JP4878821B2 - Floor-standing air sanitizer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a portable floor-standing air sterilizer that can remove airborne microbial viruses and the like.

In general, for the purpose of removing airborne microbial viruses, etc., a sterilization device has been proposed in which electrolyzed water mist is diffused in the air and this electrolyzed water mist is brought into direct contact with airborne microorganisms to inactivate viruses and the like. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-181358

However, in the sterilization apparatus described above, it is effective in a use environment where fine particulate electrolyzed water mist easily reaches, that is, in a use environment where electrolyzed water mist is difficult to reach while being effective in a relatively small space, that is, a large space. For example, there is a problem that it is difficult to exert its effect in kindergartens, elementary / middle / high schools, nursing care insurance facilities, hospitals, and the like.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a floor-mounted air sterilization apparatus that eliminates the problems of the conventional techniques described above and is capable of sterilizing a large space.

The present invention, partition the housing of the floor-mount type and below the chamber, and gas-liquid contact member disposed in Ueno chamber, an electrolytic water supply unit for dropping or permeate the electrolytic water to the gas-liquid contact member, the lower The air-liquid contact member is disposed in the chamber, and the gas-liquid contact member includes a blower fan that blows indoor air, and the indoor air sucked into the lower chamber by the blower fan from the suction port provided in the lower portion of the housing, The gas-liquid contact member disposed in the upper chamber is brought into contact with the electrolyzed water dropped or penetrated and blown out from the air outlet provided in the top of the casing. It is characterized in that it is made of any one of a resin, a PET resin, a vinyl chloride resin, a fluorine resin, a cellulose material, or a ceramic material.

In the present invention, the indoor air sucked from the suction port provided in the lower part of the casing is brought into contact with the electrolyzed water dripped or penetrated into the gas-liquid contact member and blown out from the outlet provided in the upper part of the casing. Since the structure is provided, indoor air sterilized in contact with the electrolyzed water can be blown away from the large space, and air sterilization in the large space is efficiently achieved.
In addition, since the gas-liquid contact member is formed of any one of polyolefin resin, PET resin, vinyl chloride resin, fluorine resin, cellulosic material or ceramic material, and is less reactive with electrolyzed water, Durability is improved and the service life is extended.

  In this case, the gas-liquid contact member may have a honeycomb structure. The electrolyzed water may contain active oxygen species obtained by electrolyzing tap water, and the active oxygen species may contain at least one substance selected from hypochlorous acid, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide. Further, the polarity of the electrode may be reversed periodically or irregularly under a predetermined condition.

  In the present invention, the indoor air sucked from the suction port provided in the lower part of the casing is brought into contact with the electrolyzed water dripped or penetrated into the gas-liquid contact member and blown out from the outlet provided in the upper part of the casing. Because it has a structure, it becomes possible to blow indoor air sterilized by contact with electrolyzed water far away from a large space, and air sterilization in a large space is efficiently achieved, and gas-liquid contact is achieved. The member is made of polyolefin resin, PET resin, vinyl chloride resin, fluorine resin, cellulosic material or ceramic material and is less reactive to electrolyzed water, improving the durability of gas-liquid contact members. The service life is extended.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, the code | symbol 1 shows a floor-standing type air sanitizer. This floor-mounted air sterilization apparatus 1 includes a box-shaped housing 2, which includes a leg piece 2A, a front panel 2B, and a top panel 2C, on both sides of the top panel 2C. The operation lid 2D and the opening / closing lid 2E are arranged side by side. As shown in FIG. 2, a horizontally long suction port 3 is formed in the lower portion of the housing 2, and a prefilter 3 </ b> A is disposed above the suction port 3. A blower fan 7 is disposed above the pre-filter 3A, and a gas-liquid contact member 5 having high water retention is disposed above the blower fan 7 in a brace shape as shown in FIG. A horizontally long air outlet 4 is disposed above the liquid contact member 5. Reference numeral 8 denotes a support plate for the blower fan 7, and the support plate 8 is supported by the housing 2.

  This gas-liquid contact member 5 is a filter member having a honeycomb structure, has a structure in which a wide gas contact area is ensured, electrolytic water can be dripped, and clogging is difficult. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the gas-liquid contact member 5 is formed in a honeycomb shape as a whole by joining a material 5A bent into a wave shape and a flat material 5B.

  These materials 5A and 5B include materials that are less reactive with electrolyzed water, which will be described later, in short, materials that are less susceptible to degradation by electrolyzed water, such as polyolefin resins (polyethylene resins, polypropylene resins, etc.), PET (polyethylene terephthalol). Materials such as resin, vinyl chloride resin, fluorine resin (PTFE, PFA, ETFE, etc.), cellulosic material or ceramic material are used. In this configuration, PET resin is used for these materials 5A and 5B. . Further, the gas-liquid contact member 5 is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment, and the affinity for the electrolyzed water is increased, whereby the water retention (wetability) of the electrolyzed water of the gas-liquid contact member 5 is maintained, Contact between the active oxygen species described later and room air is maintained for a long time. Furthermore, since electrolyzed water having an antifungal action is dropped on the gas-liquid contact member 5, it is not necessary to apply an antifungal agent to the gas-liquid contact member 5 as a anti-fungal measure.

  The inclination angle θ of the gas-liquid contact member 5 is desirably 30 ° or more. In the case of less than that, the dropped electrolyzed water does not flow along the inclination of the gas-liquid contact member 5 but falls downward. Further, when the inclination angle θ approaches 90 °, the air blowing path passing through the gas-liquid contact member 5 becomes nearly horizontal, and it is difficult to blow upward by that much. When this blowing direction is made close to horizontal, the blowing air cannot be blown far away, and as described later, the device is not suitable for sterilization of a large space. The inclination angle θ is preferably 80 °> θ> 30 °, more preferably 75 °> θ> 55 °, and about 57 ° in this configuration.

5A to 5C show electrolyzed water supply means for dropping electrolyzed water onto the gas-liquid contact member 5.
A water tray 9 (see FIG. 3) is disposed below the gas-liquid contact member 5 made of PET resin, and a water tank support tray 10 is connected to the water tray 9. The water supply tank support tray 10 is provided with a water supply tank 11 for supplying tap water containing chlorine ions into the support tray 10 and a circulation pump 13. An electrolytic tank 31 is connected to the circulation pump 13, and an electrolytic water supply pipe 17 is connected to the electrolytic tank 31. The electrolyzed water supply pipe 17 is configured to include a large number of water spray holes (not shown) on the outer periphery, and as shown in FIG. 5B, in the water spray box 5C formed at the upper edge of the gas-liquid contact member 5. Has been inserted.

  As shown in FIG. 5C, the electrolytic cell 31 includes three pairs of electrodes 32 and 33. When the electrodes 32 and 33 are energized, the tap water flowing into the electrolytic cell 31 is electrolyzed to generate active oxygen. Generate seeds. Here, the reactive oxygen species are oxygen molecules having an oxidation activity higher than that of normal oxygen and related substances, and so-called narrow definition such as superoxide anion, singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radical, or hydrogen peroxide. These active oxygens include so-called broadly active oxygens such as ozone and hypohalogen acids. The electrolytic cell 31 is arranged close to the gas-liquid contact member 5 and is configured to be able to immediately supply the active oxygen species generated by electrolyzing tap water to the gas-liquid contact member 5.

The electrodes 32 and 33 are, for example, electrode plates in which the base is made of Ti (titanium) and the coating layer is made of Ir (iridium) or Pt (platinum). The current value applied to the electrodes 32 and 33 is the current density. A predetermined free residual chlorine concentration (for example, 1 mg (milligram) / l (liter)) is generated as 20 mA (milliampere) / cm ² (square centimeter).

When the tap water is energized by the electrodes 32 and 33, the cathode electrode
4H ⁺ + 4e ⁻ + (4OH ⁻ ) → 2H ₂ + (4OH ⁻ )
And the anode electrode
2H ₂ O → 4H ⁺ + O ₂ + 4e ⁻
As soon as the reaction of
Chlorine ions contained in water (pre-added to tap water)
2Cl ⁻ → Cl ₂ + 2e ⁻
In addition, this Cl ₂ reacts with water,
Cl ₂ + H ₂ O → HClO + HCl
It becomes.

  In this configuration, when the electrodes 32 and 33 are energized, HClO (hypochlorous acid) having a high sterilizing power is generated, and air is passed through the gas-liquid contact member 5 to which this hypochlorous acid is supplied. The gas-liquid contact member 5 can prevent germs from breeding, and can inactivate viruses floating in the air passing through the gas-liquid contact member 5. Further, when the odor passes through the gas-liquid contact member 5, it reacts with hypochlorous acid in the electrolytic water, and is ionized and dissolved to be removed from the air and deodorized.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
In FIG. 1, when the operation lid 2D is opened, an operation panel (not shown) is faced. By operating this operation panel, the operation of the floor-type air sterilizer 1 is started. When this operation is started, the circulation pump 13 is driven with reference to FIG. 6, and the tap water accumulated in the water supply tank support tray 10 is supplied to the electrolytic cell 31.
In the electrolytic bath 31, when the electrodes 32 and 33 are energized, tap water is electrolyzed to generate electrolytic water containing active oxygen species. This electrolyzed water is sprinkled into the watering box 5C through a watering hole (not shown) of the electrolyzed water supply pipe 17, and from here it soaks into the upper edge of the gas-liquid contact member 5 and gradually toward the lower part. To penetrate.

  The surplus electrolyzed water is collected in the water tray 9 and flows into the adjacent water supply tank support tray 10 where it is stored. In this configuration, when water is circulated and the amount of water is reduced by evaporation or the like, an appropriate amount of tap water is supplied to the water supply tank support tray 10 via the water supply tank 11. When the amount of water in the water supply tank 11 decreases, the open / close lid 2E (see FIG. 1) is opened, the water supply tank 11 is taken out, and tap water is supplied.

  The air-liquid contact member 5 that has permeated with the electrolyzed water is supplied with indoor air as shown by an arrow X through the blower fan 7. The indoor air comes into contact with the active oxygen species soaked in the gas-liquid contact member 5 and is blown out into the room again. The gas-liquid contact member 5 is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment to enhance the affinity for electrolyzed water, whereby the water retention (wetability) of the electrolyzed water of the gas-liquid contact member 5 is maintained, and the indoor air Contact with active oxygen species is sustained for a long time. This reactive oxygen species has a function of destroying and eliminating (removing) the surface protein (spike) of the virus essential for infection when, for example, an influenza virus invades into the indoor air. Influenza virus and the receptor (receptor) necessary for the virus to become infected do not bind, thereby preventing infection. As a result of the verification test in collaboration with the Institute for Hygiene and Environment, it was found that 99% or more of the virus can be removed when the air invaded by the influenza virus is passed through the gas-liquid contact member 5 of this configuration.

  In the present embodiment, the indoor air sucked from the suction port 3 provided in the lower part of the housing 2 is brought into contact with the electrolyzed water dropped on the gas-liquid contact member 5, and the blower provided in the upper part of the housing 2. In order to provide a structure that blows out from the outlet 4, this floor-standing air sanitizer 1 is installed in a so-called large space such as a kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school, a nursing care insurance facility, a hospital, etc. However, indoor air sterilized in contact with the electrolyzed water can be blown away from the large space, and air sterilization in the large space can be efficiently achieved. In addition, since the gas-liquid contact member 5 is disposed in a bracing manner in the floor-standing casing 2, the depth dimension of the casing 2 becomes smaller and thinner than when it is horizontally disposed. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the gas-liquid contact member 5 is formed of PET resin and is less reactive with electrolyzed water, the durability of the gas-liquid contact member 5 is improved and its life is extended. Moreover, since electrolyzed water is a dripping type, electrolyzed water can be made to penetrate | infiltrate uniformly to the whole gas-liquid contact member 5, and it becomes possible to disinfect the air which passes here uniformly.

  In this embodiment, the electrolyzed water containing hypochlorous acid is collected in the water receiving tray 9 and flows into the adjacent water supply tank support tray 10. For this reason, miscellaneous bacteria do not occur in each dish, and generation of slime is prevented. For this reason, the frequency of cleaning and maintenance of each dish is reduced, and labor such as maintenance can be reduced.

In the above configuration, it is desirable to adjust the concentration of active oxygen species (hypochlorous acid) in the electrolytic water to a target concentration. The target concentration is normally set to a concentration that inactivates viruses or the like (for example, mold fungi) that are frequently present in the installation place (for example, school) of the floor-type air sanitizer 1. In this case, for example, the concentration of hypochlorous acid in the electrolytic water is adjusted by changing the current flowing through the electrodes 32 and 33 or the voltage applied between the electrodes 32 and 33. As an example, the concentration of hypochlorous acid can be changed to a high concentration by increasing the current flowing through the electrodes 32 and 33 (for example, 40 mA / cm ^{2 in} terms of current density). According to this, since it is only necessary to change the voltage applied to the electrode without using a new device or the like, cost reduction and space saving can be achieved.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on one Embodiment, this invention is not limited to this. For example, ozone (O ₃ ) or hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) may be generated as the active oxygen species. In this case, when a platinum tantalum electrode is used as an electrode, active oxygen species can be stably generated with high efficiency by electrolysis from water having a small ion species.
At this time, in the anode electrode,
2H ₂ O → 4H ⁺ + O ₂ + 4e ⁻
At the same time as
3H ₂ O → O ₃ + 6H ⁺ + 6e ⁻
2H ₂ O → O ₃ + 4H ⁺ + 4e ⁻
This reaction occurs and ozone (O ₃ ) is generated. In the cathode electrode,
4H ⁺ + 4e ⁻ + (4OH ⁻ ) → 2H ₂ + (4OH ⁻ )
O ₂ ⁻ + e ⁻ + 2H ⁺ → H ₂ O ₂
As in, O ₂ by the electrode reaction ^- O which is produced ₂ ^- and solution H ⁺ and are bonded in the hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂₎ is generated.

In this construction, by supplying current to the electrodes, a large ozone sterilizing power (O ₃₎ and hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂₎ is generated, these ozone (O ₃₎ and hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂₎ Electrolyzed water containing can be made. The concentration of ozone or hydrogen peroxide in the electrolyzed water is adjusted to a concentration that inactivates the target virus and the like, and air is passed through the gas-liquid contact member 5 supplied with the electrolyzed water of this concentration. It is possible to inactivate floating target viruses and the like. Further, when the odor passes through the gas-liquid contact member 5, it reacts with ozone or hydrogen peroxide in the electrolytic water, and is ionized and dissolved to be removed from the air and deodorized.

When scale is deposited on the electrode (cathode) by electrolyzing tap water, the electrical conductivity is lowered, and continuous electrolysis becomes difficult.
In this case, it is effective to reverse the polarity of the electrode (switch between positive and negative of the electrode). By electrolysis using the cathode electrode as the anode electrode, the scale deposited on the cathode electrode can be removed. In this polarity reversal control, for example, it may be reversed periodically using a timer, or may be reversed irregularly, such as reversed every time the operation is started. Further, an increase in electrolytic resistance (decrease in electrolysis current or increase in electrolysis voltage) may be detected, and the polarity may be reversed based on this result.

  In the above embodiment, the water supply system using the water supply / removal tank 11 that can be freely taken in and out is used. However, instead of the water supply tank 11, for example, a water pipe supply system that directly connects city water by connecting a water pipe may be used. Nor.

  In the above embodiment, the electrolyzed water supply means for dripping and moistening the electrolyzed water to the gas-liquid contact member 5 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Also good. In this case, although not shown in the figure, for example, a dam is provided in the water tray 9 to form an electrolyzed water retention area, the electrolyzed water is guided here, and the lower edge of the gas-liquid contact member 5 is submerged, so-called capillary phenomenon. It is good also as a structure which sucks up electrolyzed water by.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows an internal structure. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a housing | casing. It is a front view of a gas-liquid contact member. It is a systematic diagram which shows the means to dripping electrolyzed water to a gas-liquid contact member, A is a side view, B is sectional drawing of a watering box, C is a block diagram of an electrolytic cell. It is explanatory drawing of air purification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Floor-standing air sanitizer 2 Case 3 Suction inlet 4 Outlet 5 Gas-liquid contact member 7 Blower fan 9 Water receiving tray 10 Water supply tank support tray 11 Water supply tank 13 Circulation pump 31 Electrolysis tank 32, 33 Electrode

Claims (5)

The floor-mounted housing is partitioned into upper and lower chambers, a gas-liquid contact member placed in the upper chamber , electrolyzed water supply means for dropping or permeating electrolyzed water into this gas-liquid contact member, and placed in the lower chamber It is, and a blower fan for blowing indoor air to the gas-liquid contact member, indoor air sucked into the chamber below the blower fan through the suction port provided at a lower portion of the housing, the Ueno chamber The gas-liquid contact member is brought into contact with the electrolyzed water dripped or penetrated into the gas-liquid contact member, and is blown out from the air outlet provided at the top of the casing. A floor-standing air sterilizer characterized by being formed of any one of resin, vinyl chloride resin, fluorine-based resin, cellulose-based material, or ceramic-based material.   The floor-standing air sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the gas-liquid contact member is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment.   The floor-standing air sterilizer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gas-liquid contact member has a honeycomb structure.   The electrolyzed water contains active oxygen species obtained by electrolyzing tap water, and the active oxygen species contains at least one substance selected from hypochlorous acid, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide. 4. The floor-standing air sanitizer according to any one of 3 to 3.   The floor-standing air sterilizer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the polarity of the electrode is reversed periodically or irregularly under a predetermined condition.

Images