JPH04215765A - Ultrasonic inhaler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a ultrasonic inhaler generating a liquid spray with the grain size sharply smaller than heretofore. CONSTITUTION:A circular vibrator 70 is fitted to a shaft body 40 having liquid sucking through-holes opened at the upper end and the lower end to form a ultrasonic pump, and a mesh member 50 having many fine holes 52 on the upper end face of the shaft body 40 containing an upper end opening is fixed with a mesh member pressing cover 60. A water film is formed in a gap between the upper end face of the shaft body 40 and the mesh member 50, and this water film is made fine grains when it passes the mesh member 50 and discharged above the mesh member 50.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic inhaler capable of generating atomized liquid having a much smaller particle size than conventional inhalers.

0002

[Prior Art] There is a device that uses ultrasonic waves to suck up liquids such as water and medicinal solutions and atomizes them (Utility Model Publication No. 2-70
No. 760, No. 2-66268, No. 2-70759,
(See Publications No. 2-40473, No. 1-163471, etc.). For example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 2-70759 discloses an ultrasonic atomizer as shown in FIG. This atomizer 100 includes a shaft body 110 in which a liquid suction through hole 120 having an upper end opening 122 and a lower end opening 124 is bored, and a plurality of vibrators (two in the figure) are disposed outside the shaft body 110.
) of the annular piezoelectric elements 130, 140 with nuts 150, 1
60 and integrated with the shaft body 110. Since the atomizer 100 handles liquid, the piezoelectric elements 130 and 140 have a completely waterproof structure with parts such as nuts 150 and 160 and waterproof caps 170 and 180.

[0003] In this type of atomizer 100, the piezoelectric element 13
By energizing 0 and 140 and generating ultrasonic vibrations, the shaft body 110 vibrates slightly up and down, and the shaft body 1
The liquid is sucked from the lower end opening 124 of the upper end opening 1
22 in the form of mist. The atomizer uses a shaft body 110 instead of a pump, which is different from the method of supplying water to the vibrator using a pump, which is normally used in conventional ultrasonic humidifiers, etc., and the atomizer uses a shaft body 110 that runs through the shaft body. The hole 120 is used as a flow path, and the shaft body 110 is caused to act as an ultrasonic pump by the piezoelectric elements 130 and 140.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The inventor of the present application focused on the characteristics of the ultrasonic pump of this atomizer, and thought that it might be possible to apply this to an inhaler.
A new inhaler with a mechanism as shown in FIG. 4, in which vibrators 130 and 140 are attached, was prototyped. However, the shaft body 1
Although the mist obtained from the upper end opening 122 of No. 10 is suitable for this purpose as an atomizer, it has been found that it is not suitable as an inhaler because the mist diameter is about 50 to 300 μm. As is well known, inhalers are used to treat the nasal cavity, oral cavity, etc., but if the mist diameter of an inhaler is within the above range, the healing effect will be weak, and it will be difficult for the inhaler to reach the affected areas deep inside the body. It is preferable that the mist diameter is at least 10 μm or less.

[0005] Accordingly, in view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel inhaler capable of generating mist having a particle size of at least 10 μm or less.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The object is to provide an ultrasonic pump in which an annular vibrator is attached to a shaft body having liquid suction through holes opening in the lower and upper ends in the axial direction; This is achieved by an ultrasonic inhaler characterized by having a mesh member having a large number of micropores on its upper end surface.

[0007] Since the inhaler of the present invention has a mesh member attached to the upper end face including the upper end opening of the shaft body, the mesh member also vibrates with the slight vibration of the upper end face of the shaft body, and the mesh member vibrates with the upper end face of the shaft body. The water film formed between the mesh member and the mesh member is pushed out above the mesh member by the vibration. At this time, the water film passes through the micropores of the mesh member and becomes fine particles.

[0008] The mesh member used in the present invention has a large number of micropores, and when the liquid that has passed through the through-holes in the shaft body is finally released to the outside of the mesh member, the diameter of the microparticles is at least 10 μm. There are no restrictions on its shape or material as long as it is as follows. The shape of the micropores formed in the mesh member may be circular, elliptical, rectangular, triangular, etc., as long as the liquid is dispersed in the form of fine particles. In general, a circular shape is optimal for uniformly scattering.

[0009] The diameter of the micropores is preferably about 5 to 30 μm, preferably about 8 to 15 μm, particularly about 10 μm when the holes are circular in shape. The pitch between the holes is preferably about 30 to 200 μm, preferably about 50 to 100 μm, particularly about 80 μm, although it depends on the hole diameter in the case of circular holes. In addition, the number of micropores is sufficient as long as the hole forming area of the mesh member covers the upper end surface including the upper end opening of the shaft body. For example, when the diameter of the through hole of the shaft body is about 500 μm, If the pitch is about 80 μm and the hole diameter is 10 μm, the number of holes will be about tens of thousands.

The thickness of the mesh member is preferably about 10 to 300 μm, preferably about 30 to 100 μm, particularly about 50 μm, because if it is too thick, it becomes difficult to vibrate with the vibration of the shaft. The diameter, pitch, number, and wall thickness of these through holes may be changed as appropriate depending on the intended particle size of the liquid.

The material of the mesh member is not particularly limited, but stainless steel, nickel, Examples include a thin metal plate made of titanium or the like, a film made of ceramic, plastic, or the like.

0012

EXAMPLES The ultrasonic inhaler of the present invention will be explained in detail below based on examples. FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an embodiment of a handy type. In the inhaler of this embodiment, electrical components such as a power supply, an electronic circuit board, and a switch are housed in a main body case 10, and a mechanism for atomizing liquid into particles is incorporated in a portion covered by a sanitary cap 30.

[0013] The lower part of the main body case 10 constitutes a battery storage part 12 in which, for example, a normal dry battery 14 is inserted as a power source.
The dry battery 14 can be taken in and out by attaching and detaching the battery cover 16. An electronic circuit board 18 on which various electronic elements are mounted is fixed to the main body case 10 with screws 20 above the battery storage section 12 . The circuit mainly functions to generate ultrasonic waves to oscillate a vibrator, which will be described later, when atomizing liquid. Note that the circuit configuration is the same as that of a conventional ultrasonic atomizer, and will be omitted here. The circuit is activated by an operation switch 22 provided on the side wall of the case 10, and the switch 22 is covered with a protective member 24. The operation display LED 26 lights up while the circuit is operating while the operation switch 22 is pressed, and is off when the circuit is not operating.

A particulate generation mechanism is housed in a portion of the main body case 10 protected by a removable sanitary cap 30. This mechanism is basically the same as the prior art. In this example, the shaft body 40 is provided in such a manner that it is inserted into a cylindrical wall 10a formed in the main body case 10. Shaft body 40
has a through hole (not shown) extending vertically therethrough, thereby forming a flow path from the upper end opening to the lower end opening. The shaft body 40 has a vibrator 70 attached approximately at the center thereof, an atomizing horn 42 at the upper part, and a water absorption horn 44 at the lower part. The shaft body 40 and the vibrator 70 form an ultrasonic pump, and the shaft body 40 uses the ultrasonic vibration of the vibrator 70 to
0 to perform the pump action.

A mesh member 50 having a large number of microholes is fixed to the upper end surface of the shaft body 40 including the upper end opening by a mesh member holding cover 60. The mesh member itself will be explained later. Mesh member holding cover 60
is screwed into the cylindrical wall 10a of the main body case 10. An annular vibrator 70 such as a piezoelectric element is located approximately at the center of the shaft body 40.
is fitted and inserted, and the shaft body 4 is secured by nuts 80 and 82.
It is fixed integrally at 0. The vibrator 70 is supported by a vibrator holding cover 84, and the cover 84 is further fitted with screws 86 and 88.
It is firmly fixed to the case 10 by. nut 8
0 and the cylindrical wall 10a, and between the nut 82 and the cover 84, there are O-rings 90 for ensuring watertightness.
, 92 are provided.

A bottle 94 containing a liquid such as water or a chemical solution is disposed at the bottom of the particle generating mechanism, and the water absorption horn 44 of the shaft body 40 is immersed in the liquid in the bottle 94. The bottle 94 is removable and can be easily refilled or replaced. An airtight O-ring 96 is provided at a portion of the vibrator holding cover 84 that comes into contact with the top of the bottle so that the liquid in the bottle does not overflow when the bottle 94 is attached to the main body case 10.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the mesh member which is a feature of the inhaler of the present invention. The mesh member 50 has a large number of micro holes 52 and is attached to the back side of the mesh member holding cover 60 (see FIG. 1), and the mesh member 50 is exposed through a circular hole formed in the center of the cover 60. The mesh member 50 has a projecting piece 62 provided on the cover 60 so that the microhole 52 is located on the upper end surface including the upper end opening of the shaft body 40.
is brought into contact with the upper end surface by. Although this protruding piece 62 is not essential, if the gap between the mesh member 50 and the upper end surface is large, it will be difficult for the mesh member 50 to vibrate slightly together with the shaft body 40, making it difficult to atomize the liquid. The mesh member 5 is made small by the protruding piece 62.
It is preferable to lightly press 0 onto the upper end surface.

In the inhaler having such a structure, the vibrator 70
When the ultrasonic wave oscillates, the shaft body 40 also moves slightly. Liquid is sucked up from the water absorption horn 44 as the shaft body 40 vibrates,
The liquid ascends the flow path within the shaft body 40 and is supplied to the atomization horn 42 . Further, the liquid is formed into a water film in the gap between the upper end surface of the atomization horn 42 and the mesh member 50, and the water film is pushed above the mesh member 50 by the vibration. When the water film passes through the micropores 52 of the mesh member 50, the mesh member 50 is also vibrating slightly together with the shaft 40, so the water film is further crushed into fine particles of at least 10 μm or less and released above the mesh member 50. be done.

The above embodiment is of a handy type, but a stationary type is shown in FIG. However, in the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to parts that perform almost the same functions as those of the hand-held type. The stationary type inhaler has a structure in which a particulate generation mechanism is arranged in the upper part and electrical components are arranged in the lower part, and the function and effect are the same as the above-mentioned handy type inhaler except that it is a stationary type.

[0020]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the ultrasonic inhaler of the present invention has a mesh member having a large number of micropores on the upper end face including the upper end opening of the shaft body, so that it is superior to conventional ultrasonic atomizers. The particle size is even smaller (at least 10 μm or less) than the atomized particle size of the liquid, which is sufficient for use as an inhaler. Therefore, the inhaler of the present invention can be expected to have great therapeutic effects.

Furthermore, by appropriately changing the diameter of the micropores formed in the mesh member, the intended particle diameter can be easily obtained. Furthermore, since the mesh member is provided, even if the micropores become clogged due to the use of liquids (such as chemical solutions), the mesh member (usually integrated with the mesh member presser cover) can be replaced and used. maintenance can be easily performed by the person responsible for maintenance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a handy type inhaler of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a mesh member attached to the upper end opening of the shaft body.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a stationary type inhaler of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway sectional view of a conventional ultrasonic atomizer.

[Explanation of symbols]

40 Shaft body 50 Mesh member 52 Micropore 60 Mesh member presser cover 70 Vibrator

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: An ultrasonic pump comprising an annular vibrator attached to a shaft having liquid suction through holes opening in the lower and upper ends in the axial direction, and having a large number of micro holes in the upper end face including the upper end opening of the shaft. An ultrasonic inhaler characterized by being provided with a mesh member having: