JPH10174708A - Ultraviolet lamp lighting device and sterilizer using this device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prolong the substantial life of an ultraviolet lamp as a result of the output of ultraviolet rays by increasing current for lighting the lamp according to the integrated value of its lighting time or according to the intensity of measured ultraviolet rays, avoiding flowing unnecessarily large current when the lamp is comparatively new but increasing a current for lighting near the life of the lamp. SOLUTION: The lighting device of the ultraviolet lamp 12 is provided with a control circuit 20 provided with a means integrating the lighting time of this lamp. Then the lighting device is provided with an inverter circuit 21 which is provided with a function to increase the current for lighting to the ultraviolet lamp 12 when this integrated value becomes a previously fixed value or when the detected value of an element 22 becomes a prescribed value by providing the element 22 detecting the output of ultraviolet rays. Thereby the output of the ultraviolet rays is improved by the increase of the current for lighting to prolong the substantial life of the lamp 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, an ultraviolet sterilizer provided in a water purifier and an ultraviolet lamp lighting device used for the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an apparatus using an ultraviolet lamp is known as a sterilizer provided in a water purifier.

[0003]

By the way, in the ultraviolet lamps currently used for generating sterilizing ultraviolet rays, as the total operating time becomes longer, the ultraviolet output of the lamps generally decreases. Therefore, when a sterilizing apparatus is configured using the ultraviolet lamp, in order to maintain a sufficient ultraviolet output even after a certain period of time, which is considered to be the life of the ultraviolet lamp, the lighting current of the lamp should be set to a relatively large value. Or one size larger UV lamp had to be selected so that sufficient sterilization output could be obtained even at the end of life. Therefore, when the ultraviolet lamp is started to be used, not only is the ultraviolet output too high, but sometimes the life of the ultraviolet lamp is adversely affected, and the size of the ultraviolet lamp becomes large, so that both the dimensions and the power are increased. Waste was occurring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention does not allow an excessive current to flow at the start of use of an ultraviolet lamp, does not select a higher-grade ultraviolet lamp, and nears the life of the ultraviolet lamp. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultraviolet lamp lighting device and a sterilization device using the same, which improve the falling ultraviolet output and consequently extend the life of the device at least a little.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and to achieve the above object, an ultraviolet lamp lighting device according to the present invention comprises: means for integrating the lighting time of the ultraviolet lamp;
Means for increasing the lighting current to the ultraviolet lamp when the integrated value reaches a predetermined value. Further, the ultraviolet lamp lighting device of the present invention includes a means for detecting an ultraviolet output of the ultraviolet lamp, and a means for increasing a lighting current to the ultraviolet lamp when the detected value becomes a predetermined value. It is characterized by having.

Further, the sterilizing apparatus of the present invention is a sterilizing apparatus for sterilizing by irradiating ultraviolet rays with an ultraviolet lamp.
An ultraviolet lamp lighting device is provided, and the ultraviolet lamp is turned on by the device.

[0007]

The ultraviolet lamp lighting device of the present invention and the sterilizing apparatus using the device as described above are provided when the integrated lighting time of the ultraviolet lamp reaches a predetermined time, or when the ultraviolet lamp is used. When the detected ultraviolet output reaches a predetermined output value, the lighting current to the ultraviolet lamp increases, and deterioration of the ultraviolet output due to long-term use of the ultraviolet lamp is reduced.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of a water purifier with an ultraviolet sterilizer, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an ultraviolet sterilizer tank installed inside the ultraviolet sterilizer, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a water system of the water purifier with the ultraviolet sterilizer. 4 is an electric block diagram of the water purifier with the ultraviolet sterilizer. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a water purifier main body with an ultraviolet sterilizer, and 2 denotes a water purification filter cartridge.
It is built in. Reference numeral 3 denotes a sterilization tank having a built-in ultraviolet lamp 12 described below. In this case, an underwater ultraviolet sterilization tube is used as the ultraviolet lamp 12, and the sterilization tube is inserted into the closed tank 3.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a water discharge pipe for outputting purified water and sterilized water from the main body 1. Reference numeral 5 denotes a lighting switch, which will be described later.
2 is configured to start lighting.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a lighting indicator lamp. When the lighting switch 5 is pressed, the above-mentioned ultraviolet lamp 12 is turned on and the lighting indicator lamp 6 is also turned on. 7
Is a filter life indicator lamp that indicates when the life of the water purification material in the water purification filter cartridge 2 has expired, 8 is a lifetime indicator lamp for the ultraviolet lamp 12 that indicates that the ultraviolet lamp 12 has expired, and 9 is tap water. Is supplied to the main body 1. Reference numeral 10 is a commercial power cord, and reference numeral 11 is a lid for taking out the filter cartridge 2 described above. Reference numeral 12 denotes the above-described ultraviolet lamp, which is electrically connected to an inverter circuit 21 described later by a connector (not shown) or the like.

In FIG. 2, 13 is an upper lid of the sterilizing tank 3, 14 is a connector part of the ultraviolet lamp 12, 15 is a water input port of the sterilizing tank 3, and 16 is a water output port of the sterilizing tank 3. , 17 is the bottom of the sterilization tank 3. In FIG. 3, a flow sensor 18 for detecting the flow of water is provided after the filter cartridge 2, and the flow sensor emits a pulse corresponding to the amount of water, and counts the number of pulses to count the flow of the filter cartridge 2 described above. Life has been detected.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 19 denotes a power supply circuit, and reference numeral 20 denotes a control circuit which counts the pulses from the flow rate sensor 18 and turns on the filter life lamp 7 after reaching a predetermined value. The power of the inverter circuit 21 is controlled by the output of the lighting switch 5 and the flow sensor 18. The output of the inverter circuit 21 is connected to the ultraviolet lamp 12, and is configured to turn on and off the ultraviolet lamp 12 according to an instruction from the control circuit 20.

The inverter circuit 21 has a lighting current switching function for switching the ultraviolet intensity of the ultraviolet lamp 12, for example, between three levels of high, medium and low. In these three stages, the emitter resistance of the inverter circuit 21 may be switched, or a current limiting impedance may be inserted in series with the ultraviolet lamp 12. Further, in the above description, the current is switched in three stages, but the current may be switched continuously without floor. Reference numeral 22 denotes an element for measuring the intensity of ultraviolet rays. The output of this element increases or decreases according to the ultraviolet output of the ultraviolet lamp 12. Note that this element does not necessarily need to be an element that detects only ultraviolet light. For example, even if a blue light-receiving diode called blue sensing, which is commercially available as a visible light detection element, is used, the intensity of visible light can be reduced. If the intensity and the intensity of the ultraviolet light are substantially the same, they can be used in the same manner.

As an operation procedure, first, the lighting switch 5 is pressed before starting use. Thereby, the control circuit 20 immediately starts the inverter circuit 21 and
The ultraviolet lamp 12 is turned on. In the control circuit 20, means for integrating the lighting time of the ultraviolet lamp 12 and, when the integrated value becomes a predetermined value,
Means for controlling the power supply of the inverter circuit 21 to increase the lighting current for the ultraviolet lamp 12. As the total lighting time of the ultraviolet lamp 12 increases,
Although the ultraviolet output gradually decreases, the control circuit 20 causes the inverter circuit 21 to increase the current flowing through the ultraviolet lamp 12 and work to return the weakened ultraviolet output to the original level.

Further, since the element 22 measures the intensity of the substantially ultraviolet light as described above, it is not limited to simply controlling the lighting current of the ultraviolet lamp 12 according to the total lighting time as described above. By controlling the lighting current of the ultraviolet lamp 12 while monitoring the actual ultraviolet output,
Fine current control can be performed, and the substantial life of the ultraviolet lamp 12 can be extended.

In the above embodiment, the ultraviolet lamp 1
2, the lighting current is changed in accordance with the integrated value of the lighting time, and the lighting current is controlled in accordance with the measured intensity of the ultraviolet light. The lighting current may be controlled by any one of the methods. In the above embodiment,
Although the case where the ultraviolet lamp lighting device of the present invention is used for a sterilization device has been described, this ultraviolet lamp lighting device is
The present invention can be applied not only to a sterilizer using an ultraviolet lamp but also to other devices. Further, in the above embodiment, the lighting current is increased when the integrated value of the ultraviolet lamp 12 reaches a predetermined value. However, the predetermined value is not limited to one value. A plurality of values, or, in extreme cases, continuous values may be used. In the case of continuous values, the lighting current is also continuously increased. In FIGS. 1 to 4, the same reference numerals indicate the same components.

[0016]

As described above, in the ultraviolet lamp lighting device of the present invention and the sterilizer using the same, the lighting current of the ultraviolet lamp 12 is measured in accordance with the integrated value of the lighting time or measured. When the ultraviolet lamp 12 is relatively new, the current does not flow more than necessary.
Near the lifetime of 2, the ultraviolet current is increased by increasing the lighting current, and as a result, the substantial lifetime of the ultraviolet lamp 12 can be extended.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a water purifier with an ultraviolet sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic side view of a main part of FIG. 1, showing an ultraviolet sterilization tank installed inside the ultraviolet sterilizer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a waterway system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an electrical block diagram of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water purifier main body 2 Filter cartridge for water purification 3 Sterilization tank 4 Discharge pipe 5 Lighting switch 6 Lighting indicator lamp 7 Filter life indicator lamp 8 Life indicator lamp 9 Hose 10 Commercial power cord 11 Lid 12 Ultraviolet lamp 13 Upper lid 14 Connector part 15 Water Input port 16 Water output port 17 Bottom 18 Flow rate sensor 19 Power supply circuit 20 Control circuit 21 Inverter circuit 22 Element

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lighting device for an ultraviolet lamp, means for integrating the lighting time of the ultraviolet lamp, and increasing the lighting current to the ultraviolet lamp when the integrated value reaches a predetermined value. Means for lighting an ultraviolet lamp. 2. A lighting device for an ultraviolet lamp, comprising: means for detecting an ultraviolet output of the ultraviolet lamp; and increasing the lighting current to the ultraviolet lamp when the detected value reaches a predetermined value. Means for lighting an ultraviolet lamp. 3. A sterilizer for irradiating ultraviolet rays with an ultraviolet lamp for sterilization, comprising the ultraviolet lamp lighting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ultraviolet lamp is lit by the device. Disinfection device characterized.