JPH05180471A - Ultrasonic wave humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent propagation of bacteria in humidifying water and to provide fungus resisting effect to the humidifying water by a method in which an ultrasonic wave humidifier has a water storing tank arranged under an atomizing chamber and a cylinder arranged between the water storing tank and a water supplying tank which contains ion-exchange resin, and is further provided between the water storing tank and the cylinder with a check member which checks reversed flow of water. CONSTITUTION:When sufficient volume of water is put into a water supplying tank 5, propagation of bacteria in the water supplying tank 5 is prohibited by the effect of fungus resisting agent of silver system which is mixed by kneeding into a lid 15 which is in contact with the water. When a level of humidifying water goes down, the water from the water supplying tank 5 is supplied through a water supplying valve 6 to a cylinder 13 which contains ion- exchange resin 14. Here, calcium, magnesium and the like are removed from the water. Then, the water passing through a check valve, comes into contact with a resin block 17 from which it is given fungus resistance again. Then the water is supplied to an atomizing chamber, where it is atomized, and diffused out into a room. After a stop of operation of the humidifier, even if bacteria floating out of a diffuser 10 into the enviromental air flies into the atomizing chamber 7, the fungus resistance given to the humidifying water works to prohibit propagation of bacteria.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvements in ultrasonic humidifiers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with increasing social concern about health and hygiene, bacteria and fungi (hereinafter referred to as microorganisms) that propagate in humidifying water of an ultrasonic humidifier indoors together with air that atomizes and humidifies water. Since there is a problem that it is released into the environment and pollutes the room, measures to prevent this are required.

[0003] Conventionally, as measures against microorganisms that propagate in humidifying water of an ultrasonic humidifier, (a) the cleaning frequency of the water tank, water absorption tank, etc. of the ultrasonic humidifier is increased. (B) There was a method such as preparing water with a low microbial concentration as humidifying water.

The structure will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, inside the humidifier body 1,
A water tank 2 for atomizing water is provided, and an ultrasonic vibrator 3 for atomizing water is installed at the bottom of the water tank 2, and the ultrasonic vibrator 3 drives vibrations provided directly below it. It is connected to the oscillation circuit 4 which is an output source. A water supply tank 5 for automatically supplying water to a removable water tank 2 is placed on the humidifier main body 1, and a water supply valve 6 is opened below the water supply tank 5 when the water in the water tank 2 falls below a certain amount. A water supply tank 5 is provided.

Below the water supply tank 5, there is a net 1 at the outlet.
There is a cylindrical body 13 provided with 2, and an ion exchange resin 14 is contained in the cylindrical body 13. Water in the water supply tank 5 passes through the cylindrical body 13 and is guided to the water tank 2 through the net 12 having a particle size smaller than that of the ion exchange resin at the outlet. An atomizing chamber 7 is provided above the water tank 2, and a fan 9 is provided in the humidifier body 1 for sending air from the lower air suction port 11 to the atomizing chamber 7 through the air passage 8. It is fixed to the bottom of the humidifier body 1. Above the atomizing chamber 7, there is provided an air outlet 10 for blowing out air containing water atomized in the atomizing chamber 7, that is, humidified air.

In the above structure, first, when sufficient water is put into the water supply tank 5 and placed at a predetermined position of the humidifier body 1, the water in the water supply tank 5 is adjusted by the water supply valve 6 and the inside of the cylindrical body 13 is adjusted. The ion exchange resin 14 removes calcium, magnesium, etc., and supplies the water into the water tank 2. Further, when the humidifying water in the water tank 2 is subsequently vibrated at the frequency of 1.7 MHz output from the oscillation circuit 4, the mist of water of about 5 to 50 μm is generated in the atomization chamber 7. It is generated, and this is blown into the room through the air outlet 10 by the fan 9.

However, in actual use, if the humidified water accumulated in the water supply tank 5 or the water tank 2 is left to stand for a long period of time, bacteria will propagate in the humidified water and the ultrasonic vibrator 3 vibrates to cause bacteria to grow. A mist of contaminated humidified water is generated, and the air taken in from the air suction port 11 by the operation of the fan 9 passes through the blowout port 10 and is blown out into the room together with the mist of water contaminated with bacteria. Therefore, the room is contaminated with microorganisms by the humidified air blown out from the ultrasonic humidifier.

In such a conventional ultrasonic humidifier, a water tank
And how to clean the water tank frequently
It took a lot of time and went against the user orientation. Humidification
The issue of water quality is that the water that can be prepared at home is tap water.
If you use tap water, the number of microorganisms is 24
If left unattended for a period of time, less than 100 per 1 cc to 10 ^Four
It was a breeding thing.

And as the origin of the microorganisms in the humidified water,
It is considered that there are microorganisms existing in tap water or in a water supply tank and proliferated in the water supply tank, and microorganisms suspended in the surrounding environment and taken into the atomization chamber by the fan and propagated.

[0010]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in an ultrasonic humidifier capable of suppressing the growth of microorganisms in the humidifying water of the ultrasonic humidifier, the antibacterial effect is still imparted. The purpose is to do.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a water tank section at a lower portion of an atomization chamber and a cylindrical body containing an ion exchange resin provided between the water tank section and the water supply tank. A backflow prevention member for preventing backflow of water is provided between the tubular body and the tubular body.

[0012]

When tap water is poured into the water supply tank and the water supply tank is set in the main body of the ultrasonic humidifier, the humidification water in the water supply tank is sterilized by contacting the valve and the lid with the valve. Next, when the water level in the water tank inside the ultrasonic humidifier drops, sterilized water is supplied from the water supply tank to the water tank through the valve and the cylinder containing the ion exchange resin. The humidifying water in the water tank is sterilized by coming into contact with a block containing an antibacterial agent such as silver placed near the ultrasonic transducer. It goes without saying that the use of silver or silver ions as the antibacterial agent improves the safety to the human body and the environment against inhalation of mist or adhesion of mist when humidifying water becomes mist and blows out into the room. That is, silver has been frequently used in tableware since ancient times, and its safety is also known.

When the water in the water tank flows back into the cylinder containing the ion exchange resin due to fluctuations in the liquid level caused by ultrasonic vibration, the ion exchange resin adsorbs the antibacterial agent such as silver emerging from the block, and the ion exchange resin In addition to lowering the adsorption characteristics of, the concentration of the antibacterial agent in the humidified water in the water tank also lowers.

However, by installing a backflow preventing member such as a valve, the backflow of the humidifying water in the water tank to the cylindrical body containing the ion exchange resin is prevented. This prevents the concentration of the antibacterial agent in the water tank from decreasing. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the propagation of microorganisms in the humidifying water of the ultrasonic humidifier.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The same parts as those of the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is partially omitted.

Reference numeral 15 in FIG. 2 denotes a lid of the water supply tank 5.
Specifically, it is an antibacterial agent-containing lid with a water supply valve 6. This lid 1
No. 5 is obtained by kneading about 5 parts by weight of an antibacterial agent with 100 parts by weight of ABS resin and molding. As this antibacterial agent, a material was used in which about 0.2 w% of silver thiosulfato complex salt was supported on silica gel and at least a part of the surface thereof was coated with a reactive organosilicon compound such as tetramethoxysilane. 16 is a cylindrical body 13 containing an ion exchange resin 14
A check valve provided outside the net 12 at the outlet,
The water that has entered the cylinder 13 is supplied to the water tank with little pressure loss,
It has a reverse effect. Reference numeral 17 is an ABS resin block, which is placed near the ultrasonic vibrator in the lower part of the atomizing chamber and kneaded with an antibacterial agent, at a position where it does not disturb ultrasonic vibration. Resin block 17
Has a lattice-like shape in order to have a large surface in contact with the humidifying water. The surface area thereof is about 120 square centimeters, and the same material as the lid 15 is used as the kneaded antibacterial agent.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic humidifier of the present invention will be described. When enough water is added to the water tank 5,
The action of the silver-based antibacterial agent kneaded on the lid 15 in contact with the water suppresses the growth of microorganisms in the water supply tank 5. When the water level of the humidifying water is lowered, the water is supplied from the water supply tank 5 to the cylindrical body 13 containing the ion exchange resin 14 via the water supply valve 6. Here, calcium, magnesium, etc. are removed, and thereafter, after passing through the check valve 16 and coming into contact with the resin block 17, the antibacterial property is imparted again and the antibacterial property is supplied to the atomizing chamber, and the atomized mist is blown out.

This operation is repeated during the operation of the ultrasonic humidifier. However, even if microorganisms floating in the surrounding environment from the blowout port 10 or the like come into the atomizing chamber 7 after the stop, due to the imparted antibacterial property, The reproduction of microorganisms is suppressed. This continues until the operation is restarted. From these, the contamination of the humidifying water mist is prevented.

[0019]

As described above, the ultrasonic humidifier of the present invention suppresses the growth of microorganisms in the internal water tank of the ultrasonic humidifier during operation as well as during operation, and when the operation is restarted, the mist with less microbial contamination is indoors. Can blow out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an ultrasonic humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional ultrasonic humidifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Humidifier Main Body 2 Water Tank 3 Ultrasonic Transducer 4 Oscillation Circuit 5 Water Supply Tank 6 Water Supply Valve 7 Atomization Chamber 8 Air Path 9 Fan 10 Air Outlet 11 Suction Port 12 Net 13 Cylinder 14 Ion Exchange Resin 15 Lid 16 Check Valve 17 Resin block

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Katsumi Tomita 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. In Seiko Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ei Hasegawa 6-61 Imafuku Nishi, Joto Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Seiko Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An atomizing chamber having a lower part as a water tank part, an ultrasonic transducer installed in the water tank part, a water supply tank in which an antibacterial agent for supplying water to the water tank part is kneaded, the water tank part and the A cylinder containing an ion exchange resin provided between water supply tanks, a water supply valve provided between the cylinder and the water supply tank, and a water backflow provided between the lower part of the atomization chamber and the cylinder. An ultrasonic humidifier having a backflow prevention member as a constituent element. 2. The ultrasonic humidifier according to claim 1, wherein a block of resin or the like in which an antibacterial agent is kneaded is arranged in the lower part of the atomizing chamber. 3. The antibacterial agent is a material having a structure in which a thiosulfato silver complex salt is supported on silica gel and at least a part of the surface thereof is coated with a reactive organic silicon compound such as tetramethoxysilane. The ultrasonic humidifier according to claim 1.