JPH08173521A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an air cleaner by which unpleasant odors or the like can be removed very efficiently without generating ozone. CONSTITUTION: This air cleaner is provided with an anion generating device 2 which has an electric discharge wire 21, an electrically insulated duct which covers the electric discharge wire 21, opening parts which are formed on both ends of the electrically insulated duct, an air flowing pipe 22 which covers the electrically insulated duct, and air retention chambers 24, 25 which are connected with an inlet/outlet of the pipe 22 and make air flow inside the pipe 22 constant, and also provided with a chamber 3 in which a porous body 32 having an alumina whisker is arranged on the surface moistened by resonance magnetic field processed water.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air purifier for removing unpleasant odors, dust, and the like in the air, and in particular, an air purifier capable of extremely efficiently removing unpleasant odors while suppressing the generation of ozone as much as possible. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Air purifiers are widely used to remove unpleasant odors, dust, dust, etc. from indoor air. A filter for removing fine particles such as the above and an anion generator for decomposing unpleasant odors and the like are provided. However, the anion generator provided in the conventional air purifier generates ozone at the same time as anions,
There is a problem that this gives an unpleasant odor. Ozone is a cause of unpleasant odor, and recently it is considered to have carcinogenicity, and it is necessary to suppress the generation thereof as much as possible.

Further, in the conventional air purifier, the air in the entire room cannot be purified until a considerable time has passed after the start of operation, but an air purifier capable of rapidly purifying the air is desired. Moreover, there is a demand for an air purifier that not only removes unpleasant odors, dust, dust, etc., but can also convert the air into healthy air by activating the air.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air purifier which can suppress the generation of ozone as much as possible and can achieve the activation of air.

[0005]

As a result of earnest research to achieve the above object, the present inventor has found that the discharge wire for anion generation is provided with an insulating coating to suppress the generation of ozone as much as possible. It was found that the unpleasant odor and the like can be satisfactorily removed. In addition, the present inventor can perform deodorization, ozone removal, sterilization, and the like as well as air activation by contacting air that has passed through the anion generator with a porous body moistened with resonance magnetic field water. discovered. Furthermore, it was discovered that by passing air through the porous carbon particles that had been treated with resonant magnetic field water before adding anions, the air was more easily reduced, thereby improving the air cleaning effect by the anions. The present invention has been completed based on these findings.

That is, the air purifier of the present invention is characterized in that it has an anion generator and an insulating coating is provided around the discharge wire for generating anions. According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, a chamber having a porous body moistened with resonant magnetic field water is provided downstream of the anion generator. According to a further preferred embodiment, the air purifier of the present invention has a structure in which, in order to improve the air cleaning effect, the air passes through the porous carbon particles treated with the resonance magnetic field water before passing through the anion generator. Have.

[0007]

In the air purifier of the present invention, since the discharge wire of the anion generator is provided with the insulating coating, the air flowing in the pipe does not come into direct contact with the discharge wire. Therefore, anions can be generated without generating ozone. When an insulating tube is used as the insulating coating, an air layer is created in the insulating tube, which slightly flows along with the air flow in the pipe and flows out from the opening at the downstream end. Most of ozone is extinguished by the reaction of O ₃ + O ₃ = 3O ₂ while flowing in the insulating tube. Therefore, it is possible to generate anions while suppressing the generation of ozone.

Further, since the porous body moistened with the resonance magnetic field water is installed downstream of the anion generator, the air is activated. "Activation of air" means not only making the air comfortable (deodorizing, etc.) but also giving the air a function of promoting health. Although the activating action of air has not been sufficiently clarified, it is considered to be due to the resonance magnetic field water or its solid component slightly scattered in the air when the air comes into contact with the porous body moistened with the resonance magnetic field water. Such an effect can be further improved by providing porous carbon particles treated with resonant magnetic field water on the upstream side of the anion generator. It is considered that this is because the air is activated while passing through the gaps between the porous carbon particles.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A specific example of the air purifier of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows the air purifier of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the structure of the air purifier according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The air purifier includes a blower 1 as an outside air suction device, an anion generator 2 connected to an exhaust port of the blower 1, and a porous body chamber 3 connected to an outlet of the anion generator 2. Have. If desired, a porous carbon chamber 4 may be provided upstream of the blower 1, in which case the blower 1 is connected to the outlet of the porous carbon chamber 4 via a suitable pipe. Further, the filter 5 may be installed on the upstream side of the porous carbon chamber 4.

The porous carbon chamber 4 has a box 46 that holds one or more breathable bags 42 containing the porous carbon particles 41, and the outside air to be inhaled penetrates each breathable bag 42. As described above, the inlet and outlet of the box 46 are made of a breathable material such as mesh. The porous carbon chamber 4 has an inlet 44 and an outlet 45.
Have. Various kinds of carbons can be used as the porous carbon particles, but charcoal such as Bincho charcoal is preferable from the viewpoint of air activation.

The porous carbon particles 41 need to be treated with resonant magnetic field water. Details of the resonance magnetic field water will be described later. The treatment with the resonance magnetic field water is to coat the porous carbon particles 41 with the resonance magnetic field water (the solution of the sodium tetrachloride aqueous solution having a flat tetrahedral crystal form in the resonance magnetic field), and then to dry it completely. The concentration of the tetrahedral crystal form sodium chloride in the aqueous solution is preferably 10 ⁻¹² to 10 ⁻¹⁵ wt%. By this treatment, sodium tetrachloride fine particles having a flat tetrahedral crystal form are deposited on the surface and inside the pores of the porous carbon particles 41.

When the air comes into contact with the porous carbon particles 41 treated with the resonance magnetic field water, the air is easily reduced, which improves the air cleaning action in the following steps and helps activate the air.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the anion generator 2 has a discharge wire 21 for generating anions, a pipe 22 for covering the discharge wire 21, and air retention connected to both ends of the pipe 22. It has chambers 24, 25 and terminals 26, 27 connecting to the discharge wire 21. The inlet 24a of the air retention chamber 24 is connected to the outlet of the blower 1, and the outlet 25a of the air retention chamber 25 is connected to the inlet 31 of the downstream porous body chamber 3.

The discharge wire 21 may be a wire (tungsten wire or the like) having a corrosion resistant plating layer such as gold plating or platinum plating, and a normal cathode wire can be used. Discharge wire
The thickness of 21 may be about 50 to 200 μm, and the length may be about 5 to 50 cm. One discharge wire 21 may be provided, but a plurality of discharge wires 21 may be provided if necessary. It is preferable that a dust adsorbing material 28 such as paper is provided on the inner surface of the pipe 22 as a counter electrode of the discharge wire 21.

The discharge wire 21 used in the present invention is covered with a coating 29 made of an insulating material excellent in oxidation resistance, weather resistance, ozone resistance, action of promoting ozone self-extinguishing property and the like. As such an insulating material, silicone rubber,
In addition to resins such as Teflon and polyethylene, glass and ceramics are preferable, and resins such as silicone rubber are particularly preferable.

The insulating coating 29 has small openings at both ends.
It is preferable to use a tube provided with 29a, 29b. When an insulating tube is used, a slight air layer is formed in the space between the discharge wire 21 and the insulating tube 29. The gap between the insulating tube 29 and the discharge wire 21 is preferably about 0.5 to 5 mm in the radial direction. The thickness of the insulating tube 29 may be about 0.01-5 mm. As the openings 29a and 29b at both ends, a gap formed by making the insulating tube 29 slightly shorter than the discharge wire 21 may be used, or slits or the like provided near both ends of the insulating tube 29 may be used. . In any case, it is preferable that the size of the openings 29a and 29b be such that the flow of the air layer is controlled so that the generated ozone is extinguished and a sufficient amount of anions is discharged. Specifically, the cross-sectional area of the openings 29a, 29b is about 0.01-10% of the cross-sectional area of the air layer.
It is preferred that

The air retention chambers 24 and 25 act so that the air flows through the pipe 22 at a constant speed. For that purpose the air retention chamber
The cross-sectional area of 24, 25 is preferably 1.1 to 5 times the cross-sectional area of the pipe 22. Air velocity in the pipe 22 is 5m / sec-10
It is preferably constant within the range of cm / sec, for example about
30 cm / sec is preferred. By keeping the flow velocity of air constant within a desired range in this way, the risk of turbulence in the air flowing through the pipe 22 is reduced. If the air flowing in the pipe 22 is laminar, the pressure loss of the air flow can be reduced.

The voltage applied to the discharge wire 21 is about -5k.
It is preferably within the range of V to about -25 kV. Although it is preferable to use a DC voltage obtained by rectifying an alternating voltage as the applied voltage, this is a DC voltage having a so-called pulsating current (a waveform obtained by inverting the negative part of the sine wave). The pulsating flow frequency is preferably an integral multiple of 15 Hz or 17 Hz, especially
17 kHz or more is preferable. The DC voltage that gives such a frequency is preferably -17 kV. Activation of air can be achieved by discharging with a pulsating DC voltage having such a frequency.

The air (containing anions) that has passed through the anion generator is then passed through the inlet 31 of the porous body chamber 3 connected to the outlet 25a of the air retention chamber 25, as shown in FIG. Pass through the body 32. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the porous body chamber 3 has a casing having an inlet 31a and an outlet 31b.
31 and a plurality of plate-like porous bodies installed in the casing 31
32. The porous body 32 has a large number of pores and has alumina whiskers on its surface, so that the air flow is sufficiently brought into contact with the alumina whiskers.

Alumina whiskers are fine whisker-like crystals of aluminum oxide, which are about 0.01 to 0.3 μm, for example 0.0.
It has an average diameter of 25 μm. The pores of the porous body 32 are 1.0
It has an average pore size of about 500 μm.

The porous body 32 having alumina whiskers on its surface is, for example, 0.1 to 5% by weight of Si and 0.1 to 5% by weight.
An aluminum alloy plate containing 5% by weight of Mn can be used by putting it in boiling water and treating it for 30 to 300 minutes. Since it is difficult to produce the aluminum alloy plate by the melting method, it is preferable to first produce the powder of the aluminum alloy and then form it into a plate having a predetermined shape by the sintering method.

FIG. 5 shows another example of the porous body chamber, (a) is a cross-sectional view of the porous body chamber, and (b) is a front view of the porous body. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a honeycomb-shaped porous body 32 is installed in the casing 31. Honeycomb porous body
To form 32, a honeycomb body is first prepared from the same aluminum alloy powder as described above by a sintering method, and then the honeycomb body is treated with boiling water for 0.5 to 24 hours. A honeycomb-shaped porous body is preferable because it has a small pressure loss.

In addition to the plate-like or honeycomb-like structure, a foam-like porous material may be used. In the case of foam, it should have sufficient porosity and pore size so that air pressure drop is small. In the case of a foam, boiling water treatment may be performed after the foam of the aluminum alloy is prepared.

In the present invention, it is preferable to wet the porous body with resonance magnetic field water. The resonance magnetic field water is obtained by applying a weak alternating magnetic field to an aqueous solution containing sodium chloride in a flat tetrahedral crystal form.

Sodium chloride having a flat tetrahedral crystal form and its aqueous solution are described in JP-A 1-284588 and 2-9714. The flat tetrahedral crystal form of sodium chloride is a flat tetrahedron in which the height of the regular tetrahedron is reduced, and the ratio of the length of one side of the bottom face to the height is 1: 0.8 to 50: 1. The size of the flat tetrahedron is generally about 0.05 to 3 mm.

The sodium tetrahedral crystal form is obtained by precipitating it from an aqueous solution containing a catalyst.
This catalyst is obtained as follows. First, iron chloride (eg ferric chloride) is added to an aqueous solution obtained by treating cristobalite with an aqueous mineral acid (eg hydrohalic acid, preferably hydrochloric acid) and left for a long time (eg 1 to 24 hours). The solution I obtained by is diluted with a large amount of distilled water (for example,
(10 ² to 10 ⁴ times) and left for a long time again to obtain a pale yellow solution II. On the other hand, a small amount of iron chloride (eg, ferric chloride) was added to an aqueous solution of sodium dichromate (for example, about 300 g of sodium dichromate dihydrate dissolved in 100 ml of water) close to the saturation value, and Solution III was prepared by removing the insoluble matter after standing for a period of time, and 1/4 to 3/4 volume of solution II was added to this solution III, and the solution was left for a long time and then heated (for example, 60 to 80).
(° C), a carmel-like solid is formed. The solid is washed with water to give the desired catalyst in the form of a dark brown granular solid.

To prepare sodium tetrachloride in the form of a tetrahedral crystal, using this catalyst, a concentrated (eg 5
An aqueous solution of sodium chloride (.about.10%) is prepared, and 0.01 to 1% by weight of the above catalyst is added thereto, and then evaporated to dryness. Then, distilled water is added to the obtained solid to redissolve it, and the solid is evaporated to dryness. This operation is repeated several times, and finally, distilled water is added to the evaporated and dried solid, and then the catalyst is filtered off. The filtrate is evaporated to dryness to give the desired flat tetrahedral crystal form of sodium chloride along with cubic and cubic octahedral crystals. The ratio of flat tetrahedral crystals / cubic crystals varies depending on the crystallization conditions, but is generally 1: 100 to 1: 3.

When only sodium chloride other than the flat tetrahedral crystal form is collected and recrystallized in distilled water, the flat tetrahedral crystals are partially formed. By repeating this recrystallization treatment, it is possible to obtain flat tetrahedral sodium chloride from cubic sodium chloride and octahedron sodium chloride that remain together with the catalyst.

An aqueous solution prepared by adding iron chloride (for example, ferric chloride) to sodium chloride in a flat tetrahedral crystal form (or sodium chloride in cubic crystals and cubic octahedron crystals containing the above catalyst) has a resonance magnetic field. The treatment activates the air activation. It is preferred to mix about 5% of iron chloride (eg ferric chloride) with sodium chloride in the flat tetrahedral crystal form. In addition, the concentration of sodium tetrachloride in the tetrahedral crystal form in the aqueous solution is 10
^It is preferably ^-12 to 10 ^-15 % by weight. In addition, since sodium chloride having a flat tetrahedral crystal form is taken out by recrystallization, iron chloride does not remain in the crystal.

The resonance magnetic field treatment of the sodium tetrachloride aqueous solution having a flat tetrahedral crystal form can be performed by applying a weak alternating magnetic field shown in FIG. The alternating magnetic field changes its polarity every t ₁ seconds and, after applying a pair of magnetic fields of polarities, maintains a resting state (magnetic field 0) for t ₂ seconds. t ₁ second is preferably 3 to 12 seconds, t ₂ second is preferably 3 to 12 seconds, and t ₁ =
t ₂ is preferred. As a specific example, it is preferable to apply a magnetic field in the opposite direction for 3 seconds after applying a magnetic field for 3 seconds, pause for a time twice as long as the magnetic field of each polarity (6 seconds), and similarly apply an alternating magnetic field every 3 seconds. . The frequency of such an alternating magnetic field is set so that the resonance magnetic field required for activation can be obtained.

The magnitude of the alternating magnetic field is 0.05 to 30 gauss (G)
Is preferred, for example 5G is preferred. The time for applying the alternating magnetic field may be 144 to 288 seconds in total. Further, the aqueous solution to which the alternating magnetic field is applied may be a concentrated solution, and for example, it may be diluted 1000 times or more after the resonant magnetic field treatment.

The treatment of the porous body with the resonant magnetic field water is carried out by immersing the porous body in the resonant magnetic field water and naturally drying it. The immersion time may be 1 to 24 hours, for example, about 3
It is preferable to set the time. It is presumed that the alumina whiskers come into contact with oxygen and carbon dioxide during the natural drying after the immersion in the resonance magnetic field water, and the state of the crystal tip changes.

The porous body treated with the resonant magnetic field water is effective as it is, but the effect is increased when the porous body is used while being wet with the resonant magnetic field water. Since the porous body having the alumina whiskers on its surface absorbs the resonance magnetic field water by the capillary phenomenon, as shown in FIG. 3, it is only necessary to moisten the lower end portion of the porous body 32 with the resonance magnetic field water 33. The entire 32 can be kept moist at all times. For this purpose, the resonance magnetic field water 33 may be placed in a suitable container 34, and the lower end of the porous body 32 may be immersed therein.

When the anion-added air comes into contact with the porous body 32 moistened with the resonance magnetic field water 33, not only the unpleasant odor is removed more sufficiently, but also the effect of activating the air is obtained. To be When the resonance magnetic field water 33 disappears after long-term operation, the water is replenished, but when the replenishment is repeated, sodium tetrachloride in a tetrahedral crystal form accumulates on the surface of the porous body 32. Since the resonance magnetic field water 32 is originally very dilute, sodium chloride accumulates slowly, but if it becomes too large, the porous body 32 may be washed with water.

[0035]

As described above in detail, in the air purifier of the present invention, the discharge wire of the anion generator is covered with the insulating tube, and the insulating tube is provided with small openings at both ends. Therefore, it is possible to generate anions while suppressing the generation of ozone as much as possible. In addition to the anion generator, it has a porous body moistened with resonant magnetic field water, so that air can be sufficiently purified and its activation can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an air purifier of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing the overall configuration of the air purifier of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the overall configuration of the air purifier of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a porous body chamber, (a) is a cross-sectional view, and (b) is a front view of a honeycomb-shaped porous body.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the porous body chamber.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a waveform of an alternating magnetic field for treating sodium tetrachloride-shaped water having a flat tetrahedral crystal form.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Blower 2 ... Anion generator 21 ... Discharge wire 22 ... Pipes 24, 25 ... Air retention chamber 28 ... Dust adsorbent 29 ... Insulation Flexible tube 29a, 29b ... ・ Opening 3 ... Porous body chamber 32 ... Porous body 33 ... Resonant magnetic field water 34 ... Container 4 ... Porous carbon Chamber 41 ... Porous carbon particles 42 ... Breathable bag 5 ... Filter

Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Naoto Fujimura 5-6-19 Higashiterao, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An air purifier having an anion generator, wherein an insulating coating is provided around a discharge wire for generating anions. 2. An air purifier having an anion generator, wherein the insulating coating is an insulating tube having an inner diameter such that an air layer is formed around the discharge wire. An air purifier characterized in that an opening is provided at an end thereof, the opening having a size such that an air layer containing anions can flow out. 3. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein the anion generator has a pipe covering the insulating coating and an air retention chamber connected to an inlet and an outlet of the pipe. An air purifier is characterized in that the flow velocity of the air flowing through the pipe is made constant by the air retention chamber. 4. The air purifier according to claim 1, further comprising a chamber having a porous body moistened with resonance magnetic field water downstream of the anion generator. vessel. 5. The air purifier according to claim 4, wherein
An air purifier characterized in that the porous body moistened with the resonance magnetic field water is a porous body having alumina whiskers on the surface. 6. The air purifier according to claim 5,
The resonant magnetic field water is an air characterized in that an alternating magnetic field of 0.05 to 30 gauss is applied to an aqueous solution containing sodium chloride having a flat tetrahedral crystal form or sodium chloride capable of forming sodium chloride and iron chloride. Purifier. 7. The air purifier according to claim 1, further comprising an air permeable packaging body containing porous carbon particles on the upstream side of the anion generator, the porous carbon particles. Is an air purifier characterized by being treated with the resonant magnetic field water. 8. The air purifier according to claim 7,
An air purifier characterized in that the porous carbon particles are crushed particles of charcoal.