JP2000356372A - Humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a humidifier, reducing noise and capable of supplying a large amount of negative ions. SOLUTION: A humidifier is equipped with a vapor generating device, a vapor discharging port 9 for discharging the vapor generated by the vapor generating device, and a vapor passage from the vapor generating device to the vapor discharging port 9. In such a humidifier, a negative ion generating device, releasing the negative ions into vapor discharged out of the vapor discharging port 9 arranged at the outside of the vapor passage, is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a humidifier for discharging steam to increase indoor humidity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, due to high airtightness and high heat insulation of houses,
It is said that the housing environment is deteriorating. Health damage due to leakage of harmful substances from building materials called sick house syndrome and poor physical condition caused by a temperature difference from outside air in summer and winter are examples. Especially in winter, since the temperature in the room rises, the relative humidity in the room tends to decrease, and symptoms such as sore throat tend to occur. Therefore, it is common practice to increase the relative humidity in the room by using a humidifier.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of improving air quality, means for generating negative ions indoors has been adopted. Both negative and positive ions are present in the air, and it is generally said that when there are many positive ions, symptoms such as fatigue, malaise, headache, and stiff shoulders increase, and when there are many negative ions, the above symptoms are alleviated. The inventor measured the amounts of the negative ions and the positive ions in various places, and the results were as shown in FIG. That is, in the cooler outlet, in front of the TV screen, and in the office, both ions were as small as 200 / cc, and in the outlet of the vacuum cleaner, in front of the personal computer monitor, and in general homes, there was no significant difference between positive ions and negative ions. In forests, there are more negative ions, and in the waterfall, the number of negative ions is overwhelmingly large, with more than 10,000 ions / cc. In waterfalls, the negative ions (Lenard effect) generated when water crushes rocks are the cause, but in the so-called natural environment, there are more negative ions, which is why negative ions are called "air vitamins". . As a method for artificially generating negative ions, there are a method using the above-described Leonard effect and a method using corona discharge.

[0004]

However, in the method utilizing the Leonard effect, humidification can be performed at the same time, but noise is generated, and when bacteria occur in the stored water, the bacteria are scattered in the room. There are drawbacks. In addition, corona discharge gives electrons to molecules in the air and ionizes them, so that the number of generated corona discharges is larger than that of the Leonard effect, but there is no effect of increasing indoor humidity.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned disadvantages, and has as its object to provide a humidifier capable of supplying a large amount of negative ions with low noise.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a humidifier having a steam generator, a steam discharge port for discharging steam generated by the steam generator, and a steam generator. A humidifier provided with a vapor passage from the device to a vapor discharge port, wherein a negative ion generator is provided for discharging negative ions to the vapor discharged from the vapor discharge port disposed outside the vapor passage. I do. By installing a negative ion generator that emits minor ions to the vapor discharged from the vapor discharge port arranged outside the vapor passage, the vapor and the air containing the negative ions are mixed, and the negatively charged vapor is mixed. It can be made and adsorb more to human body to give more effective humidification effect. Further, since the air and the steam are mixed, the temperature of the steam can be lowered, the risk of burns can be reduced, and the steam can be diffused farther. Also, no noise is generated because the Leonard effect is not used unlike the conventional case.

A humidifier according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that, in claim 1, the negative ions are mixed with purified air. It has negative ions and can supply clean steam.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention. The main body 1 of the humidifier comprises a humidifying section 2 and an ion generating section 3. The humidifying section 2 includes a water supply tank 4, a water tank 5 for storing water from the water supply tank 4, and an evaporation tank 6 having a heater 7 on a side surface. And steam outlet 9
A steam generating pipe 8 for connecting steam from the evaporating tank 6 is provided. The evaporating tank 6 with the heater 7 on the side is a steam generator, and the steam generating pipe 8 is a steam passage.

The water supply tank 4 has a water supply port formed on the lower surface, and is closed by a water supply cap 10 having a water supply valve structure. Then, when the water supply tank 4 is mounted on the humidifier 2, the projection 11 installed in the water tank 5 is inserted into the water supply cap 10, and the water supply valve is opened,
The water in the water supply tank 4 is filled in the water tank 5. Since the water tank 5 and the evaporating tank 6 are communicated with each other by the communication pipe 12, the water filled in the water tank 5 flows into the evaporating tank 6 through the communication pipe 12. Then, after a certain time, the evaporating tank 6 is filled with water up to the specified water level.

A heater 7 is wound around the outer side wall of the evaporating tank 6, and the heater 7 is disposed at a position lower than a specified water level of water supplied to the evaporating tank 6. When the heater 7 is energized, the water in the evaporating tank 6 is warmed and evaporates soon. Then, the steam is discharged to the steam discharge port 9 through the steam generating pipe 8. The steam generating pipe 8 has no place other than the steam outlet 9 for discharging steam, and all generated steam flows to the steam outlet 9.

When the heater 7 continues to be energized, the water in the water supply tank 4 eventually runs out, and the water tank 5 is not supplied with water. Then, the prescribed water level decreases, the float switch provided in the water tank 5 operates, and the power supply to the heater 7 is stopped. The evaporating tank 6 is provided with a thermostat for detecting an abnormal temperature rise.
When the abnormal heating of the heater 7 is detected, the power supply to the heater 7 is stopped.

An ion generator 3 having a negative ion generator includes a fan 13, a filter 14, and an ionization needle 15.
When the fan 13 rotates, air is introduced from a filter 14 mounted on the back of the apparatus, and at this time, dust and malodorous components are removed by the filter 14.
The filter 14 is composed of a nonwoven fabric for removing dust and activated carbon for removing malodorous components. The air purified by the filter 14 is discharged from a purified air discharge port 16. An ionization needle 15 is provided immediately before the purified air outlet 16 to generate negative ions,
Purified air containing negative ions is discharged from the purified air outlet 16.

The end of the steam generating tube 8 is connected to a purified air outlet 16.
Therefore, the steam discharged from the steam discharge port 9 is mixed with the purified air containing negative ions. At this time, the negative ions and the vapor collide, generating negatively charged vapor. The negatively-charged steam rides on the wind supplied from the ion generator 3 and diffuses into the room. Humans are usually positively charged, and the negatively charged vapor is more absorbed by the human body.

FIG. 2 shows the results of an experiment conducted by the inventor on a prototype having the configuration shown in FIG. Three subjects measured the electrical conductivity of the skin surface on the upper left arm of each person. The conductivity indicates the ease with which electricity flows, and generally, the higher the conductivity, the greater the amount of moisture. Before the experiment, measure the background value and
The conductivity immediately after the questioning and the conductivity after 5 minutes were measured five times and averaged. The experiment was run three times alternately with negatively charged vapor and uncharged vapor to eliminate the effects of order, and FIG. 2 plots the average of all data. As shown in FIG. 2, it was confirmed that the conductivity of the negatively charged steam was higher than that of the uncharged steam. In other words, it was considered that the more negatively charged, the more the body was adsorbed. In addition,
The average particle diameter of the vapor was about 8 μm for both negatively charged vapor and uncharged vapor, and there was no difference in particle diameter. Negative ions are discharged by applying a high voltage to the tip of the needle.
Discharge stops when ions accumulate in the vicinity and the potential difference disappears. Therefore, it is desirable that the ionization needle 15 be disposed as close as possible to the purified air discharge port 16, and it is necessary to prevent ions generated from the ionization needle 15 from accumulating inside the apparatus. In addition, it is not suitable to dispose the ionization needle 15 in the steam generating tube 8 because there is a possibility that abnormal discharge may occur due to a short circuit in a place having a lot of moisture.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, since steam and air containing negative ions are mixed, it is possible to produce negatively charged steam, which is more adsorbed to the human body and more effective. Humidifying effect can be provided. In addition, since the air and the steam are mixed, the temperature of the steam can be lowered, the risk of burns is reduced, and the steam is diffused farther.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a humidifier according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of an experiment on the conductivity of the skin surface on the upper left hand, measured using an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing measurement results of ions at various places.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Humidification part 3 Ion generation part 4 Tank 5 Water tank 6 Evaporation tank 7 Heater 8 Steam generation pipe 9 Steam discharge port 10 Water supply cap 11 Projection 12 Communication pipe 13 Fan 14 Filter 15 Ionization needle 16 Purified air discharge port

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Mizuguchi 1048 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Term (reference) 3L055 AA10 BC01 CA04 DA05

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A humidifier comprising a steam generator, a steam outlet for discharging steam generated by the steam generator, and a steam passage from the steam generator to the steam outlet. A humidifier provided with a negative ion generator for discharging negative ions to the vapor discharged from the disposed vapor discharge port. 2. The humidifier according to claim 1, wherein said negative ions are mixed with purified air.