JPH10146075A - Controllable transduction of electric energy into mechanical energy with micromotor using decandioic acid dibuthyl and energy transduction and controllable transduction of energy using electro-sensitive medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently transduce electric energy applied as a DC voltage to an electro-sensitive medium into a mechanical energy. SOLUTION: In this method, an electrode and a rotor is arranged in an electro-sensitive medium such as decandioic acid dibuthyl, a DC voltage is applied across electrodes, moving flow of the electro-sensitive medium in the velocity corresponding to the applied voltage is formed across the electrodes, and the rotor is rotated by this moving flow to obtain an electric energy by transducing it into a mechanical energy. Energy transduction can be controlled by adjusting the applied voltage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for converting electric energy into mechanical energy by using dibutyl decandioate as an electro-sensitive working medium.

[0002] The invention also relates to a method for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy using an electrically responsive working medium. Further, the present invention uses an electro-sensitive working medium,
The present invention relates to an energy conversion control method for controlling the magnitude of mechanical energy obtained by converting electric energy by controlling applied electric energy.

[0003]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is known that when an electric field is applied to an insulating liquid, the characteristics of the liquid vary depending on the type of the liquid. For example, a liquid crystal applies a voltage to a liquid crystal compound in a liquid crystal layer that is intermediate between a solid layer and a liquid layer,
A visible image or the like is formed by controlling the orientation of the liquid crystal compound and the like to adjust the light transmittance. However, even when an electric field is formed in the liquid crystal compound, the liquid crystal compound regulated by the alignment plate is not released from such regulation and does not flow freely.

[0004] In addition, there is also known a liquid which exhibits an effect (an electrorheological effect or a Winslow effect) that characteristics such as viscosity of the liquid are changed by applying a voltage. However, the electrorheological effect or the Winslow effect is a heterogeneous system in which silica gel, cellulose, kazain, a polystyrene-based ion exchange resin, etc. are blended with insulating oil, and these blended components (solids) are dispersed. Due to its low stability during storage.

[0005] Further, lubricants having an electrorheological effect have been proposed as lubricating oils for automobiles and the like, but these lubricants are actually heterogeneous and have a problem in stability during storage and the like.

Further, JP-A-6-57274 and JP-A-6-73390 disclose an invention of an electrosensitive composition in which a specific fluorine compound is blended in an insulating oil.

[0007] However, the compositions described in these publications are both mixtures of insulating oil and a specific fluorine compound. As a worldwide trend, the use of fluorine compounds has been shunned.

[0008]

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a method for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy using butyl decane diate as an electro-sensitive working medium.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for converting electric energy into mechanical energy using an electro-sensitive working medium. Another object of the present invention is to provide an energy conversion control method for controlling the magnitude of mechanical energy obtained by converting the electric energy by controlling the applied electric energy.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, at least a pair of electrodes and a rotor are arranged in dibutyl decanoate, a DC voltage is applied between the electrodes, and a decane filter having a speed corresponding to the applied voltage is applied between the electrodes. There is a method in which a moving flow of dibutyl acid is formed, and the rotor is rotated by the moving flow to convert electric energy into mechanical energy.

[0011] Further, the present invention provides a method in which at least a pair of electrodes are arranged in an electro-sensitive working medium, a voltage is applied between the electrodes, and a speed corresponding to the applied electric energy is applied to the electro-sensitive working medium between the electrodes. And forming a moving flow of the electro-sensitive working medium and extracting fluid energy of the moving flow of the electro-sensitive working medium as mechanical energy.

The electro-sensitive working medium used here is a substantially insulating organic compound, and the conductivity σ of such a liquid insulating organic compound is usually from 1 × 10 ⁻¹⁷ to 1 × 10 ^−17.
It is within the range of × 10 ^-1 S / m.

In the electro-sensitive working medium used in the present invention, in the graph shown in FIG. 17 in which the vertical axis represents viscosity and the horizontal axis represents conductivity, points P, Q,
It is a compound having viscosity and conductivity located inside a right triangle having the point R as an apex, or a mixture of two or more compounds prepared to have viscosity and conductivity located inside this triangle.

[0014]

[Table 1]

Further, according to the present invention, at least a pair of electrodes are arranged in a container filled with an electro-sensitive working medium, and a DC voltage applied between the electrodes is varied within a range of 0.1 V to 10 kV. The electric energy is converted into fluid energy of the electro-sensitive working medium by controlling the flow velocity and moving direction of the moving flow of the electro-sensitive working medium in proportion to the applied DC voltage, and There is a method of converting fluid energy into mechanical energy and extracting it.

According to the present invention, at least a pair of electrodes and a rotor are arranged in a container filled with an electro-sensitive working medium, and a DC voltage applied between the electrodes is set to 0.1 V to 10 V.
The method is a method in which the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the rotor are controlled in a range of kV and in proportion to the applied DC voltage.

When an electric field is applied to a certain kind of insulating liquid ("electrically responsive working medium" in the present invention), an electric force is generated inside the fluid due to the non-uniformity of conductivity and dielectric constant. .
In a DC electric field, a Coulomb force acting on a free charge becomes more dominant than a dielectrophoretic force, and this Coulomb force causes hydrodynamic instability and generates convection or secondary flow of an electro-sensitive working medium. This phenomenon is known as electrohydrodynamics (Ele
ctrohydrodynamic) effect (EHD effect).

The present inventor has found that by utilizing the EHD effect, electrical energy can be easily converted to mechanical energy, and the EHD effect can be easily converted.
We succeeded in specifying an insulating liquid that could produce an effect.
That is, although the electro-sensitive working medium used in the present invention is essentially an insulating liquid, a very small amount of current flows when an electric field is applied. When the DC voltage is applied as described above, the electro-sensitive working medium moves by the EHD effect, and a moving flow is formed by the movement of the electro-sensitive working medium. The strength (or amount) of this moving flow varies depending on the applied DC voltage. Therefore, by capturing the movement of the electro-sensitive working medium and taking it out, the electric energy can be converted into mechanical energy and used.

The present inventor has assumed that the movement of the electro-sensitive working medium in the present invention is due to the EHD effect. However, this will be explained at the present time by explaining the phenomenon occurring in the present invention. The present inventors presume that the “EHD effect” is the most appropriate, and does not conclude that the phenomenon occurring in the present invention is due to the “EDH effect”.

[0020]

Next, the method for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy according to the present invention will be described in detail.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of an apparatus used in the method of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows an example of the arrangement of the electrodes in the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of the electrodes in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 1 shows the transfer energy of an electro-sensitive working medium such as dibutyl decane diacid by applying a DC voltage to the electro-sensitive working medium such as dibutyl decane diate to move the dibutyl decane diacid. It is a figure which shows typically the apparatus which converts and converts into rotational energy and takes out. This device is a kind of actuator and has the following configuration.

This device (SE-type ECF motor) 1 comprises a bottomed cylindrical medium storage portion 2 filled with an electro-sensitive operating medium 22 such as dibutyl decanoate, a lid 4 of the medium storage portion 2, , The electro-sensitive working medium 2 inside the medium housing 2
The blade 2 has a blade rotor 18 which rotates by sensing the movement of the working medium when the blade 2 moves by application of a voltage. Here, the electrodes 3a,.
A slit 13 for arranging 3h is formed by cutting from the upper edge of the medium container 2. Further, fixing members 14 and 15 for fixing the electrodes 3a... 3h inserted from the slits 13 to the inner peripheral wall surface of the medium accommodation portion are formed inside the medium accommodation portion 2.

The wing rotor 18 is located at the center of the lid 4.
A through hole 19 into which the rotating shaft is fitted is formed. The blade rotor 18 includes a bearing 23 provided at the center of the bottom of the medium storage unit 2 and a plurality of blade plates 6 joined to a rotation shaft rotatably fixed by a through hole 19.

The medium container 2, the lid 4, and the blade rotor 18
Is usually formed of plastic or the like which is an insulating material. In order to visually confirm the rotation of the wing rotor 18, it is preferable that the medium accommodating portion 2 and the lid 4 are formed of a plastic having transparency. The colors are preferably different from each other for confirmation of the rotation speed.

The electrodes 3a... 3h are introduced from the slit 13 into the inside of the medium accommodating section 2 and are arranged along the inner wall surface of the medium accommodating section 2 so as not to hinder the rotation of the blade rotor 18.
Stretched in the bottom direction. These electrodes 3a ... 3h
Insulated from each other.

The above-described apparatus 1 was created mainly for the purpose of confirming the movement of the electro-sensitive working medium 22 such as dibutyl decanoate by the rotation of the blade rotor 18. However, in such a rotating device, it is only necessary to ensure an insulation state between the electrodes 3a to 3h.
In addition to being formed of various insulating materials such as ceramics and metal having been subjected to insulating treatment, a medium can be accommodated through an insulating material or subjected to insulating treatment so that the electrodes 3a to 3h do not conduct with each other. If it is mounted on the section 2, the medium accommodating section 2, the lid 4, the blade rotor 18 and the like may be formed of a conductive metal or the like.

The dibutyl decandioate 22 is inserted into the medium accommodating section 2 so that the medium does not flow out of the slit 13 and most of the blade 6 is buried in the medium.
Is applied with a DC voltage. Here, the rotation direction of the blade rotor 18 can be controlled by the arrangement of the positive electrode and the negative electrode. For example, if the electrodes 3a, 3c, 3e, 3g are positive electrodes and the electrodes 3b, 3d, 3f, 3h are negative electrodes, the positive electrodes and the negative electrodes are alternately arranged. There is no systematic uniformity in the rotation direction, and in this case, the rotation direction of the blade rotor 18 cannot be controlled. However, for example, the electrodes 3a, 3e are positive electrodes, the electrodes 3b, 3f are negative electrodes, and the electrodes 3c, 3d, 3g,
If 3h is a dummy electrode, the flow from the electrode 3a to the electrode 3b and the flow from the electrode 3e to the electrode 3f become dominant,
Therefore, the rotation direction of the blade rotor 18 can be controlled clockwise as indicated by the arrow in FIG.

As a voltage application method, in addition to the above-described fixed application method in which a voltage is applied to an electrode at a specific position, 3
There is a fluctuation application method in which a voltage and an electrode are sequentially switched with time and applied to eight electrodes a to 3h [n electrodes from 1 to n (n is an integer)]. That is, for example, a positive voltage is applied to the electrodes 3a and 3e, a negative voltage is applied to the electrodes 3b and 3f, and the electrodes with numbers 3c, 3d, 3g, and 3h are dummy electrodes. After applying the voltage in this manner, one second later, a positive voltage is applied to the electrodes 3b and 3f, a negative voltage is applied to the electrodes 3c and 3g, and the electrodes numbered 3d, 3e, 3h, and 3a are dummy electrodes. As shown in the above example, there is a method (fluctuation applying method) of sequentially switching and applying a positive voltage and a negative voltage between the laid electrodes. In this case, in addition to switching positive / negative / no-voltage at once, it is also effective to add a constant delay condition to each application switching. The advantage of such a fluctuation application method is that the applied voltage can be reduced, and the utility is particularly high when a high applied voltage cannot be used or when the apparatus is large.

The rotation speed of the blade rotor 18 increases and decreases substantially in proportion to the applied voltage until the rotation speed becomes equal to or higher than the initial rotation voltage and reaches a constant speed. In the present invention, as described above, the electrode 3
a ... 3h is an SE-type ECF motor (Stator-electrode)
type electro-conjugate fluid motor).

In the SE type ECF motor shown in FIG.
The diameter of the cylindrical medium container 2 (the diameter of the medium container in the present invention represents the inner diameter of the cylindrical medium container unless otherwise specified) is 25 mm, and the diameter of the cylindrical medium container 2 is 25 mm. The height is 60 mm, the height of the blade rotor 18 is 25 mm, and the diameter is 0.8 mm.
The height of the electrodes 3a ... 3h consisting of stainless steel round bars is 30m
m, blade rotor 1 having a diameter of 20 mm and eight blades 6
8 is prepared, and an SE type ECF motor in which the medium accommodating portion 2 is filled with dibutyl decane diate is prepared, and electrodes 3a to 3h are disposed as shown in FIG. Is applied, the wing rotor 18 starts rotating. FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the applied voltage and the rotation speed at this time. When the number of blades of the blade rotor 18 is changed to 2 to 8 and the rotation speed is measured similarly, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotation speed of the blade rotor 18 increases as the number of blades 6 increases. It turns out that it becomes. The applied voltage at this time is 6 kV.

From the above experiment, it can be confirmed that the smaller the electrode interval, the higher the rotation speed, the larger the number of electrode pairs, the higher the rotation speed, and the influence of the electrode pair interval on the rotation speed is small.

Using the SE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the output torque of the SE-type ECF motor was measured with the angle between the electrodes fixed at 23 ° and the applied voltage fixed at 6 kV. In the present invention, the measuring device shown in FIG. 5 was used for measuring the output torque.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 30 denotes the SE of the present invention.
Type ECF motor or RE type ECF motor, reference numerals 31 and 31 are strain gauges, reference numeral 32 is a micrometer, reference numeral 33 is a micrometer head,
Reference numeral 34 denotes a rotating shaft, and reference numeral 35 denotes a wire stretched between the left and right beams attached to the strain gauges 31, 31, respectively.
It is wound once.

When the rotating shaft 34 rotates, a tension difference is generated between the left and right wires, and the tension difference is measured with a strain gauge to obtain an output torque (μN · m). That is, SE
Wire 34 for the rotating shaft 34 of the type ECF motor
Is given as a load torque by applying a friction torque (DF / 2) when the wire is wound once, and a difference (T ₁ −
T ₂ ) is assumed to be equal to the frictional force F acting in the output shaft direction, and the output torque is determined as D (T ₁ −T ₂ ) / 2.

In a medium container having a diameter of 20 mm, a diameter of 17 m
FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the rotation speed and the output torque when the m, 13 mm, and 9 mm blade rotors are arranged. In the present invention, “the diameter of the blade rotor” represents the rotation diameter of the blade rotor in which a plurality of blades are laid on the rotation shaft. The diameter of the blade rotor 18 is 1
It can be seen that the maximum torque is obtained when the distance is 7 mm. From FIG. 8, it can be seen that the moving flow of dibutyl decanedioate causes the blade rotor 18 to rotate efficiently, and electrical energy to be efficiently converted to rotational energy. When the rotation speed increases, the output torque decreases linearly. The current flowing during the measurement of the rotation torque is almost constant at 2.2 μA regardless of the diameter of the blade rotor and the output torque.

Next, the output power density was measured with the ratio of the diameter of the blade rotor 18 to the diameter of the medium container 2 fixed at about 0.8, and the sizes of the blade rotor and the medium container were changed. As shown in FIG. When the ratio between the diameter of the blade rotor 18 and the diameter of the medium storage unit 2 is set to a constant value of about 0.8, the smaller the diameter of the medium storage unit 2, the higher the output torque can be obtained for the same rotational speed. Is almost constant, 4.5 μA when the diameter of the medium container 2 is 12 mm, 3.2 μA when the diameter of the medium container 2 is 16 mm, and 2.2 μA when the diameter of the medium container 2 is 20 mm. is there.

Referring to FIG. 9, when the output power and the energy conversion efficiency when the medium accommodating section 2 having a diameter of 12 mm and when the medium accommodating section 2 having a diameter of 9 mm are used are obtained, respectively, 0 is obtained. .30 mW, 1.1%.

From FIG. 9, it can be seen that if the ratio between the blade rotor and the medium housing is constant, the smaller the diameter of the medium housing, the higher the output torque. That is, FIG.
The E-type ECF motor suggests that it is suitable for miniaturization.

Therefore, the output power density per volume of the SE type ECF motor was determined based on the measurement results of FIG. 9, and the results are shown in FIG. As is apparent from FIG.
The output power density of the E-type ECF motor is remarkably improved with miniaturization.

As described above, the SE-type ECF motor using the electro-sensitive working medium such as dibutyl decane diate has a simple structure and can be driven by a simple DC power supply that does not require switching. It has characteristics suitable for Then, the SE-type ECF motor using the electro-sensitive working medium such as dibutyl decane diate can efficiently convert the electric energy into the rotational movement of the blade rotor 18 which is the mechanical energy.

To convert electrical energy to mechanical energy using an electro-sensitive working medium such as dibutyl decane diate, the SE type E as described above with reference to FIGS.
Devices other than CF motors can be used.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing another example of a rotating body for an electro-sensitive working medium such as dibutyl decane diate. In FIG. 2, the rotating body for the electro-sensitive working medium (RE
Type ECF motor) 40 is a bottomed medium storage section 41 for storing an electro-sensitive operation medium 22 such as dibutyl decane diate.
And a lid 44 that fits into the upper release portion of the medium storage portion 41 and seals the medium storage portion 41. The lid 44 fits into the upper opening of the medium storage portion 41. By doing so, a housing closed by the lid 44 and the medium housing portion 41 is formed.

The medium accommodating portion 41 forming the housing has a bottomed shape and is usually made of a synthetic resin (eg, Teflon, polycarbonate, acrylic, etc.) which does not erode the filled electro-sensitive operating medium, ceramics, wood, metal , Glass and the like. Further, the medium accommodating portion 41 may be formed of a conductive material such as a metal such as stainless steel. However, if the insulating property between the electrodes is impaired, the medium containing portion 41 may be subjected to an electrical insulating process or an electrical insulating process. It is preferably formed of a substance.

A bearing 48 is provided at the center of the bottom 49 of the medium storage section 41. The bearing 48 supports the lower end of the rotating shaft 45, and has a rotating contact 60 for electrically connecting the second external terminal 52 and the second electrode 42. A conductor is led from the rotary contact 60 along the inner peripheral wall of the medium accommodating portion 41, and the conductor led out of the housing forms a second external terminal 52.
In addition, a bearing mechanism or the like can be incorporated in the bearing 48 for supporting the lower end of the rotating shaft of the rotary contact 60 in order to reduce the coefficient of friction with the rotating shaft 45.

The upper portion of the medium container 41 is opened to fill the electro-sensitive working medium 22. Lid 44
Forms a hermetically sealed housing by filling the medium containing portion 41 with the electro-sensitive working medium 22 and then fitting the medium into the opened upper portion of the medium containing portion 41. This lid 4
4 can be formed of the same material as that of the medium storage section 41.

The cover 44 further has a shaft hole 47 at the center thereof through which the rotating shaft 45 penetrates. This shaft hole 4
7 is provided with a rotary contact 50 that supplies electricity to the second electrode 43 via the rotary shaft 45. Rotating shaft 4
In order to reduce the coefficient of friction between the shaft 5 and the shaft hole 47, a bearing mechanism or the like can be incorporated. This rotary contact 50
And the first conductive terminal 53 is formed to form the first external terminal 53.
In these rotary contacts 50, 60, mercury can be used as a conductor.

In FIG. 2, the lid 44 is formed so as to fit into the medium storage portion 41. However, in order to further enhance the hermeticity of the housing, the medium storage portion 41 and the lid 44 are formed.
May be screwed together, and the sealing property can be further improved by interposing a packing or the like between the medium storage portion 41 and the lid 44.

The rotating shaft 45 is divided into an upper portion and a lower portion by a cylindrical rotor 46 provided in the medium accommodating portion 41, and the upper rotating shaft 45a and the lower rotating shaft 45b are electrically insulated. . The upper rotation shaft 45a is
Is rotatably supported through a shaft hole 47 provided in
On the other hand, the lower end of the lower rotating shaft 45b is connected to a bearing 48 provided at the center of the bottom 49 of the medium housing 41.
It is rotatably supported by. This upper rotating shaft 4
A cylindrical rotor 46 that rotates together with the rotation shaft 45 inside the medium accommodating portion 41 is disposed between the lower rotation shaft 5b and the lower rotation shaft 45b. The cylindrical rotor 46 has a cylindrical shape with the rotation shaft 45 as the center axis of rotation.
A gap is formed so as not to come into contact with the inner peripheral wall surface of No. 1. The inner diameter of the medium storage portion 41 and the cylindrical rotor 4
6 (the inner diameter of the medium container 41 / the rotor 46).
Is usually 1.01 or more, especially 1.05 to
It is preferably in the range of 10.0. Further, for example, the inner diameter of the medium storage section 41 is set to 30 mm or less, and the ratio of the inner diameter of the medium storage section 41 to the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 is set to 1.
By reducing the size of the rotating body within the range of 5 to 3.0, the rotational torque at the same rotational speed increases. That is, this rotating body (RE-type ECF motor) has a characteristic that its performance is further improved by miniaturization.

The cylindrical rotor 46 is not limited to a cylindrical shape, but may be of a rectangular parallelepiped shape, one having a large number of projections on its surface, or a star-shaped cross section, depending on the purpose of use. Further, the cylindrical rotor 46 can be made hollow,
In the case of a hollow shape, the hollow portion can be filled with vacuum, air, gas, liquid, solid, or the like, and its weight can be variously adjusted. By adjusting the weight of the cylindrical rotor 46, the specific gravity of the cylindrical rotor 46 in the electro-sensitive working medium can be adjusted, and the mobility or balance of the cylindrical rotor 46 can be adjusted.

A first electrode 43 and a second electrode 42 are formed on the surface of the cylindrical tubular rotor 46 as described above. The first electrode 43 is connected to an external terminal 53 by a rotary contact 50 via an upper rotary shaft 45a. The second electrode 42 is connected to an external terminal 52 by a rotary contact 60 via a lower rotary shaft 45b. The first
The electrode 43 and the second electrode 42 are electrically insulated.

The first electrode 43 and the second electrode 42
It can be formed by extending a conducting wire on the cylindrical surface of the cylindrical rotor 46. First electrode 43 and second electrode 4
2 can be set as appropriate. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a layout view of electrodes when the cylindrical rotor 46 is viewed from above.
Angle θ between electrodes formed by first electrode 43 and second electrode 42
Is usually 1.0 ° to 180 °, preferably 3.0 ° to 9 °.
The first electrode 43 and the second electrode 42 are stretched at 0.0 °. Since the inter-electrode angle θ varies depending on the number of electrodes to be stretched, in order to set the inter-electrode angle θ to the above value, the first electrode 43 and the second electrode 42 are used.
1 to 60 can be installed. In addition,
In FIG. 4, reference numeral 46 denotes a cylindrical rotor, and 53a denotes a lead derived from the first electrode 43, which is incorporated into the upper rotary shaft 45a or which is connected to the upper rotary shaft 45a itself by using a conductor. The rotation shaft 45a can also be integrated.

Reference numeral 52a denotes a lead derived from the second electrode 42, which is incorporated in the lower rotary shaft 45b, or which is integrated with the lower rotary shaft 45b using a conductor. It can also be converted.

The medium accommodating section 41 having the above configuration
Include an electro-sensitive working medium 22 such as dibutyl decandioate.
Is filled. In the present invention, an actuator having electrodes disposed on the surface of the cylindrical rotor 46 is referred to as an RE-type ECF.
Motor (Rotor-electrode type electro-conjugate flui
d motor).

FIGS. 2 and 4 show an example in which a tubular type rotor 46 formed of a tubular member is disposed inside the medium accommodating portion 41 to manufacture an RE-type ECF motor. The height of the cylindrical rotor 46 and the length of the electrode are both 50 mm. The upper rotating shaft 45a of the cylindrical rotor 46 is a stainless steel round bar having a diameter of 1 mm. Electric power is supplied to the rotor electrode through a rotating contact using mercury. The bearing of the output shaft uses a ball bearing to reduce friction torque.

In the same manner as above, FIG. 11 shows the characteristics when the diameter of the medium accommodating portion 41 is 24 mm and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 is 20 mm, and the electrode interval is changed. As is clear from FIG. 11, the electrode interval has almost no effect on the rotation speed of the cylindrical rotor 46. That is, the characteristics of the RE type ECF motor cannot be determined only by the equivalent electric field obtained by dividing the voltage by the electrode interval. Assuming that the peripheral speed of the no-load rotation speed is substantially equal to the flow speed of the moving flow of dibutyl decane diate, the peripheral speed is about 12
It is 0 mm / s, which suggests that the RE-type ECF motor can be rotated at a higher speed by reducing its size.

Next, the electrode interval is fixed to 23 °, the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 is set to 10 mm, and the diameter of the main medium portion 41 is set to 1 mm.
FIG. 12 shows the relationship between the rotational speed and the output torque when the values are changed to 4 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, and 40 mm. Medium storage section 41
It can be seen that a high torque can be obtained when the diameter is 14 mm, which is the minimum, but the no-load rotation speed decreases. this is,
Although the distance between the medium accommodating portion 41 and the cylindrical rotor 46 is small, the moving flow of dibutyl decanoate can be efficiently converted into rotational motion by viscous force. This is probably because the rotation speed cannot be obtained.

Next, the ratio between the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 and the diameter of the medium accommodating portion 41 is set to about 0.8, and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 and the diameter of the medium accommodating portion 41 are changed to rotate. FIG. 13 shows the relationship between the speed and the output torque. Medium storage unit 4
It can be seen that the smaller the diameter of No. 1 is, the larger the output torque at the same rotation speed is, and the larger the change amount of the rotation speed with respect to the load torque is. From FIG. 13, the diameter of the medium accommodating portion 41 is 14 mm, and the diameter of the
When the maximum value of the output power in the case of mm is obtained, the maximum value of the output power is 0.32 mW.

FIG. 15 shows the relationship between the rotational speed and the output torque when the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 is 30 mm and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 41 is 10 mm, 16 mm and 20 mm. It can be seen that high output torque is obtained when the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 41 is 20 mm.

Next, the ratio between the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 and the diameter of the medium accommodating section 41 is about 0.5, and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor 46 and the diameter of the medium accommodating section 41 are changed to rotate. FIG. 16 shows the relationship between the speed and the output torque. Medium storage unit 4
It can be seen that the smaller the diameter of No. 1 is, the larger the output torque at the same rotation speed is, and the larger the change amount of the rotation speed with respect to the load torque is.

The output power density per motor volume of the RE type ECF motor was calculated from FIG. FIG. 14 shows the results. It can be seen that also in this RE type ECF motor, the output power density increases as the size decreases.

When comparing the SE type ECF motor with the RE type ECF motor, the SE type ECF motor
Although the output power is larger than that of the F motor, the RE type ECF motor is superior in terms of fluctuation of the rotation speed due to load torque.

Further, the SE type ECF motor and the RE type E
In both CF motors, the output is increased by selecting the ratio between the rotor diameter and the diameter of the medium storage section. In the above experiment,
Although dibutyl decane diate was used as the electro-sensitive working medium, the SE-type ECF motor and the RE-type ECF motor operate not only with di-butyl decane di-acid but also with other electro-sensitive working media.

The present inventor has already filed an application for an electro-sensitive working medium that can be used for an SE-type ECF motor and an RE-type ECF motor driven by applying a DC voltage between the electrodes as described above (Japanese Patent Application Japanese Patent Application No. 8-16871, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-16872, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-762
No. 59). However, since the mechanism of the flow of the insulating liquid by applying a DC voltage to the insulating liquid was almost unknown, so-called general insulating liquids were structurally divided into groups, and SE-type ECF motors and RE-type ECFs were used. A group of compounds that can be actually driven by driving using a motor has been found, and these compounds have been described in the claims.

As described above, the compound that can be used as the electro-sensitive working medium in the present invention needs to have a specific structure. From the behavior, it was found that the performance as the electro-sensitive working medium was greatly affected by the conductivity and the viscosity. Hereinafter, the electro-sensitive working medium will be described in terms of conductivity and viscosity.

In general, when a liquid called an insulating liquid is measured for electric conductivity σ and viscosity η at an electric field strength of 2 kVmm ^-1 and a temperature of 25 ° C., the insulating liquid shown here is
All are Newtonian fluids and are distributed as shown in FIG.

When the SE type ECF motor and the RE type ECF motor are driven by using these insulating liquids, these insulating liquids include those which can drive the motor and those which cannot. There is. In FIG. 17, a fluid that can drive the SE-type ECF motor and the RE-type ECF motor is represented by ◆, and a fluid that cannot be driven is represented by ◇.

The insulating liquid usable as the electro-sensitive working medium in the present invention has the following points P, Q and R in the graph (FIG. 17) in which the vertical axis represents viscosity and the horizontal axis represents conductivity. Or a mixture of two or more compounds prepared so as to have a viscosity and an electric conductivity located inside a right triangle having an apex as an apex.

[0069]

[Table 2]

The electrically responsive working medium used here is substantially an insulating liquid, and the conductivity σ of such a liquid insulating liquid is usually measured at an electric field strength of 2 kVmm ⁻¹ and a temperature of 25 ° C. Is in the range of 1 × 10 ^-1 S / m to ¹ × 10 ^-17 S / m, and the electro-sensitive working medium usable in the present invention has a conductivity σ of 4 × 10 ^-10 S / m. 5 × 10 ⁻⁶ S / m or less, preferably 5 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ S / m or more, 2.5 × 10 ⁻⁶ S / m
The following insulating liquids are used. Furthermore, the insulating liquid used as the electro-sensitive working medium in the present invention is a Newtonian fluid at 25 ° C. and has a viscosity η of 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa · s or more and 1 ×
And at 10 ⁰ Pa · s or less, preferably 2 × 10 ^-4 Pa · s or more and less 8 × 10 ^-1 Pa · s.

The reason why the fluid usable as the electro-sensitive working medium in the present invention has the above-described electric conductivity and viscosity is not necessarily clear, but is considered as follows.

The above SE type ECF motor or RE type E
In a CF motor, an important factor that governs rotational motion is the conductivity of the liquid. Free electric charge is required for electric motoring to occur in a liquid in a DC electric field. The cause of the generation of this free charge is the dissociation of neutral molecules and the injection of charge from the electrode, and the insulating liquid having an electric conductivity within the above range is free charge when used as an electro-sensitive working medium in the present invention. Is generated, and it is considered that the electro-sensitive working medium flows due to the free charge when a DC voltage is applied. It is also believed that the viscosity of the electro-sensitive working medium affects the efficiency of transferring the moving flow of the medium and the kinetic energy of the moved medium to the rotor.

Examples of the compound having the above-mentioned properties by itself include: (1) dibutyl adipate (DBA) (σ = 3.01)
× 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 3.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s), (6) Triacetin (σ = 3.64 × 1
0 ^-9 S / m, η = 1.4 × 10 ^-2 Pa · s),

[0074]

Embedded image

(11) Butyl cellosolve acetate (σ = 2.10 × 10 ⁻⁸ S / m, η = 7.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa · s), (12) Butyl carbitol acetate (σ = 5.20)
× 10 ⁻⁸ S / m, η = 1.7 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s), (13) 3-methoxy-3-methylbutyl acetate (Solfit AC) (σ = 8.30 × 10 ⁻⁸ S) /m,η=6.0×10
^-4 Pa · s), (16) dibutyl fumarate (DBF) (σ = 2.65 ×
10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 3.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s), (17) Propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PMA) (σ = 1.56 × 10 ⁻⁷ S / m, η = 6. 0 × 10 ^-4
Pa · s),

[0076]

Embedded image

(18) Methyl acetyl ricinoleate (M
AR-N) (σ = 1.30 × 10 ⁻⁸ S / m, η = 1.3 × 10 ⁻² Pa
・ S),

[0078]

Embedded image

(20) Dibutyl itaconate (DBI)
(Σ = 1.46 × 10 ⁻⁸ S / m, η = 3.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s),

[0080]

Embedded image

(23) 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (trade name: Kyowanol D) (σ = 6.24 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 4.0) × 10 ^-3 Pa ・
s),

[0082]

Embedded image

(26) Propylene glycol ethyl ether acetate (trade name: BP-ethoxypropyl acetate) (σ = 3.10 × 10 ⁻⁸ S / m, η = 6.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa)
・ S),

[0084]

Embedded image

(27) 9,10-Epoxybutyl stearate (trade name: Sansocizer E-4030) (σ = 5.4)
6 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 2.0 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s),

[0086]

Embedded image

(28) Dioctyl tetrahydrophthalate (trade name: Sansocizer DOTP) (σ =
6.20 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ S / m, η = 4.0 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s), (33) 1-ethoxy-2-acetoxypropane (σ = 4.
41 × 10 ⁻⁷ S / m, η = 4.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa · s), (35) linalyl acetate (σ = 1.82 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m,
η = 1.3 × 10 ^-3 Pa · s)

[0088]

Embedded image

(36) Dibutyl decandioate (σ = 1.3
5 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 7.0 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s). Examples of the mixture include: (37) (trade name; Kyowanol-M: trade name) ; Exepearl EH-P = 1: 4) (Kyouwanol-M = 2,2,4-
Trimethyl-1,3, -pentanediol monoisobutyrate Exepearl EH-P = 2-ethylhexyl palmitate (σ = 2.60 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 9.8 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (38) (DAM: trade name; Exepearl BS = 1: 4) D
AM = diallyl maleate exepal BS = butyl stearate (σ = 4.17
× 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 5.0 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s). An example of a case where the temperature is high is (39) 2-ethylhexylbenzyl phthalate (100
° C) (Product name; Plasizer B-8) (σ = 9.90 x 10
^-9 S / m, η = 3.5 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s).

The relationship between the conductivity and the viscosity is such that, even if the conductivity and / or viscosity of each compound is not within the above range, a plurality of compounds are mixed and the conductivity and the viscosity of the mixture are determined. Is within the above range, it can be used as the electro-sensitive working medium in the present invention. For example, neither conductivity or viscosity is within the above range 2,2,
4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol monoisobutyrate (trade name; Kyowanol M) (σ = 6.80 × 10 ⁻⁸ S
/m,η=1.2×10 ⁻² Pa · s) and 2-ethylhexyl palmitate (trade name: Exepearl EH-P) (σ = 2.
6 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ S / m, η = 9.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) at a weight ratio of 1: 4 (σ = 2.60 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η) = 9.
^{8 × 10 - 3 Pa · s} ) can be used as electro-sensitive movable medium, also not within the above range both conductivity or viscosity DAM (Diallyl Maleate) (σ = 7.8 × 10 -7 S /
m, η = 2.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) and butyl stearate (trade name: Exepearl BS) (σ = 3.1 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ S / m, η =
8.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) at a weight ratio of 1: 4 (σ = 4.17 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η = 5.0 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) )
Can also be used as an electro-sensitive working medium.

The above-mentioned electric conductivity and viscosity are measured at room temperature, and it is known that the respective physical property values differ depending on the temperature. The relationship between the conductivity and the range of the viscosity does not depend on the temperature. That is, at room temperature, even if the compound is not within the above range, when the use temperature is high or low temperature, if the conductivity and viscosity of the electro-sensitive working medium at the use temperature are within the above range,
It can be used as an electro-sensitive working medium. For example, 2-ethylhexylbenzyl phthalate (trade name; Plyser B-8) has σ = 1.10 × 10 ⁻⁹ at room temperature.
S / m, η = 7.8 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s, which is not within the above range, but at 100 ° C., σ = 9.90 × 10 ⁻⁹ S / m, η =
3.5 × 10 ^-2 Pa · s, and this 2-ethylhexylbenzyl phthalate (trade name; Plyzer B-8) cannot be used as an electro-sensitive working medium at room temperature, but at least at 100 ° C. Can be used as a medium.

On the other hand, the compounds described below do not have the viscosity η and the electric conductivity σ of each compound at room temperature outside the triangles represented by P, Q and R in FIG. ECF motor or RE type EC
The F motor cannot be driven at room temperature.

(2) Tributyl citrate (TBC)
(Σ = 5.71 × 10 ⁻⁷ S / m, η = 2.0 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s) (3) Monobutyl maleate (MBM) (σ = 2.60
× 10 ⁻⁵ S / m, η = 2.0 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s) (4) Diallyl maleate (DAM) (σ = 7.80 × 1
0 ^-7 S / m, η = 2.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (5) Dimethyl phthalate (DMP) (σ = 3.90 × 1
0 ^-7 S / m, η = 1.2 × 10 ^-2 Pa · s) (7) Ethyl cell solve acetate (σ = 7.30 × 10
^-5 S / m, η = 9.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa · s) (8) 2- (2-ethoxyethoxy) ethyl acetate (σ = 6.
24 × 10 ⁻⁷ S / m, η = 1.4 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s) (9) 1,2-diacetoxyethane (σ = 2.00 × 10 ⁻⁶ S / m)
m, η = 1.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (10) Triethylene glycol diacetate (σ = 5.
20 × 10 ⁻⁷ S / m, η = 8.1 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (15) 2-ethylhexylbenzyl phthalate (trade name;
Plasizer B-8) (σ = 1.10 × 10 ⁻⁸ S / m, η = 7.
8 × 10 ^-2 Pa · s) (19) 2-Ethylhexyl palmitate (trade name: Exepearl EH-P) (σ = 2.60 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ S / m, η = 9.5 ×)
(10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (21) Polyethylene glycol monooleate (trade name: Emanone 4110) (σ = 3.75 × 10 ⁻⁷ S / m, η)
= 8.0 × 10 ^-2 Pa · s) (22) Butyl stearate (trade name: Exepearl B)
S) (σ = 3.10 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ S / m, η = 8.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (24) 2,2-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol monoisobutyrate (product) Name: Kyowanol M) (σ = 6.8)
0 × 10 ⁻⁸ S / m, η = 1.2 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s) (25) Propylene glycol monoethyl ether (σ =
6.24 × 10 ⁻⁵ S / m, η = 8.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa · s) (29) Tributyl phosphate (TBP) (σ = 2.2)
0 × 10 ⁻⁶ S / m, η = 2.2 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (30) Tributoxyethyl phosphate (TBXP)
(Σ = 1.10 × 10 ⁻⁵ S / m, η = 9.0 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · s) (31) Tris (chloroethyl) phosphate (CLP)
(Σ = 7.80 × 10 ⁻⁶ S / m, η = 3.0 × 10 ⁻² Pa · s) (32) Ethyl 2-methylacetoacetate (σ = 1.00 × 10 ⁻⁴ S
/m,η=5.0×10 ⁻⁴ Pa · s) (34) 2- (2,2-dichlorovinyl) -3,3-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid methyl ester (DC
M-40) (σ = 2.60 × 10 ⁻⁵ S / m, η = 5.5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa)
・ S)

[0094]

Embedded image

In FIG. 17, an electro-sensitive working medium inside a triangle connecting points P, Q and R is placed in a container as shown in FIG. 18, and when a DC voltage is applied, the electro-sensitive working medium becomes Generates a moving flow as shown in FIG. 18, for example. Therefore, when the blade rotor is disposed in the container, the convection of the electro-sensitive working medium collides with the blade body of the blade rotor, and the blade rotor rotates.

That is, by filling the above-described electro-sensitive working medium into the medium accommodating portion of the SE type ECF motor having the blade rotor shown in FIG. 1 and applying a DC voltage to the electrodes in the same manner as described above, The blade of the SE type ECF motor captures the moving flow and the blade rotor rotates. In an RE-type ECF motor having a cylindrical rotor, it is considered that a similar moving flow is formed between the electrodes arranged on the cylindrical rotor, and this moving flow becomes a rotational driving force of the cylindrical rotor.

An SE type ECF motor having an outer diameter of the medium accommodating portion of 10 mm, an inner diameter of 8 mm and a height of 20 mm was manufactured. The blades and medium housing of the eight-bladed rotor of this SE type ECF motor are formed of plastic, and have a diameter of 0.3 as electrodes.
Using four pairs of μm copper wire, a diameter of 1
mm copper wire is used. In this SE type ECF motor,
As shown in FIG. 19 (a), a plastic disk is attached to the rotating shaft of the SE type ECF motor, and the rotation of the plastic disk is sensed by a photo-interrupter and this S disk is detected.
The number of revolutions of the E-type ECF motor is measured. On the other hand, in order to measure the current flowing at this time, a 1 MΩ resistor is inserted in series between the SE type ECF motor and the ground as shown in FIG. Measure. A zener diode is connected in parallel with the resistor, and the voltage is measured via a voltage follower using an OP amplifier having a sufficiently high input impedance.

A voltage of up to 6 kV was applied to the SE-type ECF motor, and the applied voltage and the rotation speed, and the flowing current and the rotation speed were measured. As shown in FIG. 20, the applied voltage and the rotation speed, the applied voltage and the current were measured. And a certain proportional relationship is established.

That is, as is apparent from FIG. 20, the rotational speed of the SE-type ECF motor increases in proportion to the applied DC voltage, and the amount of current flowing by increasing the applied voltage also increases. The DC voltage that can be applied to this SE type ECF motor is 0.1 V to 10 kV, preferably 10 V to 10 kV.
7.0 kV, and the current flowing at this time is 0.001 to 1
00 μA, preferably 0.05 to 10 μA. Therefore, the electric power supplied to this SE type ECF motor (that is, between the electrodes) is 1 × 10 ^{−10 to} 1.0 W, preferably 5 × 10 ⁻⁷ to
7 × 10 ⁻² W.

By changing the inter-electrode voltage within the above range, the rotation speed of the SE-type ECF motor can be controlled. That is, by controlling the voltage between the electrodes, the amount of power supplied to the SE-type ECF motor can be controlled, and the rotation speed of the SE-type ECF motor can be controlled in accordance with the amount of supplied power. . Since the control of the inter-electrode voltage can be varied steplessly by using a variable resistor, the rotation speed of the SE type ECF motor is controlled by controlling only the inter-electrode voltage.
It can be varied steplessly.

The control of the number of rotations by controlling the voltage is performed by S
Not only the E-type ECF motor but also an RE-type ECF motor using a similar electro-sensitive working medium can be similarly operated. That is, in the present invention, at least a pair of electrodes are arranged in a medium container filled with the electro-sensitive working medium, and the power supplied between the electrodes is controlled within a range of 1 × 10 ^{−10 to} 1.0 W. For this purpose, the DC voltage applied between the electrodes is varied in the range of 0.1 V to 10 kV. Then, the flow rate of the electro-sensitive working medium in the medium accommodating portion can be controlled in proportion to the applied DC voltage.
Then, by extracting the flow (moving flow) of the electro-sensitive working medium as, for example, the rotation of a blade rotor having a plurality of blades, electric energy can be converted into mechanical energy. In addition, by controlling the applied energy by controlling the applied voltage, the amount of mechanical energy taken out can be controlled.

Examples of the apparatus preferably used for converting this electric energy into mechanical energy while controlling it are the above-mentioned SE type ECF motor and RE type ECF.
A DC voltage applied between the electrodes within a range of 0.1 V to ¹⁰ kV to control the power supplied between the electrodes by these motors within a range of 1 × 10 ^{−10 to} 1.0 W. In this case, the energy can be converted into mechanical energy, that is, the rotation of the rotating body of the motor controlled so as to be proportional to the applied DC voltage.

As described above, in the energy conversion method of the present invention, a relatively high voltage is applied between the electrodes, but the flowing current is extremely weak. Therefore, the blade rotor diameter is 20mm,
When a voltage of, for example, 5 kV is applied to a SE-type ECF motor having an inner diameter of a medium accommodating portion of 25 mm using two pairs of electrodes as shown in FIG. Only 2.8 μA per pair of electrodes, this SE type EC
The power consumption of the F motor is 28 mW. This is SE
It means that a current is flowing in the electro-sensitive operating medium of the type ECF motor, but the current flowing is extremely weak, so that even when energized for 5 hours or more, the temperature of the SE type ECF motor, No increase in the temperature of the medium is observed, and a steady rotational movement is maintained.

Such an SE type ECF motor or R
The mechanism by which the E-type ECF motor is driven is not always clear. However, it has been confirmed that when a voltage is applied to the electro-sensitive working medium as a phenomenon, a moving flow as shown in FIG. 18 described above is generated, and it is considered that such a moving flow is a rotational driving force of the motor.

In the past, motors driven by a high electric field using a dielectric liquid (insulating liquid) have attracted the interest of some scientists and have occasionally been fragmented. For example, more than 40 years ago, it has been reported that when a voltage of about 10 kV is applied between a parallel plate electrode and a dielectric liquid, a glass rod having a diameter of several mm placed therein rotates at several thousand rpm. This phenomenon is
It is described that when the charge generated on the surface of the glass rod is attracted toward the electrode of the opposite sign, the glass rod rotates slightly, and the polarization disappears at that moment, and the repetition causes a steady rotation. In this view, the conductivity of the liquid has no direct relation to the rotational movement of the glass rod. The motor utilizing the above phenomenon is about several mm, and the SE type ECF motor of the present invention or R
There is no report that a large motor such as an E-type ECF motor was rotated.

SE type ECF motor or RE type ECF
The mechanism for converting electric energy into mechanical energy via a motor is not explained by the above theory, for example, because the conductivity and viscosity of the electro-sensitive working medium are important factors for driving the motor in the present invention. .

Therefore, the mechanism of converting electric energy to mechanical energy via the SE-type ECF motor or the RE-type ECF motor of the present invention will be discussed based on the currently confirmed items.

The migration of ions existing in a liquid having a viscosity of several mPa · s is reported to be of the order of 10 ⁻⁸ m ² V ⁻¹ S ⁻¹ . Assuming that the hydrodynamic radius of the ions is in the range of 0.5-1.2 nm, the Stokes-Einstein equation gives 0.5 kV.
In an electric field of mm ^-1 (5 kV for 10 mm electrode spacing), the ions will move about 5 × 10 ^-3 m / s. If the movement of ions causes drag flow in the medium liquid, and the force causes the motor to rotate, the rotation speed should be much slower. SE type ECF motor and RE of the present invention
Since the type ECF motor rotates about two orders of magnitude faster, it is unlikely that the movement of ions causes direct rotation of the rotor. As described above, when a high voltage is applied to the dielectric liquid, a secondary flow such as convection or chaos may occur in the liquid. This Electrohydrodynam
ic Computer simulation of convection (EHD convection) (EHD is a continuous equation, equation of motion, Maxwel
l equation, a nonlinear phenomenon governed by the charge transport equation), the condition where the action of gravity is negligible
In the case of (microgravity conditions), the velocity of the secondary flow is estimated to be about 0.02 m / s when the electric Rayleigh number is 6000 (condition where the Coulomb force is much larger than the viscosity). But,
This value is also slightly smaller than the flow velocity observed in the present invention, and the high-speed rotation of the rotor cannot be completely explained by EHD convection alone.

By the way, Yabe and Maki disclose that a ring-shaped electrode is arranged in parallel with the plate electrode with a slight gap therebetween, and when a high voltage of 10 kV is applied to the ring, the electrode is blown out from the plate electrode near the center of the ring. (Int. J. Heat Mass Tra
nsfer, 31, 407 (1988)). This phenomenon is a phenomenon in which the fluid drawn from around the ring passes through the gap between the ring and the plate electrode, and then jumps out as a high-speed jet. At this time, it has been reported that the flow velocity may exceed 1 m / s. I have. Although the mechanism of generation of this jet flow is unknown, the speed of the jet flow is comparable to the peripheral speed of the rotor in the present invention. Since this phenomenon has something in common with the present invention in terms of fluid velocity, the present inventor suggests that there may be some connection between both generation mechanisms. I believe.

The above description of the mechanism of the mechanism according to the present invention is an inference for assisting understanding of the present invention based on the facts confirmed by the present inventor, and the present invention is limitedly interpreted by this inference. Of course, it should not.

Further, based on the above inference, the present inventor directly observed the flow by dispersing a trace amount of ultrafine powder as a tracer in a fluid as shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 18, it was observed that the electro-sensitive working medium flowed at a high speed in the direction from the positive electrode to the negative electrode, and formed a large circulating flow at a location away from the electrode. A small circulating flow was also observed in the granules of the negative electrode. And it was confirmed that the flow velocity of the dielectric liquid near the electrode was almost the same as the peripheral velocity of the rotor.

The present inventor has confirmed that the application of a voltage to the electrode of the dielectric fluid as described above certainly generates a high-speed flow due to the electric field. Confirming the phenomenon that is converted into energy in the form of, and that the conversion of this energy can be controlled by controlling the voltage,
Then, the flow of the dielectric is taken out as mechanical energy by using a means such as a rotor.

In the control conversion method of energy of the present invention,
By applying a DC voltage to the electrodes in the electro-sensitive working medium and controlling the DC voltage, the moving speed of the electro-sensitive working medium can be controlled. Therefore, an application utilizing the movement of the electro-sensitive working medium between the electrodes to which the DC voltage is applied as described above, or a moving flow motion is formed in the working medium by applying a DC voltage to the electro-sensitive working medium. However, it can be used in a very wide range of other fields, such as applications in which this moving flow motion is taken out of the apparatus as rotational energy and used. A typical example is SE type E
A CF motor and an RE-type ECF motor. In particular, the SE-type ECF using the energy control conversion method of the present invention
The motor and the RE-type ECF motor are improved in their characteristics by being miniaturized, and have a simple structure. Therefore, they are promising as inexpensive micromotors with few failures.

In addition to the rotating mechanism in which the electrodes are laid on the rotor and the self-propelled rotation is performed, a small piece having the electrodes laid thereon is floated in the electro-sensitive working medium, and a DC voltage is supplied to the electrodes from the outside.
By adjusting, it is possible to produce a fish-like small piece that freely swims around the medium by using the medium flow generated between the electrodes as a driving force.

[0115] Further, by floating a shipboard piece on the medium and laying an electrode on the bottom thereof, it is possible to produce a shipboard piece that freely runs on the medium by using the flow generated by applying a DC voltage as a driving force. it can.

Instead of applying a DC voltage from an external power supply, it is also possible to use a solar cell panel or a PLZT element which is a photo piezoelectric element and generates a high voltage by light irradiation. In this case, by laying the solar cell panel and the element together with the electrodes in the driving portion and irradiating light instead of supplying voltage from the outside, an electric wire from an external power supply becomes unnecessary. As a result, a large degree of freedom is given to the movement of the fish-like small pieces and the boat-like small pieces, and the movement of the fish-like small pieces and the boat-like small pieces sealed in the transparent container can be freely controlled.

[0117] This is useful and useful for internal work in a nuclear power plant where humans cannot enter, which can be driven and controlled by performing light irradiation operation through protective glass.

In addition, a rectangular parallelepiped medium container is used in place of the cylindrical medium container, electrodes are laid on the inner wall of the container, and the linear motor is used as a linear motor for generating a moving flow. Can be. Further, as another mechanism, a linear motor using a fish-like piece on which the above-mentioned electrode is laid can be formed.

[0119]

According to the present invention, electrical energy can be efficiently converted to mechanical energy by using an SE-type ECF motor or an RE-type ECF motor using butyl decane diate as a medium.

Further, according to the present invention, by changing the voltage applied to the electro-sensitive working medium, the flow rate of the electro-sensitive working medium can be controlled in proportion to the applied voltage. For example, the rotation speed of the rotor can be controlled. That is, the mechanical energy extracted as the rotation of the rotor can be controlled in proportion to the applied voltage.

[0121]

EXAMPLES Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples of the present invention, but the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto.

[0122]

Embodiment 1 The SE type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 was filled with dibutyl decane diate as an electro-sensitive working medium, and the DC voltage applied to the electrodes was 2.5 kV, 3.0 kV, and 3.0 kV.
5kV, 4.0kV, 4.5kV, 5.0kV, 5.5kV, 6.0kV
And the rotational speed of the blade rotor was measured.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0124]

Embodiment 2 In the SE type ECF motor shown in FIG.
Using dibutyl decane diate as the electro-sensitive working medium,
The rotational speed of the blade rotor was measured while changing the number of blades to 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0126]

Embodiment 3 In the SE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, dibutyl decane diate is used as the electro-sensitive working medium, the diameter of the medium accommodating portion is 20 mm, and the diameter of the blade rotor is 6 mm, 13 mm, and 17 mm. The rotational speed and the output torque were measured by changing to. In the present invention, the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 was used for measuring the output torque.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0128]

Embodiment 4 In the SE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, dibutyl decane diate is used as the electro-sensitive working medium, and the diameter of the medium accommodating portion and the diameter of the blade rotor are set as follows.
[12mm, 9mm], [16mm, 13mm], [2
0 mm, 17 mm] and the rotation speed and output torque were measured.

The results are shown in FIG. From the output torque obtained as described above, the output power density with respect to the motor volume was determined. However, the motor volume was defined as blade rotor length × medium storage section sectional area.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0131]

Embodiment 5 In the RE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, dibutyl decane diate was used as the electro-sensitive working medium, and the installation angle of the rod-shaped electrode was 11 °, 23 °, 45 °.
The rotation speed and output torque when changing to ゜ were measured.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0133]

Embodiment 6 In the RE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, dibutyl decane diate is used as the electro-sensitive working medium, the diameter of the cylindrical rotor is 10 mm, and the diameter of the medium accommodating section is 14 mm, 20 mm. The rotational speed and the output torque when changing to 30 mm and 40 mm were measured.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0135]

Embodiment 7 In the RE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, dibutyl decane diate is used as the electro-sensitive working medium, and the diameter of the medium accommodating portion and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor are respectively [14 mm, 10 mm]. , [20mm, 16mm], [2
4 mm, 20 mm] and the rotation speed and output torque were measured.

FIG. 13 shows the results.

[0137]

Embodiment 8 In the SE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, dibutyl decane diate is used as the electro-sensitive working medium, and the diameter of the medium accommodating portion and the diameter of the blade rotor are set as follows.
[14mm, 10mm], [20mm, 16mm],
The rotational speed and output torque when changing to [24 mm, 20 mm] were measured.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0139]

Embodiment 9 In the RE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, dibutyl decane diate is used as the electro-sensitive working medium, the diameter of the medium accommodating section is 30 mm, and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor is 10 mm, 16 mm. The rotational speed and the output torque when changing to 20 mm were measured.

The results are shown in FIG.

[0141]

Embodiment 10 In the RE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, dibutyl decane diate is used as the electro-sensitive working medium, and the diameter of the medium accommodating portion and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor are respectively [20 mm, 10 mm]. , [30mm, 16m
m] and [40 mm, 20 mm], the rotation speed and the output torque were measured.

FIG. 16 shows the results.

[0143]

Embodiment 11 In the SE-type ECF motor shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the outer diameter of the plastic medium storage portion is 10 mm, the inner diameter is 8 mm, the height is 20 mm, and eight plastic blades are provided. An SE type ECF motor having a wing rotor provided was manufactured. This SE type ECF motor
It has four pairs of electrodes made of copper wire with a diameter of 0.3 mm. The distance between the electrodes was set to 22.5 ° (1.5 mm), and the rotation axis of the blade rotor was a 1 mm copper wire. In addition, the friction torque is reduced by using a ball bearing for the bearing. Further, a plastic disk was attached to the rotating shaft as shown in FIG. 18, and the rotation of the disk was detected by a photo interrupter to measure the rotational peripheral speed. Further, as shown in FIG. 18, a 1 MΩ resistor was inserted in series between the SE-type ECF motor and the ground, and a current was obtained from a potential difference at this resistor. Further, to protect the measuring instrument, a Zener diode was connected in parallel with the resistor, and the voltage was measured via a voltage follower using an OP amplifier having a sufficiently high input impedance.

Dibutyl decandioate was put into the SE type ECF motor as described above, and the number of rotations and the current when the applied voltage was changed from 0 to 6 kV at intervals of 1 kV were measured. This SE
The type ECF motor started rotating from an applied voltage of 2 kV, and its rotation speed increased in proportion to the applied voltage.

FIG. 20 shows the relationship between the applied voltage, the rotation speed, and the current in this SE ECF motor. FIG.
As is clear from 0, it is understood that the rotation speed is proportional to the applied voltage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an SE-type EC using an electro-sensitive working medium.
It is a figure which shows an example of an F motor typically.

FIG. 2 shows an RE-type EC using an electro-sensitive working medium.
It is a figure which shows an example of an F motor typically.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an arrangement of electrodes of the SE-type ECF motor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an arrangement of electrodes of the RE-type ECF motor shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows an SE type ECF motor and a RE type EC.
It is a figure which shows typically the apparatus for measuring the output torque of F motor.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating an example of a relationship between an applied voltage and a rotation speed of an SE-type ECF motor.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the number of blades and the rotation speed in an SE-type ECF motor.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing an example of a relationship between a blade rotor diameter and an output torque in an SE-type ECF motor.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing an example of a relationship between a rotation speed and an output torque when the diameter of a medium accommodating portion and the diameter of a blade rotor of an SE type ECF motor are changed.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the relationship between the rotation speed and the motor output density when the ratio between the blade rotor diameter of the SE-type ECF motor and the medium housing section diameter is kept constant and both diameters are changed. It is a graph.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing an example of a relationship between a rotation speed and an output torque when an electrode installation angle is changed in an RE-type ECF motor.

FIG. 12 is a graph illustrating an example of a relationship between a rotation speed and an output torque when a diameter of a medium accommodating portion in the RE-type ECF motor is changed.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the rotation speed and the output torque when the diameter of the medium accommodating portion of the RE-type ECF motor and the diameter of the cylindrical rotor are changed.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the relationship between the rotation speed and the motor output density when the diameter of the SE-type ECF motor is changed while keeping the ratio between the blade rotor diameter and the medium accommodating section diameter constant. It is a graph.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the rotational speed and the output torque when the diameter of the cylindrical rotor of the RE-type ECF motor is changed.

FIG. 16 shows an example of the relationship between the rotational speed and the output torque when the ratio between the diameter of the cylindrical rotor and the diameter of the medium accommodating portion of the RE-type ECF motor is kept constant and both diameters are changed. It is a graph.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing the relationship between the dielectric constant and the viscosity of the electro-sensitive working medium.

FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a behavior of the electro-sensitive operating medium when a DC voltage is applied to the electro-sensitive operating medium stored in the medium storage unit.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an apparatus for measuring the rotational speed of an SE-type ECF motor and a circuit for measuring a current;

FIG. 20 is a graph illustrating an example of a change in rotation speed with respect to an applied voltage and a change in current with respect to an applied voltage in an SE-type ECF motor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... SE type ECF motor 2 ... Medium accommodating part 4 ... Lid 3a, 3b, 3c, 3b, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h ... Electrode 6 ... Wing plate 18 ... Blade rotor 22 ... Electrically sensitive working medium 31 ... Strain gauge 32 ... Micrometer 33 ... Micrometer head 34 ... Rotating shaft 35 ... Wire 30 ... SE type ECF motor or RE Type ECF motor 40 RE type ECF motor 41 Medium storage unit 42 Second electrode 43 First electrode 44 Cover 45 Rotation shaft 46・ Cylindrical rotor 47 ・ ・ ・ Shaft hole 48 ・ ・ ・ Bearing part 49 ・ ・ ・ Bottom part 50, 60 ・ ・ ・ Rotary contact 52, 53 ・ ・ ・ External terminal

Claims (4)

[Claims] At least one pair of electrodes and a rotor are arranged in dibutyl decanoate, a DC voltage is applied between the electrodes, and movement of the dibutyl decanoate between the electrodes at a speed corresponding to the applied voltage. A method of forming a flow and converting electrical energy into mechanical energy by rotating a rotor with the moving flow. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: arranging at least one pair of electrodes in the electro-sensitive working medium, applying a voltage between the electrodes, and applying a voltage to the electro-sensitive working medium between the electrodes at a speed corresponding to the applied electric energy. A method of converting electrical energy into mechanical energy and extracting the energy from the fluid, comprising forming a moving flow of a working medium and converting fluid energy of the moving flow of the electro-sensitive working medium into mechanical energy. 3. At least a pair of electrodes are arranged in a container filled with an electro-sensitive working medium, and a DC voltage applied between the electrodes is varied within a range of 0.1 V to 10 kV.
The electric energy is converted into fluid energy of the electro-sensitive working medium by controlling the flow velocity and the moving direction of the moving flow of the electro-sensitive working medium in proportion to the applied DC voltage, and Converting the fluid energy into mechanical energy and extracting it. 4. At least a pair of electrodes and a rotor are arranged in a container filled with an electro-sensitive working medium, and a DC voltage applied between the electrodes is varied within a range of 0.1 V to 10 kV, 4. The energy conversion control method according to claim 3, wherein the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the rotor are controlled in proportion to the applied DC voltage.