KR101721662B1 - Liquid drop measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring the size or amount of a droplet, and a droplet measuring apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate; A unit electrode formed on the substrate and including a first electrode and a second electrode; An energy conversion layer formed on a plurality of unit electrodes arranged or stacked in accordance with a predetermined pattern and directly or indirectly in contact with the liquid droplet; And a measurement unit for measuring a signal value including a voltage or current value of electric energy generated in at least a part of the plurality of unit electrodes according to the contact of the liquid droplet. According to the present invention, it is possible to measure the number of liquid droplets that fall by the number of generated waveforms generated through a voltage signal generated through a change in contact area of liquid, The size of the liquid droplet can be estimated through the prediction of the size of the liquid droplet.

Description

 [0001] The present invention relates to a liquid drop measuring device,

 The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring the size or amount of liquid droplets.

In the case of a conventional liquid drop counter and a size measuring apparatus, a method of analyzing an image using a camera, a method of using a refractive index difference using a laser, or a method of analyzing an approximate amount of dropped liquid drops using a radio wave of a specific frequency The size of the liquid droplet is measured, however, when calculating through the sensed value and the size and amount of the liquid droplet through the image processing in this way, the data processing amount is large and the size and the price of the whole measuring equipment are expensive, There was a difficulty in analyzing the number and size of dropping droplets.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for measuring droplets of liquid droplets, comprising: .

More particularly, the present invention aims at real-time measurement of the number and size of liquid droplets through electrical signal changes such as voltage and current that occur when an actual falling liquid droplet contacts the apparatus according to the present invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a droplet measuring apparatus including: a substrate; A unit electrode formed on the substrate and including a first electrode and a second electrode; An energy conversion layer formed on a plurality of unit electrodes arranged or stacked in accordance with a predetermined pattern and directly or indirectly in contact with the liquid droplet; And a measuring unit for measuring a signal value of electric energy generated in at least a part of the plurality of unit electrodes in accordance with the contact of the liquid droplets.

And the measuring unit may determine the number of the liquid droplets based on the waveform information of the continuous signal value.

Preferably, the measuring unit estimates the size of the liquid droplet by determining a unit electrode on which electrical energy is generated among the plurality of unit electrodes arranged or stacked.

The droplet measuring apparatus may further include: a capacitor connected to the unit electrode; And an alarm unit for generating alarm information using the electric energy charged in the capacitor.

Wherein the unit electrodes include a first unit electrode and a second unit electrode which are stacked and divided in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate, the first unit electrode measures the number of the liquid droplets, The unit electrode preferably measures the size of the droplet.

The energy conversion layer preferably includes at least one of an inorganic layer, an organic material layer, or a mixture layer of an organic material and an inorganic material.

Preferably, the energy conversion layer is laminated with a layer of hydrophobic material to facilitate a change in a state of contact with the droplet.

It is preferable that the energy conversion layer has a structure for widening the contact area with the liquid.

The substrate is preferably partially inclined with respect to a horizontal plane.

According to the present invention, it is possible to measure the number of liquid droplets that fall by the number of generated waveforms generated through a voltage signal generated through a change in contact area of liquid, The size of the liquid droplet can be estimated through the prediction of the size of the liquid droplet.

Further, the amount of liquid can be calculated through the number and size of the determined liquid droplets.

Further, the apparatus according to the present invention can operate without external power supply, so that the apparatus can be configured more simply. Furthermore, it is possible to measure the ionic concentration or acidity of the liquid by recognizing the significant change in the ionic concentration or pH of the liquid through the difference in the voltage value generated by the liquid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an operation example of a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
2 is a view showing a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view showing a voltage signal waveform measured by a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A and 4B are views showing an example of measurement of the droplet size of the droplet measuring apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram showing a pattern example of a unit electrode of a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram showing the configuration of a unit electrode of a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7A to 9 are cross-sectional views of a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a diagram illustrating pH and ion concentration measured in a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a cross-sectional view of a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The following merely illustrates the principles of the invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art will be able to devise various apparatuses which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included in the concept and scope of the invention. It is also to be understood that all conditional terms and examples recited in this specification are, in principle, expressly intended for the purpose of enabling the inventive concept to be understood, and are not intended to be limiting as to such specifically recited embodiments and conditions .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: .

In the following description, a detailed description of known technologies related to the present invention will be omitted when it is determined that the gist of the present invention may be unnecessarily blurred. Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a liquid droplet measuring apparatus using liquid will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing an application example of a droplet measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the liquid droplet measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment is characterized in that it determines the number and size of liquid droplets through contact with falling liquid droplets, and estimates the total amount of liquid to be separated.

More specifically, the number and the size of liquid droplets are determined through a signal of a voltage generated by the contact of liquid droplets.

Hereinafter, this will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the droplet measuring apparatus 200 includes a substrate 210, unit electrodes 215 and 220, an energy conversion layer 240, and a measurement unit (not shown).

In this embodiment, the substrate 210 is a structure for implementing the droplet measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, and the electrode layers 220 and 230 and the energy conversion layer 240 are directly or indirectly stacked on the substrate 210 .

In this embodiment, the unit electrode is formed on the substrate 210 and includes a first electrode 220 and a second electrode 230.

In this embodiment, the energy conversion layer 240 is formed on a plurality of unit electrodes arranged or stacked in accordance with a predetermined pattern, and directly or indirectly contacts the liquid droplet.

In this embodiment, a measurement unit (not shown) measures a signal value including a voltage or a current value of electric energy generated in at least a part of the plurality of unit electrodes in accordance with the contact of the liquid droplet 300.

An example of the measurement of the number and size of liquid droplets according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figs. 3 and 4. Fig.

Referring first to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 shows waveform information of a continuous signal value appearing through contact of liquid droplets in the droplet measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment.

That is, according to FIG. 3, a voltage waveform of 5 Hz appears on the basis of 1 second, so that five liquid droplets fell for 1 second.

At this time, it is possible to set a noise peak to remove a value significantly smaller than the average of the generated voltages, thereby increasing the accuracy of the measurement.

Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of unit electrodes 215 according to this embodiment are formed on a substrate. That is, if the unit electrodes 215 composed of two first and second electrodes are arranged in a horizontal direction with respect to the substrate, the number of the unit electrodes 215 contacting at the same time may vary according to the size of the liquid droplets 300 .

Referring to FIG. 4A, the liquid droplet 300 is contacted over the unit electrode 2 and the unit electrode 3, and thus the diameter of the liquid droplet can be estimated to be 5 mm.

In this embodiment, when the interval between the unit electrode and the first and second electrodes is made finer, the size of the liquid droplet can be more accurately measured. Therefore, in this embodiment, the gap between the electrodes is preferably at least smaller than the diameter of the droplet to be measured.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the liquid droplet 300 is contacted with all of the unit electrodes 2, 3, and 4, and the measurement unit recognizes that the electrodes are formed in the unit electrodes 2, 3, and 4, do.

The above embodiments are for illustrating that the magnitude of the diameter of the liquid droplet can be predicted through the unit electrode for generating the voltage signal. It does not indicate that the diameter is 5 mm or 10 mm according to an absolute standard. .

Referring to FIG. 5, the unit electrodes 215 may be formed in various shapes in the horizontal and vertical directions of the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to measure the number and size of liquid droplets in a wider area, for example, by measuring the size and number of comb droplets by constituting unit electrodes with respect to a substrate having a unit area as a reference for measurement of precipitation It is also possible to predict the amount of precipitation.

When the unit electrodes are stacked not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction with respect to the surface of the substrate, it is possible to predict the number of the unit electrodes in the upper layer generating the voltage signal and the number of the unit electrodes in the lower layer, The size of the liquid droplet can be calculated.

Further, in the above example, it is also possible to configure the unit electrode of the upper layer and the unit electrode of the lower layer to have different purposes.

For example, it is possible to measure the size of water droplets in the upper unit electrode and measure the number of water droplets in the lower unit electrode.

6A to 6C, the first electrode 220 and the second electrode 230 may have a variety of structures, unlike the embodiments described above. For example, it is also possible that the first electrode 220 is configured as a square ring on the substrate, and the second electrode 230 is formed therein. Also, the second electrode 230 may be formed of a surface.

Alternatively, it may be configured as a circular ring type (FIG. 6B) or a triangular ring type (FIG. 6C). The above embodiment is not limited to the example shown in the various embodiments of the first and second electrodes constituting the unit electrode 215.

That is, electrodes of various shapes and sizes can be used to match the diameter of the droplet to be measured, thereby increasing the accuracy.

Hereinafter, the principle of the substrate 210, the unit electrode 215, and the energy conversion layer 240 and the voltage signal generation through the substrate 210 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the substrate 210 may be formed of a polymer material or a ceramic material. In this case, the substrate 210 of the polymer material may be made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyarylate (PAR), poly Polyimide (PI), polycarbonate (PC), or fiber reinforced (PES), polyether sulfone (PES), polyimide a plastic substrate or a film including at least one of plastics, FRP.

The ceramic substrate may be made of a ceramic material containing at least one of alumina (Al2O3), beryllia (BeO), aluminum nitride (AlN), silicon carbide, mullite or silicon.

Further, a fabric material such as nylon, cotton, and polyester can be used as the substrate as the substrate 210.

The unit electrodes 215 may be formed on the substrate 210 in such a manner that the first electrode 220 and the second electrode 230 are patterned with a gap therebetween, , The contact surface, and the contact area, so that electric energy is generated.

In this embodiment, the electrode may be composed of a conductive fabric electrode in the form of copper, nickel, silver, or the like coated on the fabric as well as the conductive metal.

The first electrode 220 or the second electrode 230 may be formed of ITO, IGO, chromium, aluminum, IZO (indium zinc oxide), IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide), ZnO, ZnO2 Or TiO 2 or a metal electrode containing at least one of platinum, gold, silver, aluminum, iron or copper or a metal electrode containing at least one of PEDOT, carbon nano tube (CNT) , Graphene, polyacetylene, polythiophene (PT), polypyrrole, polyparaphenylene (PPV), polyaniline, poly sulfur nitride At least one of stainless steel, iron alloy containing 10% dltkd of chromium, SUS 304, SUS 316, SUS 316L, Co-Cr alloy, Ti alloy, Ni-Ti or polyparaphenylenevinylene Organic < / RTI >

Referring to FIGS. 11A to 11D, in this embodiment, the energy conversion layer 240 is formed by stacking inorganic layers and / or organic layers. Preferably, such an energy conversion layer can be formed by a method such as patterning, vapor deposition, or spin coating.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the energy conversion layer 240 may be formed of a material such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polyvinylpyrrolidone PVP), poly (4-vinylphenol, PVP) or polyethersulfone (PES) poly (4-methoxyphenylacrylate) Poly (2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate) (PTFMA), cyanoethylpullulan (poly (phenylacrylate) (PPA) Poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC), poly (parabanic acid) resin (PPA), poly (t-butylstyrene) (PTBS) (PTV), polyvinylacetate (PVA), poly (vinyl alcohol) (polyvinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly (Rmethylstyrene) PAMS, poly (vinyl alcohol) -co-poly (vinyl acetate) -co-poly (itaconic acid) (vinyl acetate) -co-poly (itaconic acid); PVAIA), polyolefin, polyacrylate, parylene-C, polyimide, octadecyltrichlorosilane Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS), poly (triarylamine); PTTA), poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT), cross-linked Poly-4-vinylphenol (cross-linked PVP), poly N-octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), silicone (silicone), and the like. ), Polyurethane, latex, cellulose acetate, poly (hydroxy ethyl methacrylate), polylactide (PLA), PGA (polyglycolide), or PGLA And an organic material layer 240b containing at least one of polyglycolide-co-Lactide; And tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5), tantalum pentoxide, zinc oxide (Zinc oxide), tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5), and tantalum pentoxide Y2O3, Cerium oxide, CeO2, TiO2, Barium titanate, BaTiO3, Barium zirconate titanate (BZT), Barium titanate (BZT) , Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), lanthanum oxide (La2O3), hafnon (HfSiO4), lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3), silicon nitride (Si3N4), and perovskite materials , Barium strontium titanate (BST), lead zirconate titanate (PZT), calcium copper titanate (CCTO), hafnium oxide (HfO 2), strontium titanate (SrTiO 3), barium strontium titanate ), Apatite (A10 (MO4) 6 (X) 2), hydroxide An inorganic material layer containing at least any one of apatite (Ca10 (PO4) 6 (OH) 2), tricalcium phosphate (Ca3 (PO42)), Na2O-CaO-SiO2, or bioglass (CaO- 240a. Further, it is also possible to use polytetrafluoroethylene, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene, fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), and perfluoroalkoxy copolymer.

Preferably, the organic material layer 240b may be a material having a dielectric constant (K) of 4 or less, and the inorganic material layer 240a may be a material having a dielectric constant (K) of 5 or more.

In this embodiment, the inorganic layer 240a and the organic material layer 240b are stacked on the first electrode 220 or the second electrode 220, but they are preferably stacked adjacent to each other.

Also, preferably, the energy conversion layer 240 may be formed as an integral layer so as to cover both the first electrode 220 and the second electrode 230.

Preferably, the inorganic layer 240a and the organic layer 240b may be repeatedly overlapped when they are stacked on the first electrode 210 or the second electrode 220. That is, the energy conversion layer 240 may be formed by repeatedly forming the lamination of the inorganic layer 240a and the organic layer 240b.

In the embodiment described above, the unit electrode 215 and the energy conversion layer 240 generate energy according to the change of the contact state of the droplet 300. That is, as the liquid droplet flows on the first or second electrode 220 or 230, a change in the capacitance due to the change in the contact state occurs, and energy is generated from the movement of electrons generated to compensate for the potential difference .

That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to measure the number of liquid droplets that fall by the number of generated waveforms generated through the voltage signal generated through the change of the contact area of the liquid, The size of the liquid droplet can be predicted and the size of the liquid droplet can be determined through this.

Referring to FIG. 7, a hydrophobic material layer 250 may further be included.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hydrophobic material layer 250 is deposited on the energy energy conversion layer 240. This layer of hydrophobic material 250 is deposited such that the contact surface, contact angle, or contact area of the water with respect to the electrodes 220 and 230 is easily changed.

Preferably, the hydrophobic material layer 250 may be deposited on the first electrode 220 or the second electrode 230 on which the energy generating portion 200 is not formed.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hydrophobic material layer 250 may comprise a silane-based material, a fluoropolymer material, trichlorosilane, trimethoxysilane, pentafluorophenylpropyl (Benzyloxy) alkyltrimethoxysilane (BSM-22), (benzyloxy) alkyltrichlorosilane (BTS), hexamethyldisilazane (benzyloxy) alkyltrimethoxysilane hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS), octadecyltrimethoxysilane (OTMS), divinyltetramethyldisiloxane-bis (benzocyclobutene); BCB), TEOS (tetraethoxysilane), MTES (Methyltriethoxysilane), or a mixture of these materials.

Referring next to FIG. 8, the lamination structure of the unit electrodes according to this embodiment will be described.

Referring to FIG. 8, in this embodiment, the first electrodes 220 may be arranged in a plurality of rows along a predetermined direction at predetermined intervals.

The energy conversion layer 240 may be stacked on the first electrode 220 and the second electrode 230 may be formed on the energy conversion layer 240 in a direction perpendicular to the first electrode 220 have.

That is, in FIG. 8, they are arranged in directions orthogonal to each other. Therefore, in such a structure, more various potential difference between electrodes is generated and a voltage can be generated.

8 illustrates that each of the first electrode 220 and the second electrode 230 is formed of a plurality of electrodes. However, the first electrode 220 is formed of one electrode plate, and the second electrode 230 230 may be arranged in a plurality of rows along a predetermined direction at predetermined intervals. Or the second electrodes 230 may be formed of one electrode plate and the second electrodes 220 may be formed on the substrate in a plurality of lines in a predetermined direction at predetermined intervals.

9, a space 270 is formed between the electrodes to be stacked, and the upper electrode 230 and the lower electrode 220 are brought into contact with each other through a pressure applied when a liquid drop or the like is contacted, So that the voltage signal can be generated. In the case of a space, a space is formed between the electrodes through an elastic support, and when the pressure disappears, the shrunken space is recovered, so that a permanent operation can be realized.

In addition, referring to FIG. 10, the voltage of the electric energy generated according to this embodiment may be varied depending on the ionic concentration (b) or pH (a) of the liquid.

That is, at this time, the ion concentration or the pH value of the liquid can be calculated through the varying voltage, and in addition to calculating the varying voltage in this embodiment, And a significant change in the ionic concentration or pH of the liquid can be recognized through the difference in characteristics of light emitted from the light emitting device.

That is, it is also possible to measure the acidity of the rain as well as the precipitation by measuring the pH.

Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11D, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the inorganic layer 240a or the organic layer 240b is deposited to form a structure for widening the contact area with the liquid.

11A to 11D are side views showing an embodiment of the energy generating unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 11A to 11D, an energy generating unit 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention deposits an inorganic layer 240a on the patterned electrodes 220 and 230 on a substrate 210. Referring to FIG. In this embodiment, the energy generating unit 200 includes an organic layer 240b on the inorganic layer 240a in order to widen the surface area of the organic layer or the inorganic layer on the substrate 210. The organic layer 240b may have a concave- 11b), a hemispherical shape (Fig. 11c), and a globular shape (Fig. 11d). Preferably, the order of the organic material layer 240b and the inorganic material layer 240a may be reversed, and it is not always necessary that the organic material layer 240b is laminated so as to form a structure.

Accordingly, the change in the contact surface, contact area, contact angle, etc. with the liquid 300 can be increased to increase the energy conversion efficiency.

Preferably, the energy generating part 200 according to the present embodiment includes a hydrophobic material layer 250 stacked on the organic material layer 240b stacked to form a structure so that the structure shape is maintained.

This shape of the structure increases the contact area change between the electrode 220 and the liquid 300 to increase the electric energy generation efficiency.

Also, although not shown, a capacitor may be connected to the liquid droplet measuring apparatus so that a charge of a predetermined amount or more can be supplied to the capacitor to give an alarm by sound or light.

Further, the apparatus according to the present embodiment can be installed at an angle with respect to the horizontal plane for more efficient operation. This allows the droplets to flow easily after contact. Further, when the unit electrodes are connected to each other, they can be manufactured in series or in parallel.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to measure the number of liquid droplets that fall by the number of generated waveforms generated through a voltage signal generated through a change in contact area of liquid, It is possible to predict the size of the liquid droplet contacted therethrough and thereby determine the size of the liquid droplet.

Further, the amount of liquid can be calculated through the number and size of the determined liquid droplets.

Further, the apparatus according to the present invention can operate without external power supply, so that the apparatus can be configured more simply. Furthermore, it is possible to measure the ionic concentration or acidity of the liquid by recognizing the significant change in the ionic concentration or pH of the liquid through the difference in the voltage value generated by the liquid.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, substitutions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. will be.

Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention and the accompanying drawings are intended to illustrate and not to limit the technical spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments and the accompanying drawings . The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (9)

Board;
A unit electrode formed on the substrate and including a first electrode and a second electrode;
A plurality of unit electrodes formed on at least a part of the plurality of unit electrodes arranged or stacked in accordance with a predetermined pattern and generating electrical energy together with the unit electrodes in accordance with a change in the contact state of the liquid droplets when they are in direct or indirect contact with the liquid droplets Energy conversion layer; And
And a measuring unit for measuring a signal value of the electric energy in at least a part of the unit electrodes,
Wherein the measuring unit comprises:
And the number of times of reaching a predetermined peak value per unit time is calculated to acquire the number of liquid droplets in contact with the energy conversion layer, delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the measuring unit estimates the size of the liquid droplet by determining a unit electrode on which electrical energy is generated among the plurality of unit electrodes arranged or stacked, The method according to claim 1,
The liquid droplet measuring apparatus
A capacitor connected to the unit electrode; And
And an alarm unit for generating alarm information using the electric energy charged in the capacitor. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the unit electrodes include a first unit electrode and a second unit electrode which are stacked and divided in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate,
Wherein the first unit electrode measures the number of the liquid droplets,
And the second unit electrode measures the size of the liquid droplet. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the energy conversion layer comprises at least one layer of an inorganic material layer, an organic material layer, or a mixture layer of an organic material and an inorganic material, The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the energy conversion layer is laminated with a hydrophobic material layer for facilitating a change in a state of contact with the liquid droplet. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the energy conversion layer has a structure for widening a contact area with the liquid. The method according to claim 1,
Characterized in that the substrate is partially inclined with respect to a horizontal plane

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