JPH10282168A - Ion detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ion detection device that has an improved capacity for detecting ions, can detect ions reliably, and can examine a detection result easily. SOLUTION: When a negative charge is collected from a negative ion in atmosphere by a collection electrode 11, a voltage with the side of a ground electrode 15 being positive is applied between the collection electrode 11 and the ground electrode 15. A gate G is biased to a positive potential against a source S, so that an FET 13 is allowed to conduct current and an electricity is fed from a DC power supply 17 to an LED 19, thus lighting up the LED 19. The FET 13 is allowed to conduct electricity by applying a relatively low bias voltage between the gate G and the source S, thus detecting the negative ion even if the concentration of the negative ion in atmosphere is low. When a positive ion is collected at the collection electrode 11, an area between the gate G and the source S is inversely biased, thus preventing the FET 13 from conducting current and preventing the positive ion from being detected. A light- emitting diode 19 allows an ON state to be checked easily even in daylight and, if required, the light-emitting diode with a color of a high contrast against room light to be selected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved ion detector for detecting ions present in air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ion detecting device having the structure shown in FIG. 1 has been known. In this device, when the collection electrode 1 collects the charge of the negative ion, the capacitor 5 is charged with the negative charge through the ground electrode 3. Each time the charge voltage of the capacitor 5 rises and exceeds the discharge voltage of the discharge lamp 7, discharge occurs in the lamp 7 and the blinking operation in which the lamp 7 is turned on instantaneously is repeated to check for the presence of negative ions in the air. Notify.

[0003]

By the way, in the ion detecting device having the above structure, the negative ion concentration in the air is about 100.
If the concentration is not higher than 10,000 / cc, the ion detection capability is so low that negative ions cannot be detected. Therefore, when the detection device is used for negative ion detection of a commercially available ion-type air purifier, the collection electrode of the device is close to a discharge electrode which is an ion blowing portion of the air purifier. There is a problem that the reaction with negative ions does not occur unless 1 is brought closer.

In addition, since it reacts not only with negative ions but also with positive ions, there is a possibility that positive ions are erroneously detected as negative ions, and the reliability of negative ion detection is low. There is also a problem.

Further, there is a problem that the blinking of the discharge lamp 7 for indicating the presence of the negative ions or the like by indicating that it has reacted to the negative ions or the like in the air is difficult to confirm in a relatively bright room. Was.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ion detection capability,
Another object of the present invention is to provide an ion detection device that has high reliability of ion detection and can easily confirm a detection result.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a negative ion detecting device comprising: a collecting electrode for collecting charges of ions in the atmosphere; and a charge collected by the collecting electrode. The semiconductor switching unit includes a semiconductor switching unit that conducts, and a notification unit that is driven by the conduction of the semiconductor switching unit and that notifies ion detection.

According to the above arrangement, the semiconductor switching means is turned on by the collection electrode collecting the electric charge of the ions, whereby the notification means is driven. Therefore, if a semiconductor switching means that conducts even when the applied voltage is low is adopted, ion detection can be performed even when the charge collected by the collection electrode is small due to the low ion concentration in the atmosphere. I can do it.

In a preferred embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention, the semiconductor switching means is made conductive by negative charges collected by the collecting electrode. for that reason,
Since the semiconductor switching means does not conduct even if the positive charge is collected by the collecting electrode, there is no possibility of erroneously detecting positive ions when detecting negative ions. As the semiconductor switching means, for example, a field effect transistor (= FE)
A voltage-driven semiconductor switching element such as T) is used.

Further, a light emitting element, such as a light emitting diode (= LED), which emits light by the conduction of the semiconductor switching means, is used as the notification means.

The above-mentioned notification means is driven by power supply from a DC power supply connected by conduction of the semiconductor switching means. Therefore, for example, when a light emitting diode is used as the notification means, the amount of light emitted from the light emitting diode can be adjusted by selecting a dry cell or the like used as a DC power supply, so that the detection result can be visually confirmed even in a relatively bright room. is there.

The modification according to the above-described embodiment further includes a discharging means for discharging the electric charge remaining in the collecting electrode. The discharging means discharges the electric charge accumulated in the collecting electrode so that the semiconductor switching means is turned off. Therefore, when no ions are present in the atmosphere, the semiconductor switching means is brought into a conductive state by the electric charge remaining on the collection electrode, and the notification means is not driven.

A negative ion detecting device according to a second aspect of the present invention is provided with a plurality of collecting electrodes, each having a different area, for collecting charges of ions in the atmosphere, and corresponding to each collecting electrode. And a plurality of semiconductor switching means, each of which is electrically connected by a charge of a different size collected by each collection electrode, and a plurality of semiconductor switching means provided corresponding to each semiconductor switching means. And a plurality of notifying means for notifying the ion detection, which is driven by the control unit.

According to the above configuration, one of the plurality of semiconductor switching means is turned on in accordance with the amount of generated ions, whereby the corresponding notification means is driven. Therefore, for example, a notifying unit corresponding to an ion concentration of 2 million ions / cc, a notifying unit corresponding to 1 million ions / cc, an indicating unit corresponding to 500,000 ions / cc, and the like, respectively, according to each ion concentration. Since the corresponding notification means is driven stepwise, the magnitude of the ion amount can be detected.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a basic circuit configuration diagram of the negative ion detector according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The above device comprises a collecting electrode 11 and an n-type FET.
(= FET) 13, a ground electrode 15, a DC power supply 17 such as a dry battery, and an LED 19. In the FET 13, the source S has the collector electrode 11 and the cathode of the DC power supply 17 connected thereto.
The gate G has the ground electrode 15 and the drain D has the LED1.
The anode of the DC power supply 17 is connected through the LED 9 and the LED 19, respectively.

In the above configuration, when negative charges are collected from negative ions in the atmosphere by the collecting electrode 11, a voltage between the collecting electrode 11 and the ground electrode 15, which is positive on the ground electrode 15 side, is applied. Applied. As a result, the gate G becomes the source S
FE is biased to a positive potential with respect to
T13 conducts, and by this conduction, power is supplied from the DC power supply 17 to the light emitting diode 19, and the light emitting diode 19 is turned on.

According to the above-described circuit configuration, F is applied only by applying a relatively low bias voltage between the gate G and the source S.
Since the ET 13 can be conducted, negative ion detection can be performed even when the negative ion concentration in the atmosphere is low. When positive ions are collected by the collecting electrode 11, a reverse voltage is applied between the gate G and the source S.
T13 does not conduct and therefore does not detect positive ions. Further, as for the light emitting diode 19, it is easy to confirm the lighting state even in daylight, and if necessary, a light emitting diode having a high contrast with room light can be selected.

By the way, in the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 2, since the negative charges that have been trapped in the collecting electrode 11 after being collected by the collecting electrode 11 are not discharged, there is no negative ion in the atmosphere. Even if it doesn't work, the negative charge
Reference numeral 13 keeps the conduction state. Therefore, the light emitting diode 19 keeps lighting regardless of whether or not negative ions exist in the atmosphere. Therefore, the operation of collecting negative charges from negative ions by the collecting electrode 11 cannot be detected by turning on / off the lamp 17.

Therefore, as means for dealing with such a problem, there have been proposed negative ion detectors shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. Hereinafter, these negative ion detecting devices will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a negative ion detector according to a first modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

The above device has a configuration in which a high resistance element 21, a constant voltage diode 23, and a current limiting resistance element 25 are further added to the circuit configuration shown in FIG. That is, the high-resistance element 21 is for discharging the negative charges accumulated in the collecting electrode 11, and the high-resistance element 21 and the ground electrode 15
(Between the gate G and the source S of the FET 13). The high resistance element 21 has, for example, 1 GΩ to 100 M
An element having a resistance value of about Ω is used. By constantly flowing a small leakage current through the high-resistance element 21, when no negative ions exist in the atmosphere (that is, when no negative ions are detected), the FET 13 can be reliably turned off. . Therefore, when no negative ion is detected, L
The ED 19 is not turned on.

The constant voltage diode 23 is for protecting the FET 13 by restricting the application of a high voltage equal to or more than a predetermined value to the FET 13, and is provided between the gate G and the source S with respect to the high resistance element 21. Connected in parallel.
The constant voltage diode 23 is connected with the anode terminal on the source S side and the cathode terminal on the gate G side.

The current limiting resistance element 25 is connected to the DC power supply 17.
And is connected between the anode of the DC power supply 17 and the LED 19.

According to the above configuration, the negative charges remaining on the collecting electrode 11 at the time of the previous negative ion detection are removed by the high resistance element 21.
To the ground electrode 15 side, the ET 13 can be reliably turned off when no negative ions are detected, and when the next negative ions are detected, the FE 13 is turned off.
T13 can be turned on again. Therefore, when negative charges are collected from the negative ions by the collecting electrode 11, the LED 19 is turned on, and is turned off when no negative ions are detected, so that accurate negative ion detection can be performed. Further, the constant voltage diode 23 prevents the FET 13 from being damaged, and the current limiting resistance element 25 causes the LE 13.
Damage to D19 and wasteful power consumption of DC power supply 17 are prevented.

In this modification, a high-resistance element 21 is connected between the collecting electrode 11 and the ground electrode 15 as a means for discharging the negative charges remaining in the collecting electrode 11. However, instead of the high resistance element 21, when the collecting electrode 11 is collecting negative charges from negative ions, the collecting electrode 1
It is also possible to employ a contact mechanism that opens between the first electrode 1 and the ground electrode 15 and short-circuits when no negative ions are detected, a semiconductor switching means, or the like.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a negative ion detector according to a second modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a point that a p-type FET 27 is used in place of the n-type FET 13 in the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 3, and connections of the DC power supply 17, the LED 19 and the constant voltage diode 23 are shown in FIG. DC power supply 17, LED1
9 and the point opposite to the constant voltage diode 23 is different from the first modified example. Other points are the same as those of the above-described first modification. Also in the above configuration, the same effect as in the first modification described above can be obtained.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a circuit configuration of a negative ion detector according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The above-mentioned apparatus is configured so as to be able to detect ions stepwise according to the amount of generated ions, and includes a substrate 31, a plurality of collecting electrodes 33, 35, 37,
A plurality of detection circuits 39, 41, 43 and one ground electrode 4
5 is provided. Collection electrodes 33 to 37 and detection circuits 39 to
43 and one ground electrode 45 are both fixed on the substrate 31. The collecting electrode 33 has the largest area,
Next is the collecting electrode 35, and the collecting electrode 37 has the smallest area. The collection electrode 33 is connected to the detection circuit 39, the collection electrode 35 is connected to the detection circuit 41, and the collection electrode 37 is connected to the detection circuit 43.

Each of the detection circuits 39 to 43 has the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, and the constants of the respective elements are the same.
2 shows different detection sensitivities in proportion to the area of ~ 37. Detection circuit 39 corresponding to collection electrode 33 having the largest electrode area
However, the detection circuit 43 corresponding to the collection electrode 37 having the best detection sensitivity and the smallest electrode area has the lowest detection sensitivity. These three detection circuits 39 to 43 are connected to a common ground electrode 45.

According to the above configuration, the LEDs 19 on the detection circuits 39 to 43 are set in stages such that the ion concentration is 2,000,000 / cc, 1,000,000 / cc, and 500,000 / cc according to the amount of generated ions. Since the light is turned on, the magnitude of the ion amount can be detected.

In this modification, the collecting electrodes 33 to 37 are used.
Although the size of the area is different for each, the high-resistance elements 21 incorporated in the detection circuits 39 to 43 are changed to those having different resistance values, and the detection sensitivity of each of the detection circuits 39 to 43 is changed. It may be changed stepwise. Similarly, each detection circuit 39
N-type FET 13 or p-type FET 27 built in to 43
Can be detected in a stepwise manner by changing the driving voltages to different driving voltages.

Here, the performance of the negative ion detector according to each embodiment of the present invention was compared with the performance of the negative ion detector according to the prior art. Negative ions could not be detected unless the concentration became about 1,000,000 ions / cc or more, whereas the negative ion concentration of about 500,000 ions / cc was detected in the negative ion detector according to each embodiment of the present invention. However, it was revealed that negative ion detection was sufficiently possible, and thus the detection sensitivity was improved by a factor of two or more.

The contents described above relate to each embodiment of the present invention and the modifications thereof, and needless to say that the present invention is not limited to only the above contents.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an ion detection device that has high ion detection capability and high reliability of ion detection, and that can easily confirm a detection result.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional negative ion detection device.

FIG. 2 is a basic circuit configuration diagram of a negative ion detector according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a negative ion detection device according to a first modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a negative ion detection device according to a second modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a circuit configuration of a negative ion detection device according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 33, 35, 37 Collection electrode 13 n-type FET 15, 45 Ground electrode 17 DC power supply 19 LED 21 High resistance element 23 Constant voltage diode 25 Current limiting resistance element 27 p-type FET 31 Substrate 39, 41, 43 Detection circuit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A collection electrode for collecting charges of ions in the atmosphere, a semiconductor switching unit that conducts by the charges collected by the collection electrode, and a semiconductor switching unit that is driven by conduction of the semiconductor switching unit. ,
A notifying unit for notifying ion detection, and an ion detecting device. 2. The ion detection device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor switching means is turned on by negative charges collected by the collection electrode. 3. The ion detector according to claim 1, wherein said semiconductor switching means is a voltage-driven semiconductor switching element. 4. The ion detection device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit is a light emitting element that emits light when the semiconductor switching unit is turned on. 5. The ion detection device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit is driven by power supply from a DC power supply connected by conduction of the semiconductor switching unit. 6. The ion detection device according to claim 1, further comprising a discharging unit configured to discharge the electric charge remaining in the collection electrode. 7. The ion detector according to claim 6, wherein the discharging means discharges the electric charge remaining in the collecting electrode so that the semiconductor switching means is turned off. Detection device. 8. A plurality of collecting electrodes, each having a different area, for collecting electric charges of ions in the atmosphere, and provided in correspondence with each of the collecting electrodes. A plurality of semiconductor switching means, each of which conducts by a different amount of collected electric charge, provided corresponding to each of the semiconductor switching means, and driven by conduction of each of the semiconductor switching means, to detect ions. An ion detecting device, comprising: a plurality of notifying means for notifying.