JPH01269844A - Ultrasonic humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the humidified air being ejected, clean and free of microorganisms by providing in the water in a vessel an electric field generating device consisting of a laminate of electrode plates, each of which is formed by fixing carbon to glass fibers by adhesion and by molding into a plate of a network structure alternately laminated with water-permeable insulating plates. CONSTITUTION:There is provided an electric field generating device 14 consisting of a laminate of electrode plates 12 and insulating plates 13; each of the electrode plates 12 is formed by fixing carbon to glass fibers by adhesion and by molding the product into a plate of a network structure and by cutting the plate into substantially a U shape: each of the insulating plates 13 is formed of nonwoven fabric of polypropylene or the like and cut into the same U shape as the electrode plate 12, while the electrode plates 12 and the insulating plates 13 are alternated each with a thickness of 2mm to form the laminate. The electric field generating device 14 is immersed in water in a vessel 2 and impressed with a DC voltage in the range of 1-3V from a DC source 15. The water flowing through a feed valve 6 in a feed water tank 5 passes through the electric field generating device 14 under the influence of the oscillation of an ultrasonic oscillator 3, when the humidifying water is sterilized by the electric field. Thus clean humidified air which is free from living microorganisms is ejected from the outlet 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic humidifier equipped with means for sterilizing water to be humidified.

Conventional technology In recent years, as social interest in health and hygiene has increased,
Bacteria and fungi (hereinafter referred to as microorganisms) that grow in the humidifying water of ultrasonic humidifiers atomize the water and are released into the room along with the humidifying air, contaminating the room. The demands are getting bigger and bigger.

Measures against microorganisms that breed in the humidifying water of conventional ultrasonic humidifiers include: (a) Increase the frequency of cleaning the ultrasonic humidifier's water tank and water tank.

(b) For humidification water, use water with as low a microbial concentration as possible.

There were other methods.

A conventional ultrasonic humidifier of this type will be explained with reference to FIG.

That is, a water tank 2 for atomizing water is provided inside the humidifier body 1, and an ultrasonic vibrator 3 for atomizing water is installed at the bottom of the water tank 2. The ultrasonic vibrator 3 is connected to an oscillation circuit 4 which is a vibration drive output source provided directly below the beam.
is connected to. A water supply tank 5 that automatically supplies water to a removable water tank 2 is placed on top of the humidifier body 1, and below the water tank 5 is a water supply valve that opens when the water in the water tank 2 falls below a certain level. e is provided. There is an atomization chamber above the water tank 2, and an air inlet 11 at the bottom inside the humidifier body 1.
A fan 9 is provided to send air to the atomization chamber 7 through an air passage 8, and is fixed to the bottom of the humidifier body 1. Also,
An air outlet 1o is provided above the atomization chamber 7 to blow out air containing water atomized in the atomization chamber 7, that is, humidified air.

The operation of the ultrasonic humidifier configured as above will be explained next. First, the water supply tank 5 is filled with sufficient water and placed at a predetermined position on the humidifier main body 1, and the water in the water supply tank 5 is supplied into the water tank 2 while being regulated by the water supply valve 6. When the ultrasonic humidifier is operated 2 and the humidified water in the water tank 2 is vibrated by the ultrasonic vibrator 3 using a frequency of 1.7 MHz output from the oscillation circuit 4, approximately 5 to 60 MHz is generated in the atomization chamber 7.
A water mist of about .mu.m is generated and is blown into the room by the fan 9 through the outlet 10.

However, in actual use, if the humidifying water collected in the water tank 2 is left for a long period of time, bacteria will grow in the humidifying water. After breeding, when you operate the ultrasonic humidifier, the ultrasonic vibrator 3
A mist of humidifying water contaminated with bacteria is generated by the vibration of the fan 9, and the air taken in from the air intake port 11 by the operation of the fan 9 passes through the air outlet 10 with the mist of water contaminated with bacteria and enters the room. It's blown out. For this reason, the humidified air blown out from the ultrasonic humidifier has caused the problem of microbial contamination of indoor rooms, and there has been a growing demand to prevent this.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The conventional methods for preventing microbial contamination of humidifying water in conventional configurations ((a) increasing the frequency of cleaning of water tanks and water supply tanks are time-consuming and labor-intensive; Goes against user orientation.

(b) The problem with the water quality of humidifying water is that tap water is the only water available in general households, and even if tap water is used, if left for 24 hours, it will contain about 100 or less microorganisms per 1 cc. Reproduces in small numbers.

(c) Administration of a disinfectant to humidified water poses safety concerns because the disinfectant's sterilizing components are released into the room together with the atomized water into the humidified water.

There were issues such as:

In view of these problems, the present invention applies voltage to an electric field generator installed in an aquarium to generate an electric field, and (a) humidifies water at the level of tap water without requiring time and effort. As water, (c) the purpose is to suppress the propagation of microscopic products in the humidifying water of an ultrasonic humidifier without causing safety issues such as indoor scattering of disinfectants.

Means for Solving the Problem In order to solve this problem, the ultrasonic humidifier of the present invention comprises an ultrasonic humidifier main body, a water tank provided in the ultrasonic humidifier main body, and a water tank provided at the bottom of the water tank. an ultrasonic transducer,
a water supply tank provided on the upper part of the water tank and having a water supply port for supplying water to the water tank; an electrode plate formed into a plate shape with a mesh structure made of glass fiber to which carbon is adhesively fixed; and a water permeability An electric field generating device in which plate-shaped insulating plates and insulating plates having a thickness of 100 mm are alternately laminated is provided in the water tank, and a DC power supply device is connected to apply voltage to the electric field generating device.

Operation With the above configuration, by applying a voltage to the electric field generator provided in the water in the water tank of the ultrasonic humidifier, the humidifying water in the humidifying water tank is brought into a state where an electric field is applied.

Therefore, microorganisms are unable to function normally due to polarization of liquid components (amino acids, sugars) existing within the microorganism and inactivation of coenzymes, and the microorganisms that proliferate are sterilized. As a result, the humidified air blown out is clean air free from microbial contamination.

Example The following describes the first example of an ultrasonic humidifier according to an example of the present invention.
This will be explained based on FIGS.

Note that the same parts as those in the conventional example are given the same numbers and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the electric field generating bag M14 is made by molding a material made of glass fibers with carbon adhesively fixed into a plate shape with a mesh structure, cutting it into a U-shape to form the electrode plate 12, and making it from polypropylene. The structure is such that a non-woven fabric such as those made by Nippon Steel Co., Ltd. is cut into the same U-shape as the electrode plates 12, and the insulating plates 13 and electrode plates 12 are alternately stacked at intervals of 2 fl.

Further, an electric wire is connected to the electric field generating device 14 from a DC power supply device 15 that generates 1 to 3 V, and a voltage is applied to the electric field generating device 14 to generate an electric field.

Further, the electric field generator 14 is installed underwater around the upper part of the ultrasonic transducer 3 in the water tank 2 exposed at the bottom of the water tank 2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The operation of the ultrasonic humidifier configured as described above will be described below.

The electric field generator 14 is installed underwater in the aquarium 2,
A DC voltage in the range of 1 to 3 V is applied. Water flowing from the water supply valve 6 of the water supply tank 5 enters and exits the electric field generator 14 due to the influence of the vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator 3. A DC voltage in the range of 1 to 3 V is applied to the electric field generator 14, and when water enters and exits the electric field generator 14, microorganisms contained in the humidifying water are sterilized by the influence of the electric field.

Therefore, the humidified air blown out from the outlet 10 becomes clean humidified air in which microorganisms have been sterilized.

As is clear from the explanation of the embodiments above, by providing an electric field generating device in the aquarium and applying a voltage to this electric field generating device, (a) without taking time and effort, ( (b) Using tap water level water as humidifying water, (c) Using ultrasonic humidification to sterilize microorganisms that have grown in the humidifying water of an ultrasonic humidifier without any safety issues such as indoor scattering of disinfectants. Microbial contamination of the humidified air blown out from the machine can be prevented.

In addition, if the electric field generator is stacked in a U-shape and the ultrasonic transducer in the aquarium is installed in the water above the exposed periphery of v''CC at the bottom of the aquarium, then (b) the electric field generator installed in the aquarium is It is easy to take out and clean, (e) it does not affect the atomization of water due to the vibration of the ultrasonic transducer, and (f) the electrode plates are stacked, so there is no space between the electrodes. It is possible to shorten the distance between the aquariums and reduce the applied voltage to apply a constant electric field, increasing safety and making the most effective use of the area within the aquarium. Since it is less susceptible to the influence of electric fields and can be sterilized, microbial contamination of humidified air can be prevented, resulting in great health and hygiene benefits.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an ultrasonic humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electric field generator, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the installation of the electric field generator, and FIG. The figure is a longitudinal sectional view showing a conventional ultrasonic humidifier. 1...Ultrasonic humidifier body, 2...Water tank, 3...Ultrasonic vibrator, 5...Water tank, 12...・Electrode plate, 13... Insulating plate, 14... Electric field generator, 16...
DC power supply. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person1-
--g*wave7ff151EtlJi5-1 to 1 (tankzu 2- to infusible serious figure 3 figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ultrasonic humidifier main body, a water tank provided in the ultrasonic humidifier main body, an ultrasonic vibrator provided at the bottom of the water tank, and a water supply provided at the top of the water tank to supply water to the water tank. An electric field generating device that is equipped with a water supply tank having an opening, and is made by alternately laminating electrode plates formed into a plate shape with a mesh structure made of glass fiber to which carbon is bonded and fixed, and plate-shaped insulating plates with water permeability. an ultrasonic humidifier, which is provided in the water tank, and a DC power supply device connected to apply voltage to the electric field generator.