JPH0737186U - Sterilizer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To prevent microorganisms in the atmosphere from adhering to the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp of the sterilizer. [Structure] By blowing clean air ejected from a nozzle onto the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp, microorganisms in the atmosphere are prevented from adhering to the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention is intended for use in microorganisms such as viruses, molds, mites and the like existing in the atmosphere of facilities requiring cleanliness such as medical facilities, food manufacturing facilities, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, biotechnology-related facilities, etc. The present invention relates to a sterilizer that sterilizes other dust and oil smoke by irradiating them with ultraviolet rays from an ultraviolet radiation lamp.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 The first sterilizer was a low-pressure mercury discharge UV-radiation lamp developed by General Electric Company of the United States in 1934. In addition, the company's Luccies H. M. The results of the research by Dr. Hashimoto were announced in 1946, and the technical system of the sterilization method using the basic ultraviolet radiation lamp was created.

On the other hand, also in Japan, the use of preservatives and bactericides is restricted by the regulation of food additives, and the ultraviolet radiation lamp is used to keep the environment in food manufacturing factories hygienic. And its use has become commonplace. Recently, ultraviolet radiation lamps have been used for industrial purposes such as disinfection of processing containers and beauty equipment for AIDS prevention, sterilization of cleaning water used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, and air and water sterilization in biotechnology-related facilities. Widely used.

The type of sterilizer includes, for example, a holder type sterilizer 50 as shown in FIG. 8, a wall type sterilizer 51 as shown in FIG. 9, and a hanging type sterilizer as shown in FIG. There is a table 52 and the like. There are various shapes of the ultraviolet radiation lamp itself, for example, a spiral ultraviolet radiation lamp 53 as shown in FIG. 11, a spiral one-sided ultraviolet radiation lamp 54, and an ultraviolet radiation lamp 55 with a case. , Linear UV radiation lamps 56, 57, 58, circular UV radiation lamp 59, W-shaped UV radiation lamp 60, U-shaped UV radiation lamp 61, one-sided UV radiation lamp 62, spherical shape Known are an ultraviolet radiation lamp 63, an oval ultraviolet radiation lamp 64, and a small-sized ultraviolet radiation lamp 65. The ultraviolet radiation lamps described above are installed on the ceiling and walls of the facility to irradiate the facility atmosphere with ultraviolet rays to sterilize microorganisms and other substances present in the gas.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, since the atmosphere inside the facility is constantly in contact with the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp of the sterilizer installed on the ceiling surface or wall surface of the facility, microorganisms and dust in the atmosphere adhere to the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp over time. However, there is a problem that the transmittance of ultraviolet rays on the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp decreases. For example, when the irradiation amount from the ultraviolet radiation lamp is reduced to about 70%, an excessive output of about 40% is required compared to the initial stage, which is uneconomical.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent microorganisms in the atmosphere from adhering to the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp in the sterilizer.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The present invention is for sterilizing microorganisms and the like existing in an atmosphere by irradiating ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 100 to 280 nm from an ultraviolet radiation lamp, and having a nozzle for blowing clean air on the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp. Is characterized by.

The ultraviolet radiation lamp is a low-pressure mercury discharge lamp, and a chamber for collecting clean air is arranged near the ultraviolet radiation lamp, and the nozzle formed in this chamber cleans the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp. It is configured to blow air.

[0009]

[Action]

 By blowing the clean air ejected from the nozzle onto the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp, microorganisms in the atmosphere are prevented from adhering to the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp.

According to the International Commission on Illumination, ultraviolet rays are classified as shown in Table 1 according to wavelength regions.

[0011]

[Table 1]

The action of sterilizing microorganisms is mainly caused by irradiating ultraviolet rays having a wavelength in the range of 100 to 280 nm to damage DNA in microbial cells. As shown in FIG. 7, the bactericidal action of ultraviolet rays becomes maximum when the wavelength range is 250 nm to 260 nm. According to the present invention, microorganisms and the like existing in an atmosphere requiring sterilization such as in medical facilities are sterilized by irradiating them with ultraviolet rays having a wavelength mainly in the range of 100 to 280 nm from an ultraviolet radiation lamp. I do.

The low-pressure mercury discharge lamp can irradiate the ultraviolet ray having the strongest germicidal action with the ultraviolet ray having the resonance line 254 nm of mercury. Therefore, the low-pressure mercury discharge lamp is preferably used in the present invention.

Generally, the transmission characteristics of the glass tube constituting the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp are adjusted so that the ultraviolet radiation having a wavelength of 200 nm or less is absorbed by the glass surface, thereby eliminating the generation of ozone. ing. However, if necessary, by structuring the glass tube on the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp with quartz glass, it irradiates ultraviolet rays (sterilization line) near the wavelength of 254 nm, and at the same time, ultraviolet rays near the wavelength of 185 nm in the atmosphere It can also be radiated to generate ozone.

Ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of around 254 nm have a bactericidal action on microorganisms, and ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of around 185 nm have an action of reacting oxygen in the supply air to generate ozone. The bactericidal effect can be further enhanced by irradiating ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 254 nm and ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 185 nm from the ultraviolet radiation lamp to generate ozone. In addition, radical oxygen is generated by the reaction between ultraviolet light having a wavelength near 254 nm and ozone, and the combined chemical reaction between the radical oxygen and ultraviolet light having a wavelength near 254 nm promotes the decomposition of all organic substances including microorganisms. It

Further, since the irradiation amount of ultraviolet rays required for sterilizing microorganisms varies depending on the type of microorganisms, the illuminance of ultraviolet rays and the irradiation time must be controlled according to the type of microorganisms present in the gas. . Here, the sterilization dose (product of illuminance of sterilization line and irradiation time) and sterilization rate (1-survival rate) when various microbes are irradiated with sterilization line (resonance line of mercury with wavelength of 254 nm) The relationships are shown in Tables 2-5. The survival rate of microorganisms has an exponentially decreasing relationship with the sterilization dose. 99% sterilization rate is obtained at twice the sterilization dose of 90% and 99.9% at the sterilization dose. %, A sterilization rate of 99.99% is obtained by 4 times.

[0017]

[Table 2]

[0018]

[Table 3]

[0019]

[Table 4]

[0020]

[Table 5]

[0021]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. 1 is a front view of a sterilizing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. The sterilizer 1 is installed on the ceiling or wall of a facility requiring sterilization such as a medical facility, a food manufacturing facility, a semiconductor manufacturing facility, or a biotechnology-related facility.

Reference numeral 2 denotes an ultraviolet irradiation lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 100 to 280 nm, and is attached via the bracket 3. The ultraviolet radiation lamp 2 of the embodiment is a low pressure mercury discharge lamp, and mainly irradiates ultraviolet rays (sterilization ray) having a wavelength of around 254 nm.

Above the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2 is a chamber 4 for collecting the clean air supplied from the inlet 8. The slit nozzles 5, 6, 7 formed on the lower surface of the chamber 4 allow the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2 to pass through. Clean air is blown onto. As shown in FIG. 1, the slit nozzles 5, 6, 7 are provided over the entire length of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2, and the clean air that is press-fitted into the chamber 4 and sprayed from the slit nozzles 5, 6, 7 is the ultraviolet radiation lamp. Flows so as to wrap around the surface of No. 2 and blows away microorganisms and dust in the atmosphere that tends to adhere to the lamp surface.

According to the above sterilizer, it is said that the microorganisms and dust in the atmosphere do not adhere to the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2 even after a long time, and the transmittance of ultraviolet rays decreases. Does not occur. Therefore, there is no need to excessively increase the output of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2, which is economical. Thus, the entire atmosphere of the medical facility where the sterilizer 1 is installed can be uniformly irradiated with ultraviolet rays, and good sterilization can be performed.

3 and 4 are a front view and a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment in which an L-shaped chamber 10 is provided on the back of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2. Slit nozzles 11, 12, and 13 extending over the entire length of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2 are provided at three locations inside the L-shaped chamber 10. The clean air that is press-fitted into the chamber 10 from the inlet 15 and blown from the slit nozzles 11, 12, 13 flows so as to wrap around the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2, so that microorganisms and dust in the atmosphere adhere to the surface of the lamp. To prevent. According to this embodiment, since the chamber 10 is formed in an L-shape so as to enclose the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2 as a whole, the irradiation surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp 2 is blown with clean air particularly well. This has the advantage that the UV transmittance does not decrease.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show an embodiment in which a circular chamber 22 is provided at the base end of an ultraviolet radiation lamp 21 cantilevered by a lamp socket 20, and an annular nozzle 23 is formed in the chamber 22. . According to this embodiment, the clean air pressed into the chamber 22 through the inlet 24 can be blown out from the nozzle 23 and flow along the longitudinal direction of the cantilevered ultraviolet radiation lamp 21.

Although the embodiment of the sterilizer has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified appropriately. For example, the present invention is applicable to any type of sterilizer shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. Further, the present invention can be applied to various types of ultraviolet radiation lamps as shown in FIG.

[0028]

[Effect of device]

 According to the present invention, microorganisms and dust in the atmosphere do not adhere to the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp even after a long time has passed, and there is no problem that the transmittance of ultraviolet rays decreases. Therefore, it is economical because it is not necessary to raise the output of the ultraviolet radiation lamp excessively. Thus, it is possible to irradiate ultraviolet rays evenly over the entire atmosphere of a medical facility where a sterilizer is installed, and to perform good sterilization.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a sterilizer.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a sterilizer showing an embodiment in which slit nozzles are formed at three locations inside an L-shaped chamber.

4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a sterilizer showing an embodiment in which an annular nozzle is formed.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a sterilizer showing an embodiment in which an annular nozzle is formed.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the wavelength of ultraviolet rays and the action.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a holder type sterilizer.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted sterilizer.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a suspension type sterilizer.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the shape of an ultraviolet radiation lamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sterilizer 2 Ultraviolet irradiation lamp 4 Chamber 5,6,7 Slit nozzle 10 L-shaped chamber 11,12,13 Slit nozzle 21 Cantilevered ultraviolet radiation lamp 22 Circular chamber 23 Annular nozzle

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A wavelength of 100 to 28 is emitted from an ultraviolet radiation lamp.
A sterilizer for sterilizing microorganisms and the like existing in an atmosphere by irradiating ultraviolet rays of 0 nm, and having a nozzle for blowing clean air onto the surface of an ultraviolet radiation lamp. 2. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet radiation lamp is a low-pressure mercury discharge lamp. 3. A chamber for accumulating clean air in the vicinity of the ultraviolet radiation lamp is arranged, and the clean air is blown onto the surface of the ultraviolet radiation lamp from a nozzle formed in this chamber. Alternatively, the sterilizer described in 2.