part protrudes downward from the liquid application electrode 4 so as to come into contact with the liquid stored in the liquid reservoir 1.

  The counter electrode 3 has an opening 11 in the center, and the edge of the opening 11 has the same diameter centered on each needle-like atomizing section 9 at the upper end of the plurality of transport sections 2 when viewed from above. A plurality of arcs R are smoothly connected. The counter electrode 3 is grounded, the voltage application unit 6 is connected to the liquid application electrode 4 to apply a high voltage, and the transport unit 2 formed of a porous material is put in the liquid reservoir 1 by capillary action. When sucking in the liquid, the needle-like atomizing section 9 at the upper end of the transport section 2 functions as a substantial electrode on the liquid application electrode 4 side, and the arc R of the counter electrode 3 functions as a substantial electrode. Is. The voltage application unit 6 is preferably one that can provide an electrolytic strength of 500 V / mm or more, particularly 700 to 1200 V / mm.

  Then, by applying a high voltage between the conveying unit 4 and the counter electrode 3 by the voltage applying unit 6, the liquid at the tip of the conveying unit 4 is charged and atomized by the high voltage to generate nano-sized mist. The nano-sized mist generated in this way contains active species, and the nano-sized mist containing the active species is generated by, for example, the nano-sized mist containing the active species when delivered to the room. It is possible to remove the odor adhering to the indoor wall surface.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is characterized in that a hole 5 is provided in the transport unit 2 from the outer peripheral surface toward the center.

That is, in the case where the hole 5 directed from the outer peripheral surface toward the center direction is not provided in the transport unit 2 as in the prior art, as shown by an arrow in FIG. It will move randomly within the pores connected in the form of open cells, and it takes time for the liquid to first reach the needle-like atomization section 9 at the center of the upper end of the transport section 2 especially at the time of rising. In this application, since the inside of the hole 5 directed in the center direction from the outer peripheral surface is formed in the transport unit 2, the movement of the liquid from the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit 2 to the central portion becomes faster, and the needle-like atomization in the central portion It is possible to reach the section 9 faster than in the prior art, and this enables atomization that does not take time to rise.

  In particular, when the hole 5 that extends from the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit 2 toward the center direction is formed, that is, when the hole 5 opens outward from the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit 2, the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit 2 The liquid in contact with the liquid is sucked from the opening by capillary action, so that the liquid toward the center of the transport unit 2 can be transported more efficiently (many liquids can be quickly transported).

  Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the hole 5 is formed from the vicinity of the upper end or upper end of the transport unit 2 to the vicinity of the lower end or lower end. Here, the suction of the liquid by the hole 5 will be described. In order to suck up the liquid up to a predetermined height h (m) through the hole 5, the width of the hole 5 in the horizontal section may be set to d (m) shown in (Expression 1).

d = 2 · σ · cos θ / (h · g · ρ) (Expression 1)
In (Equation 1), σ (N / m) is the surface tension coefficient, θ (deg) is the contact angle, g (m / s2) is the gravitational acceleration, and ρ (kg / m3) is the liquid Density. The liquid is sucked higher than the predetermined height h (m) by setting the width in the horizontal section of the hole 5 to be equal to or less than d (m). However, if the width is reduced, the transport area (that is, the transport amount) is reduced. It is preferable to set it to about d (m). At this time, in addition to the liquid being rapidly transported from the outer peripheral surface of the transport unit 2 toward the center through the hole 5, the liquid is sucked up and rises linearly, and the needle-like shape at the center of the upper end is quickly formed. The atomization unit 9 can be reached, and even faster rise is possible.

Further, as can be seen from (Equation 1), the width d (m) in the horizontal cross section of the optimum hole 5 is an amount σ (N / m), θ (deg), ρ (kg / m ³ ) depending on the liquid. ), That is, it depends on the liquid. Therefore, when a plurality of types of liquids are used, a plurality of types of holes 5 having different widths may be provided in advance so that there is a hole 5 having an optimal or near optimal width for each liquid. By doing in this way, even when using liquids, such as various aroma oils from which viscosity differs, a liquid will be conveyed quickly.

  Next, still another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a plurality of holes 5 are provided symmetrically with respect to the central axis of the transport unit 2 in plan view. By doing so, the liquid can be transported in the central direction by the plurality of holes 5 as shown in FIG. 4, and even when the transport of the liquid is slow in some holes 5, the liquid is transported quickly in the other holes 5. This makes it possible to efficiently transport the liquid to the central portion of the transport unit 2 and further improve the efficiency of electrostatic atomization.

One Embodiment of the conveyance part of the electrostatic atomizer of this invention is shown, (a) is a plane sectional view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a side view. Other embodiment of a conveyance part same as the above is shown, (a) is a plane sectional view, and (b) is a front view. Still another embodiment of the same transport unit is shown, (a) is a plan sectional view, (b) is a front view. It is explanatory drawing of the movement of the liquid in the same as the above. It is a disassembled perspective view of an electrostatic atomizer. The conveyance part of the conventional electrostatic atomizer is shown, (a) is a plane sectional view, (b) is a longitudinal section.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid storage part 2 Conveyance part 3 Counter electrode 4 Liquid application electrode 5 Hole 6 Voltage application part

Claims (3)

A voltage is applied to the liquid in the path extending from the liquid reservoir to the counter electrode side of the transport unit, the counter electrode disposed so as to oppose the liquid transport direction by the transport unit, and the transport electrode. In an electrostatic atomizer having a liquid application electrode for applying a voltage, and a voltage application unit for applying a high voltage between the liquid application electrode and the counter electrode, the transfer unit is disposed outside the outer peripheral surface of the transfer unit. An electrostatic atomizer characterized by comprising a hole that opens in the direction toward the center from the outer peripheral surface .   The electrostatic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the hole is formed from the vicinity of the upper end portion to the vicinity of the lower end portion of the transport section.   The electrostatic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of holes are provided symmetrically with respect to the central axis of the transport unit in plan view.

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