JP7053191B2 - Ozone generator and UV irradiation device - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act The ozone generator was released at the 27th Finetech Japan held at Tokyo Big Sight on April 5, 2017.

The present invention relates to an ozone generator that generates ozone by ultraviolet rays emitted from a light source such as an excimer lamp.

An ozone generator that generates ozone by irradiating ultraviolet rays with an excimer lamp or the like is known. Since ozone has a sterilizing and sterilizing effect, the ozone generator can be configured as a deodorizer and a sterilizer.

For example, there is known a deodorizer in which an ozonizer is arranged in a cylindrical casing and an air fan is installed below the ozonizer. When outside air is sucked into the casing by an air fan, ozone is generated inside the casing by electric discharge. The generated ozone is released from the discharge port provided in the upper part of the case, whereby the odorous component is decomposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2015-29795

While the ozone generator such as a deodorizer is operating, it is housed inside the case even when the lamp is lit, so the operating state cannot be confirmed from the outside of the case. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a lighting indicator in the ozone generator to check it by the user, or to go to the side of the device to check whether it is in operation.

However, since ozone itself affects the human body, it is not preferable for the user to approach the ozone generator, and it is necessary to check the operating state of the ozone generator at a certain distance. In that case, even if an indicator or the like is provided, it is difficult to confirm whether or not it is operating depending on the lighting environment or the like.

Therefore, it is required that the operating state of the ozone generator can be easily confirmed even at a remote place.

The ozone generator of the present invention includes an excimer lamp that emits ultraviolet rays by discharge, and a housing that houses the excimer lamp and partitions an internal space that radiates ultraviolet rays for ozone generation. A window that transmits visible light emitted from the excimer lamp is formed.

The "internal space" here refers to at least a part of the space inside the device when it is divided into the outside of the device and the inside of the device by a housing, and indicates a space that generates ozone used for sterilization, deodorization, and the like. .. For example, in the case of a deodorizer or the like, the excimer lamp may be arranged along the direction in which the ozone generated in the internal space flows, and the generated ozone may be discharged from the housing to the outside.

The position, shape, size, etc. of the window can be arbitrarily formed. For example, when visible light is emitted from the discharge generation region, the discharge generation region may be formed at a visible position. Considering that the excimer lamp forms a window according to the mounting state inside the housing to improve visibility, it may be formed on the surface along the vertical direction of the housing. For example, in the case of a tubular housing in which both ends are installed along the vertical direction, it can be formed on the side surface of the housing.

Considering that the entire discharge generation area of the excimer lamps arranged along the vertical direction can be visually recognized, the vertical length of the window can be set to be more than half of the vertical length of the housing. It is possible. When the excimer lamp is installed horizontally, the horizontal length of the window can be more than half the horizontal length of the housing.

The window can be configured to include an optical member that reflects at least a part of visible light from the outside of the housing from the viewpoint of aesthetics when the lamp is turned off.

Excimer lamps can be configured to emit ultraviolet light by local discharge. Further, the excimer lamp can emit visible light having a spectral intensity smaller than that of ultraviolet rays together with ultraviolet rays.

The wavelength range of visible light emitted from the excimer lamp can be set to include at least one of the wavelength ranges of 400 nm to 450 nm and 500 nm to 650 nm. For example, it is possible to emit visible light having a wavelength in the vicinity of 545 nm.

The ultraviolet irradiation device according to another aspect of the present invention includes a housing that partitions an internal space for radiating ultraviolet rays by the excimer lamp, and the local discharge generated in the excimer lamp is visible from the excimer lamp in the housing. A window is formed that allows the emitted visible light to pass through.

According to the present invention, the operating state of the ozone generator or the like can be reliably confirmed with a simple configuration.

It is a schematic perspective view of an ozone generator. It is a schematic plan view of an ozone generator. It is a figure which showed the local discharge of an excimer lamp. It is a schematic perspective view of the ozone generation apparatus in 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ozone generator. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the ozone generator.

The ozone generator 100 is configured here as a deodorizer, and has a configuration in which excimer lamps 30 and 40 that irradiate ultraviolet rays are arranged inside the housing 10. The housing 10 includes a tubular side surface 10S and a disk-shaped ceiling surface 10U that covers the upper end of the side surface 10S, and a slit-shaped opening 10K for sucking external air is horizontally provided on the side surface 10S. An annular opening 10T for ozone emission is formed in the gap between the side surface 10S and the ceiling surface 10U, while being formed along the entire circumferential direction.

Inside the housing 10, along with the excimer lamps 30 and 40, a lamp power supply unit 50 and a blower fan (axial flow fan) 60 are provided below the excimer lamps 30 and 40 along the central axis X of the housing 10. .. The air that has entered the internal space 10R in the housing 10 from the opening 10K rises in the direction of the ceiling surface 10U by the blower fan 60.

When the excimer lamps 30 and 40 irradiate with ultraviolet rays, the ultraviolet rays hit the air flowing through the internal space 10R, and ozone is generated by this. The generated ozone is discharged from the opening 10T to the outside of the device by the blower fan 60 (see the arrow in FIG. 2). The emitted ozone decomposes an odorous component that causes an odor with respect to the surroundings of the ozone generator 100.

The excimer lamps 30 and 40 include quartz tubes 32 and 42 made of quartz glass, and inside the quartz tubes 32 and 42, inner electrodes (not shown) extending along the tube axis are arranged. The inner electrode is covered with a columnar dielectric (quartz glass) and is embedded in the dielectric without being exposed to the discharge space. The outer electrodes (not shown) arranged on the outer surfaces of the quartz tubes 32 and 42 are arranged along the tube axis. A feeder line (not shown) connected to the end of the inner electrode is connected to the lamp power supply unit 50, and power is supplied to the excimer lamps 30 and 40 via the feeder line. A dielectric barrier discharge is generated between the inner electrode and the outer electrode, and ultraviolet rays having a predetermined spectrum (for example, 172 nm) are emitted.

The excimer lamps 30 and 40 are arranged along the housing central axis X, and are provided with covers 34 and 44 arranged on both sides thereof, respectively, and a feeding line (not shown) is provided in the covers 34 and 44. There is. The excimer lamps 30 and 40 are arranged at positions rotationally symmetric with respect to the housing central axis X, and the arrangement positions along the central axis X are also the same.

The side surface 10S is provided with an operation surface 10M provided with a timer switch button 20S1, an ozone concentration adjustment dial 20S2, and a power button 20S3, and two windows 10W1 and 10W2 are provided with the operation surface 10M interposed therebetween. The windows 10W1 and 10W2 form a part of the side surface 10S extending to a surface of the same size on the opposite side of the operation surface 10M, have the same circumferential width, and are arranged symmetrically with respect to the central axis X. ing.

The windows 10W1 and 10W2 face the excimer lamps 30 and 40, respectively, and the length along the central axis X (vertical direction) is longer than the quartz tubes 32 and 42 of the excimer lamps 30 and 40. Further, the horizontal (circumferential) length of the windows 10W1 and 10W2 is set to be at least half the horizontal (circumferential) length of the housing 10. The windows 10W1 and 10W2 are molded of an acrylic resin here, and have a light transmitting property of transmitting visible light. For example, it can have a light transmission characteristic that transmits 80% or more of visible light of 400 nm or more.

On the other hand, in consideration of suppressing the emission of ultraviolet rays to the outside of the ozone generator 100 through the windows 10W1 and 10W2, it is recommended to lower the transparency for light having a wavelength shorter than 400 nm (ultraviolet region). good. When the excimer lamps 30 and 40 that emit strong ultraviolet rays such as 172 nm are used, the wavelength of 172 nm is strongly absorbed by oxygen and the radiation distance is shortened, so that the windows do not reach the windows 10W1 and 10W2. Therefore, the materials of the windows 10W1 and 10W2 are not particularly limited, and it is not necessary to use expensive synthetic quartz glass or the like.

Further, a beam splitter (mirror glass) is formed on the inner surface of the windows 10W1 and 10W2. As a result, visible light can travel from the internal space 10R of the ozone generator 100 to the outside through the windows 10W1 and 10W2, while the visible light outside the ozone generator 100 (outside the housing 10) is the window 10W1. It reflects at 10W2.

The excimer lamps 30 and 40 of the present embodiment generate a local discharge and emit ultraviolet light and visible light almost at the same time. Specifically, visible light in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 800 nm is emitted together with ultraviolet rays of 172 nm. This will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of local discharge of the excimer lamp 30. As an example of local discharge, when a dielectric barrier discharge is generated in the quartz tube 32 of the excimer lamp 30, a fine discharge is locally generated along the radial direction of the discharge space (fine discharge). In the local discharge, the discharge state is such that the generation and disappearance are repeated instantaneously, and the discharge gas emits excimer light to radiate ultraviolet rays of 172 nm. Quartz tubes, electrodes, discharge space pressure (filled gas pressure), frequency of applied voltage, etc. are defined to cause local discharge.

At the same time, visible light is emitted from the excimer lamps 30 and 40. Radiation of visible light is realized by forming a discharge tube with quartz tubes 32, 42, etc., and appropriately adjusting the type of the quartz tube, heat treatment conditions, the type of discharged gas to be enclosed, the wavelength of the emitted ultraviolet rays, and the like. To. In addition, these adjustments can emit visible light in different wavelength ranges.

For example, excimer lamps 30 and 40 can emit visible light in a wavelength range of 400 nm to 450 nm and a wavelength range of 500 nm to 650 nm, and reddish-purple light is emitted by light in a blue and green to red wavelength range. Be radiated. The excimer lamps 30 and 40 can also emit greenish light having a wavelength in the vicinity of 545 nm. In order not to reduce the luminous efficiency of ultraviolet rays, the maximum spectral intensity of visible light is suppressed to about 20% or less of the emission spectral intensity of ultraviolet rays of 172 nm.

FIG. 3 is an example showing the state of local discharge, and does not limit the discharge shape. As shown in FIG. 3, the configuration may be such that a fine discharge and a biased discharge DL coexist. For example, as a configuration for generating a local discharge, a configuration in which a flat plate-shaped electrode is in line contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the quartz tubes 32 and 42 can be adopted. In this configuration, as an example of local discharge, when a dielectric barrier discharge is generated in the quartz tube 32 of the excimer lamp 30, the discharge DL biased to the side of an electrode (not shown) arranged along the quartz tube 32. Occurs.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 10 forms an internal space 10R which is a space for radiating ultraviolet rays by excimer lamps 30 and 40 for ozone generation, while windows 10W1 and 10W2 are provided. , Visible light emitted from the excimer lamps 30 and 40 is emitted to the outside of the apparatus through the windows 10W1 and 10W2.

As a result, the user can visually recognize the discharge of the excimer lamps 30 and 40, and the excimer lamps 30 and 40 are in the lit state, that is, the ozone generator 100 is operating from around the ozone generator 100. It can be visually recognized at a remote location.

Further, since the visible light emitted from the excimer lamps 30 and 40 is emitted from the windows 10W1 and 10W2 on the side surface 10S of the housing 10 and having a surface area of more than half, the user can use the excimer lamps 30 and 40, respectively. You can check the lighting status of the light from any direction. In particular, since the windows 10W1 and 10W2 have a size larger than the size of the quartz tubes 32 and 42, the user can visually recognize the entire discharge region of the excimer lamps 30 and 40.

Since the lighting state can be confirmed without approaching the ozone generator 100, the user does not have to be affected by ozone. In addition, it is not necessary to provide a structure having poor visibility and cost, such as separately providing an indicator indicating the lighting state.

As described above, the excimer lamps 30 and 40 can be configured to irradiate light in a short wavelength region corresponding to blue and a long wavelength region from green to red. Therefore, even in a situation where the indoor lighting in which the ozone generator 100 is installed is relatively bright and visible light having a relatively low spectral intensity is emitted, the user can visually recognize the lighting state. In particular, visibility can be improved by irradiating light corresponding to green, which has high visual sensitivity.

Further, since the excimer lamps 30 and 40 are locally discharged, the contrast is high and the visibility is good. In particular, minute discharges that repeatedly occur and disappear momentarily are easily noticeable, further enhancing visibility. On the other hand, since the beam splitter is formed on the inner surface of the windows 10W1 and 10W2, the lamp lighting state can be confirmed even when the illumination around the ozone generator 100 is strong. On the contrary, when the excimer lamps 30 and 40 are not lit, the excimer lamps 30 and 40 (internal space 10R) cannot be visually recognized (difficult to see) from the outside of the apparatus. Therefore, when the excimer lamps 30 and 40 are turned off, the appearance of the ozone generator 100 is not spoiled.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the ozone generator 100 in which the excimer lamps 30 and 40 are arranged in the tubular housing 10 and the blower fan 60 is provided below the excimer lamps 30 and 40, the window 10W1 is placed on the side surface 10S of the housing 10. 10W2 is provided. When the excimer lamps 30 and 40 irradiate ultraviolet rays by electric discharge, ozone is generated in the internal space 10R of the housing 10, and the visible light radiated from the excimer lamps 30 and 40 together with the ultraviolet rays is transmitted through the windows 10W1 and 10W2. do.

Next, the ozone generator according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the size of the window depends on the size of the excimer lamp.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the ozone generator according to the second embodiment.

The ozone generator 1000 includes a housing 100 having a side surface 100S and a ceiling surface 100U, and an excimer lamp 130. On the side surface 100S, a slit-shaped opening 100K for sucking external air is formed over the entire circumferential direction along the horizontal direction, while an annular opening 100T for ozone emission is formed on the side surface 100S and the ceiling surface 100U. It is formed between and. Two windows 100W (only one is shown in FIG. 4) are provided on the side surface 100S of the housing 100 with the operation surface 100M interposed therebetween. The axial (vertical) length of the window 100W has a length of more than half of the side surface (vertical) length of the housing 100.

The width of the window 100W in the circumferential direction is a width corresponding to the size of the excimer lamp 130, so that the user can check the lighting state when viewed from the direction of viewing the operation surface 100M of the housing 100. 100W is formed near the operation surface 100M. By forming such a window 100W, it can be confirmed that the lamp is lit, that is, the ozone generator 1000 is in operation.

Regarding the arrangement of the excimer lamps in the ozone generator, the excimer lamps may be arranged according to the direction in which ozone flows. For example, the housing may be configured in a rectangular shape and the excimer lamps may be arranged along the horizontal direction. In this case, it is preferable to set the circumferential length of the window to be at least half the circumferential length of the housing. It is also possible to provide windows on the ceiling surface other than the side surface, and the size and number of windows are arbitrary. Further, the number of windows may be set according to the number of lamps. A window may be provided on the surface of the housing so that the discharge generation area can be visually recognized.

The ozone generator can be configured as a sterilizer, a sterilizer, or the like other than the deodorizer, or can be configured as an ultraviolet irradiation device. Further, an excimer lamp that radiates a wavelength of ultraviolet rays other than 172 nm may be used, or a discharge lamp that can radiate visible light together with ultraviolet rays other than the excimer lamp may be used.

10 Housing 10R Internal space 10S Side surface 10W1 Window 10W2 Window 30 Excimer lamp 40 Excimer lamp 100 Ozone generator

Claims (12)

Excimer lamps that emit ultraviolet rays by electric discharge,
A casing that houses the excimer lamp and divides it into the outside of the device and the inside of the device, and includes a housing that forms an internal space inside the device by irradiating ultraviolet rays to generate ozone .
An ozone generator characterized in that, in the housing, a window that transmits visible light radiated from the excimer lamp together with ultraviolet rays is formed. Excimer lamps that emit ultraviolet rays by electric discharge,
It is equipped with a housing that houses the excimer lamp and partitions the internal space that irradiates ultraviolet rays to generate ozone .
In the housing, a window that transmits visible light radiated from the excimer lamp together with ultraviolet rays is formed on the side surface and / or the ceiling surface of the housing in the device installation state so that the discharge generation region can be visually recognized. An ozone generator characterized by being present . The ozone generator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the window is formed on a surface of the housing along the vertical direction. The ozone generator according to claim 3, wherein the vertical length of the window is at least half the length of the vertical length of the housing. The ozone generator according to claim 3, wherein the horizontal length of the window is at least half the horizontal length of the housing. The ozone generator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the window includes an optical member that reflects at least a part of visible light from the outside of the housing. The ozone generator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the excimer lamp emits ultraviolet rays by local electric discharge. The ozone generator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the excimer lamp emits visible light having a spectral intensity smaller than that of ultraviolet rays together with ultraviolet rays. The ozone generator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the wavelength range of visible light emitted from the excimer lamp includes at least one wavelength range of 400 nm to 450 nm and 500 nm to 650 nm. The ozone generator according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the wavelength of visible light emitted from the excimer lamp includes a wavelength in the vicinity of 545 nm. The excimer lamp is arranged along the direction of flow of ozone generated in the internal space.
The ozone generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the generated ozone is released from the housing to the outside. It is a casing that divides the outside of the device and the inside of the device, and is equipped with a housing that forms an internal space inside the device for sterilization and sterilization by irradiation with ultraviolet rays from an excimer lamp.
An ultraviolet irradiation device characterized in that, in the housing, a window that transmits visible light emitted from the excimer lamp is formed at a position where a local discharge generated in the excimer lamp can be visually recognized.

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