JPH08299862A - Vapor generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To generate vapor without the ejection of water by fixing a porous thin film in a vapor passage between an evaporation chamber in which vapor is produced by heating with a heating unit such as a heater and the opening of an ejection nozzle,and spraying with the use of dew generated by the pressure difference between the front and rear of the film. CONSTITUTION: A vapor outlet is formed in an evaporation chamber 4 in which spray liquid 2 in an outer frame 1 is heated by a heating unit 3, and in the vapor outlet, a porous thin film 7 is held by a bush 8 on the upper surface of a cylinder part 6 communicating with the evaporation chamber 4. In an ejection nozzle 9, its opening 9a is formed to be exposed from the outer frame 1, the opening 9a and the evaporation chamber 4 are connected by a vapor passage. The spray liquid 2 in the chamber 4 heated by the heating unit 3 is evaporated to be led from the vapor outlet into the cylinder part 6, and the vapor is passed through the pores of the thin film 7 to produce dew by the pressure difference between the front and rear of the film 7 so that vapor with a particle size corresponding to the pores is sprayed from the opening 9a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steam generator such as an inhaler, a humidifier and a steam iron.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, steam generators include inhalers, humidifiers,
There are a wide variety of familiar products such as steam irons, but it is important to prevent burns caused by splashes of hot water and stains on clothes. Further, especially in the case of an inhaler, by changing the steam particle size, for example, treatment of relatively deep and shallow areas of the respiratory tract can be performed by one device, so adjustment of the steam particle size is regarded as an important point of performance. There is.

A conventional steam generator will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, water is put into a tank 102 contained in an outer shell 101 and heated by a heater 103 to generate steam, and the generated steam passes through a steam circulation hole 106 of a packing 105 as indicated by an arrow 104, It is led to the steam pipe 108 like 107. A jet nozzle 110 having a flow rate adjusting hole 109 for jetting high-speed steam by narrowing the inner diameter is provided at the tip of the steam pipe 108.
The baffle 111 was provided at an appropriate position on the axis straight line of 10.

The operation of the steam generator having the above structure will be described below. First, a hot water ball dances in the tank 102 and jumps upward.
02 and the flat surface of the packing 105 provided between the steam pipe 108 and the steam pipe 10
I will not jump into 8. Further, if the steam flow hole 10 is assumed.
Even if the hot water ball jumps into 6, the hot water ball does not reach the steam pipe 108 because it is not located on a straight line with the steam pipe 108. In addition, if the outer shell 101 should fall due to some kind of bounce, the bounce prevents the hot water in the tank 102 from flowing out of the steam flow hole 106 due to the falling portion formed around the steam flow hole 106. (See, for example, JP-B-63-34748).

Further, the steam ejected from the flow rate adjusting hole 109 through the steam pipe 108 collides with the baffle 111 provided on the front surface of the ejection nozzle 110 to form steam having an appropriate particle size.

[0006]

In the structure of such a conventional steam generator, an additional component for preventing jetting of molten metal and a space for forming a flow path are required, which makes the device large. was there.

Further, the position of the baffle needs to be adjusted in order to make the steam have an appropriate particle size. However, in the baffle adjustment, there is a problem that the particle size varies greatly and the adjusting operation is inconvenient for the user. there were.

The present invention solves the above problems, and a first object thereof is to provide a small-sized steam generator in which no molten metal is ejected.

A second object is to make it possible to easily change the particle size of steam ejected according to the purpose of use.

A third object is to make it possible to change the particle size of steam to be sprayed according to the purpose of use by a simple operation.

[0011]

A first means for achieving the first object of the present invention is to provide an evaporation chamber which is heated by a heating element such as a heater to generate steam and communicates with the evaporation chamber. A jet nozzle provided so as to discharge steam to the outside, and a thin film having fine holes provided in a vapor flow path between the vaporization chamber and the jet outlet of the jet nozzle are provided, and a pressure difference between the front and rear of the thin film is provided. It is configured to be sprayed by using the dew condensation caused by.

A second means for achieving the second object is configured such that the thin film is sandwiched between bushes and is exchangeably provided in the vapor flow path.

A third means for achieving the third object is to provide a plurality of ejection nozzles, and a thin film in which the size of the fine holes is provided in each ejection nozzle.
A switching valve that switches the vapor flow path of each of the ejection nozzles is provided, and the particle size of the spray steam ejected by switching the switching valve is made variable.

[0014]

According to the present invention, with the construction of the first means described above, a molten metal ball dances with the generation of vapor in the evaporation chamber, and when it jumps upward, it hits a thin film, and vapor vapor, which is a gas, passes, but a molten metal, which is a liquid, bounces off. It is possible to completely prevent ejection from the ejection nozzle. Moreover, since the pressure in the downstream of the thin film is lower than that in the upstream of the thin film due to the pressure loss of the thin film, the vapor that is a gas passing through the thin film is rapidly cooled and starts to form dew condensation, and grows into steam having an appropriate particle size and can be ejected from the ejection nozzle. Further, according to the second configuration, since the thin film can be exchanged for a thin film having a different size of the micropores via the bushes holding the thin film, it is possible to eject steam having a particle size according to the purpose.

Further, according to the third structure, a vapor flow path corresponding to a thin film having fine holes capable of ejecting steam having a desired particle size can be formed by an operation of switching a switching valve, and a desired particle can be formed by a simple operation. A steam of diameter can be spouted.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, a spray liquid 2 such as water or a chemical liquid is put in an outer frame 1 for housing the apparatus, and an evaporation chamber 4 heated by a heating element 3 such as a heater is provided in the evaporation chamber 4. Forms a steam discharge port 5 through which steam is discharged. The vapor discharge port 5 is provided with a cylindrical portion 6 having a flow path communicating with the evaporation chamber 4, and a thin film 7 having a micro hole (not shown) of several μ to several tens μ is formed on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 6. It is held by the bush 8. The ejection nozzle 9 has an ejection port 9a at its tip, and the ejection port 9a is provided so as to be exposed from the outer frame 1. A vapor passage 10 is provided between the ejection port 9a of the ejection nozzle 9 and the evaporation chamber 4.
To communicate with each other.

In the above structure, the spray liquid 2 in the evaporation chamber 4 heated by the heating element 3 evaporates and enters the flow path in the tubular portion 6 through the vapor discharge port 5 of the evaporation chamber 4, and the vapor is formed in the thin film 7. After passing through the micropores, condensation starts due to the pressure difference across the thin film 7,
Steam having a particle size corresponding to the minute holes is sprayed from the jet port 9a of the jet nozzle 9.

Although a molten metal can be produced together with the steam generated in the evaporation chamber 4, the molten metal does not hit the thin film 7 and bounce back to be ejected from the ejection port 9a of the ejection nozzle 9.

As described above, according to the steam generator of the first embodiment of the present invention, since the thin film 7 having fine holes is provided in the steam flow path 10, the steam containing the molten metal generated in the evaporation chamber 2 is generated. Of these, only steam passes through the thin film 7, and only steam having a particle size corresponding to the size of the micropores spouts out the spout 9 of the nozzle.
Since it is sprayed from a, the molten metal can be prevented from being ejected from the ejection port 9a, and the structure can be simplified and the size can be reduced.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, a jet nozzle 9 is detachably provided on the upper portion of the tubular portion 6 so that the bush 8 holding the thin film 7 can be replaced.

In this embodiment, a lower recess 6a into which the lower half of the bush 8 fits is formed in the tubular portion 6, and an upper recess 9b into which the upper half of the bush 8 fits is formed in the ejection nozzle 9 to form the lower recess. The bush 8 is clamped by 6a and the upper recess 9b.

With the above construction, when it is desired to increase the particle size of the steam to be sprayed, the ejection nozzle 9 is removed, and the thin film 7 having large fine holes is replaced with a bush 8 to replace the pressure difference before and after the thin film 7. Changes, the degree of dew condensation changes, and steam with a large particle size is formed and sprayed from the ejection port 9a of the ejection nozzle 9.

When it is desired to reduce the steam particle size, the thin film 7 having small micropores may be replaced.

Thus, according to the second embodiment of the present invention,
Since the thin film 7 can be exchanged through the bush 8 by holding the thin film 7 between the bushes 8 and attaching and detaching the jet nozzle 9, it is possible to easily obtain the thin film 7 having fine holes capable of spraying vapor of a desired particle size. It can be replaced and it is easier to use.

Although the bush 8 is used to replace the thin film 7 in the second embodiment, the bush 8 may be integrated with the jet nozzle 9 and there is no difference in its function and effect.

The third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in the first and second embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, the vapor discharge port 5 of the evaporation chamber 4
A first tubular portion 6a and a second tubular portion 6b that form a flow path are provided via a switching valve 11, and the switching valve 11 is configured such that the first tubular portion 6a or the second tubular portion 6b has a vapor discharge port 5 It is configured to switch so as to communicate with. Then, the first tubular portion 6a
Is provided with a first ejection nozzle 9c provided with a thin film 7a having large fine holes, and a second ejection nozzle 9d provided with a thin film 7b having small fine holes is provided in the second tubular portion 6b.

In the above structure, when it is desired to increase the steam particle size, the switching valve 11 is operated to move the evaporation chamber 4
By connecting the discharge port 5 to the first cylindrical portion 6a, steam passes through the thin film 7a having large micropores, and dew condensation occurs due to a pressure difference between the thin film 7a and the thin film 7a. It is sprayed from the jet nozzle 9c.

When it is desired to reduce the particle size of steam, the switching valve 11 is operated to connect the discharge port 5 of the evaporation chamber 4 to the second tubular portion 6b, so that the thin film 7b having small micropores is formed. As a result, steam having a small particle diameter is sprayed from the second jet nozzle 9d by the same action as described above.

As described above, according to the steam generator of the third embodiment of the present invention, by switching the switching valve 11, the steam having different particle diameters condensed by the thin film 7a with large fine holes or the thin film 7b with small fine holes is formed. Since it is possible to spray, steam can be easily sprayed according to the purpose of use by a simple operation of switching the switching valve 11.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, an evaporation chamber for generating steam heated by a heating element such as a heater is communicated with the evaporation chamber to discharge steam to the outside. And a thin film having micropores provided in the vapor flow path between the evaporation chamber and the ejection port of the ejection nozzle, using condensation formed by the pressure difference between the front and rear of the thin film. Since it is configured to be sprayed, it is possible to provide a small-sized steam generator in which no molten metal is ejected.

Further, since the thin film is sandwiched by bushes and provided in the vapor flow path so that it can be exchanged, it can be easily replaced with a thin film capable of spraying steam having a desired particle size, which improves usability.

Further, a plurality of jet nozzles are provided,
Each of the jet nozzles is provided with a thin film provided to change the size of the fine holes and a switching valve for switching the vapor flow path of each of the jet nozzles, and the particle diameter of the steam jetted can be varied by switching the switching valve. Since it is configured, it is possible to easily spray steam according to the purpose of use by a simple operation of switching the switching valve.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of a steam generator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a steam generator according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of a conventional steam generator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 heating element 4 evaporation chamber 7 thin film 7a thin film 7b thin film 8 bush 9 ejection nozzle 9a ejection port 9c ejection nozzle 9d ejection nozzle 10 vapor passage 11 switching valve

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location F24F 6/18 F24F 6/18

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An evaporation chamber which is heated by a heating element such as a heater to generate steam, an ejection nozzle which communicates with the evaporation chamber and is provided to emit steam to the outside, and an ejection chamber and an ejection nozzle. A steam generator comprising: a thin film having micropores provided in a steam flow path between the thin film and an outlet, and spraying using dew condensation caused by a pressure difference between the thin film and the thin film. 2. The steam generator according to claim 1, wherein the thin film is sandwiched between bushes and is exchangeably provided in the steam flow path. 3. A switching valve for switching the switching valve, comprising a plurality of ejection nozzles, a thin film provided in each ejection nozzle with a size of a micro hole being changed, and a switching valve for switching a vapor flow path of each of the ejection nozzles. The steam generator according to claim 1, wherein the atomizing steam ejected by means of the composition has a variable particle size.