Patent Application
20090250636
The present invention relates to a charged particle supplying apparatus that generates charged particles and emits the charged particles to an object, and that holds electric potential of the object so that the charged particles can easily be induced or adsorbed by the object.
A charged particle supplying apparatus that generates charged particles (negative ions or positive ions) and emits the charged particles to an object includes an electric potential holding unit. An electrifying unit connected to the electric potential holding unit is contacted with the object, the electric potential holding unit is held such that electric potential of the electrifying unit becomes opposite from electric potential of the charged particles so that the charged particles can easily be induced or adsorbed. If the charged particle supplying apparatus is used for a hair dryer or a hair brush to dry hair and emit charged particles to the hair, the hair can be moisturized or can become smooth (Patent Document 1).
In a charged particle supplying apparatus described in Patent Document 1 mentioned above, however, as insulating means between a power supply and an electrifying unit, an electronic circuit of the electric potential holding unit is only provided with a capacitor and a diode, and an insulator is only arranged between the electric potential holding unit and the electing unit. Therefore, when a hair dryer or a hair brush provided with the charged particle supplying apparatus falls and the electrifying unit or the insulator is cracked, there is a possibility that insulation cannot be secured sufficiently.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the problem of the background art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a safe and efficient charged particle supplying apparatus capable of always securing insulation, and capable of reliably holding electric potential of an object.
A charged particle supplying apparatus of the present invention comprises a discharging unit that generates charged particles and discharge the charged particles toward an object, and an electric potential holding unit that holds electric potential of the object such that the discharged charged particles are continuously induced or adsorbed by the object, the electric potential holding unit includes an insulation circuit that prevents overcurrent from flowing to the object, and an electrifying unit that is connected to the electric potential holding unit and that is charged by the electric potential holding unit is provided on a surface of a gripping portion that is formed in a predetermined shape such that the gripping portion can be gripped.
According to the charged particle supplying apparatus of the present invention, insulation can always and reliably be secured, a contact area between the electrifying unit and the object is secured, and electric potential of the contact object is reliably held. Therefore, it is possible to provide a safe and efficient charged particle supplying apparatus.
The charged particle supplying apparatus according to the present embodiment will be explained below more specifically and in detail.
As shown in
The electric potential holding unit 4 that holds the electric potential 10 of the human body 2 is connected to the human body 2 by the electrifying unit 6 connected to the electric potential holding unit 4. When electric charge of the charged particles 1 is negative, the electric potential holding unit 4 provided with power supply 11 positively charges the electrifying unit 6, thereby positively charging the human body 2. A ground electric potential 12 is connected to the electric potential holding unit 4.
When electric charge of the charged particles 1 is positive, the electric potential holding unit 4 provided with the power supply 11 negatively charges the electrifying unit 6, thereby negatively charging the human body 2.
Next, the discharging unit 3 includes a needle electrode 13, a ground electrode 14, a discharge opening 15 that incorporates the needle electrode 13 and the ground electrode 14, and a high voltage generating apparatus 16. The high voltage generating apparatus 16 applies high voltage between the needle electrode 13 and the ground electrode 14 and generates charged particles 1 by corona discharge.
The needle electrode 13 is formed of a metal rod whose tip end is formed in a sharp needle shape. The ground electrode 14 is formed of metal plate, and the ground electrode 14 is arranged in front of the needle electrode 13 in the discharging unit 3.
A reference electric potential side of the high voltage generating apparatus 16 is connected to the ground electrode 14, and a high voltage side of the high voltage generating apparatus 16 is connected to the needle electrode 13. When it is desired to generate negative ions, −5 kV is output for example, and when it is desired to generate positive ions, +5 kV is output, for example.
Next, as shown in
Further, the positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 is provided with a plurality of capacitors 18 and a plurality of diodes 19, and the positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 generates the positive electric potential 10. The positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 is connected to the electrifying unit 6. The positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 charges the electrifying unit 6 with the positive electric potential 10, and also charges the human body 2 that comes into contact with the electrifying unit 6 with positive electric potential.
At this time, insulation is secured between the power supply 11, the electric potential holding unit 4 and the electrifying unit 6 connected to the electric potential holding unit 4 by the insulation circuit 5. Predetermined electric potential 10 can be given to a secondary side of the transformer 8 by the resistors 9 provided in the insulation circuit 5. When a resistance value of the resistor 9 is small, because the insulation from the ground is insufficient, it is necessary that the resistance value of the resistor 9 is high.
Next, in the electric potential holding unit 4, when negative electric potential 10 is held, a negative-electric-potential generating circuit 20 in which diodes are positioned in a direction opposite from the positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 is provided as shown in
As shown in
An operation switch 22 is mounted on a front side of the gripping portion 7. The operation switch 22 controls driving operations and stopping operations of a motor 23 and a heater 24 provided in the dryer body 21. A fan 26 is provided behind the motor 23. If the fan 26 rotates, air sucked by a suction opening 27 is discharged from a delivery opening 28.
With respect to the above configuration, the operation of the charged particle supplying apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention and the dryer having the charged particle supplying apparatus will be explained by
If a user grips the gripping portion 7 provided on the lower side of the dryer body 21 and turns the operation switch 22 on, the discharging unit 3 and the electric potential holding unit 4 are driven. First, the high voltage generating apparatus 16 provided in the discharging unit 3 applies −5 kV voltage to the needle electrode 13 with respect to the ground electrode 14.
If the voltage is applied, because the tip end of the needle electrode 13 is sharp, concentration of electric field occurs, corona discharge is generated near the tip end of the needle electrode 13, and charged particles 1 such as negative air ions are generated.
The discharging unit 3 is driven, the motor 23 and the heater 24 provided in the dryer body 21 are also driven, air sucked from the suction opening 27 by the fan 26 connected to the rear side of the motor 23 is heated by the heater 24 and discharged from the delivery opening 28. Charged particles 1 (negative air ions) generated and discharged in the discharging unit are supplied to the human body 2 (in this case, hair of the user) together with this discharged air, and the hair is moisturized or becomes smooth.
Meanwhile, in the electric potential holding unit 4, the positive electric potential 10 generated in the positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 by the power supply 11 supplied from the power supply cord 25 charges the electrifying unit 6 with the positive electric potential 10. The electrifying unit 6 is connected to the electric potential holding unit 4 and provided on the rear surface of the gripping portion 7 adjacent to the electric potential holding unit 4.
At this time, because the electrifying unit 6 has the convex curved shape corresponding to the surface shape of the gripping portion 7, a user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 are closely contacted with each other, and because the contact area between the user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 can be increased, it is possible to always reliably hold the electric potential 10 of the user, i.e., the human body 2 in the positive electric potential 10.
If the human body 2 is charged with the positive electric potential 10 and held, an electric line of force A is formed toward the human body 2. Therefore, the charged particles 1 move along the electric line of force A and supplied to the human body 2. The human body 2 is charged with the positive electric potential 10 by the electric potential holding unit 4 and this state is continued. Therefore, it is possible to keep supplying the charged particles 1 to the human body 2.
The transformer 8 is provided in the insulation circuit 5. Therefore, insulation between the electric potential holding unit 4, the power supply 11 to which the power supply cord 25 is connected, and the electrifying unit 6 connected to the electric potential holding unit 4 can be secured, and predetermined electric potential 10 can be given to a secondary side of the transformer 8 by the resistors 9 provided in the insulation circuit 5.
Further, because the secondary side of the transformer 8 of the insulation circuit 5 is insulated from the power supply 11, the impedance from the ground becomes high and thus, the secondary side of the transformer 8 is susceptible to noise from outside. However, because the electric potential holding unit 4 having the insulation circuit 5 is positioned adjacent to the electrifying unit 6 in the gripping portion 7, the distance between the electric potential holding unit 4 and the electrifying unit 6 becomes short and thus, the influence of the noise from outside can be reduced to a considerably low level.
If a user turns the operation switch 22 off, the discharging unit 3 is stopped, the discharging operation of the charged particles 1 is stopped, the electric potential holding unit 4 is stopped and the holding state of the positive electric potential 10 of the human body 2 is also stopped. Because the motor 23 and the heater 24 are also stopped, the discharging operation of the heated air from the delivery opening 28 is also stopped, and the operation of the dryer is finished.
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the electrifying unit 6 is formed in a shape such that the electrifying unit 6 is in close contact with a user's hand, and the contact area between the user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 is increased. Therefore, the positive electric potential 10 of the human body 2 can always and reliably be held.
Further, because the insulation circuit 5 is provided with the transformer 8, insulation can reliably be secured between the power supply 11 and the electrifying unit 6, and the predetermined electric potential 10 can be given to the secondary side of the transformer 8 by the resistors 9 provided in the insulation circuit 5.
Because the electric potential holding unit 4 is positioned adjacent to the electrifying unit 6 in the gripping portion 7, noise from outside can be reduced to a considerably low level.
As shown in
Based on these differences, the operations of the charged particle supplying apparatus and the hair brush having the charged particle supplying apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
If a user grips the gripping portion 7 provided on the upper portion of the hair brush body 29 and turns the operation switch 22 on, the discharging unit 3 (not shown in
If the voltage is applied, because the tip end of the needle electrode 13 is sharp, concentration of electric field occurs, corona discharge is generated near the tip end of the needle electrode 13, and the charged particles 1 such as negative air ions are generated.
The discharging unit 3 is driven, the motor 23 and the heater 24 provided in the hair brush body 29 are also driven, air sucked from the suction opening 27 by the fan 26 connected to the rear side of the motor 23 is heated by the heater 24 and discharged from the delivery opening 28. The charged particles 1 (negative air ions) generated and discharged in the discharging unit 3 are supplied to the human body 2 (in this case, hair of the user) together with this discharged air, and the hair is moisturized or becomes smooth.
Meanwhile, in the electric potential holding unit 4, the positive electric potential 10 generated in the positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 by the power supply 11 supplied from the power supply cord 25 charges the electrifying unit 6 with the positive electric potential 10. The electrifying unit 6 is connected to the electric potential holding unit 4 and provided on the rear surface of the gripping portion 7 adjacent to the electric potential holding unit 4.
At this time, because the electrifying unit 6 has the convex curved shape corresponding to the surface shape of the gripping portion 7, a user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 are closely contacted with each other, and because the contact area between the user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 can be increased, it is possible to always reliably hold the electric potential 10 of the user, i.e., the human body 2 in positive electric potential.
If the human body 2 is charged with the positive electric potential 10 and held, the electric line of force A is formed toward the human body 2. Therefore, the charged particles 1 move along the electric line of force A and supplied to the human body 2. The human body 2 is charged with the positive electric potential 10 by the electric potential holding unit 4 and this state is continued. Therefore, it is possible to keep supplying the charged particles 1 to the human body 2.
The transformer 8 is provided in the insulation circuit 5. Therefore, insulation between the electric potential holding unit 4, the power supply 11 to which the power supply cord 25 is connected, and the electrifying unit 6 connected to the electric potential holding unit 4 can be secured, and the predetermined electric potential 10 can be given to a secondary side of the transformer 8 by the resistors 9 provided in the insulation circuit 5.
Further, because the secondary side of the transformer 8 of the insulation circuit 5 is insulated from the power supply 11, the impedance from the ground becomes high and thus, the secondary side of the transformer 8 is susceptible to noise from outside. However, because the electric potential holding unit 4 having the insulation circuit 5 is positioned adjacent to the electrifying unit 6 in the gripping portion 7, the distance between the electric potential holding unit 4 and the electrifying unit 6 becomes short and thus, the influence of the noise from outside can be reduced to a considerably low level.
If a user turns the operation switch 22 off, the discharging unit 3 is stopped, the discharging operation of the charged particles 1 is stopped, the electric potential holding unit 4 is stopped and the holding state of the positive electric potential 10 of the human body 2 is also stopped. Because the motor 23 and the heater 24 are also stopped, the discharging operation of the heated air from the delivery opening 28 is also stopped, and the operation of the hair brush is finished.
As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the electrifying unit 6 is formed in a shape such that the electrifying unit 6 is in close contact with a user's hand, and the contact area between the user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 is increased. Thus, the positive electric potential 10 of the human body 2 can always and reliably be held.
Further, because the insulation circuit 5 is provided with the transformer 8, insulation can reliably be secured between the power supply 11 and the electrifying unit 6, and the predetermined electric potential 10 can be given to the secondary side of the transformer 8 by the resistors 9 provided in the insulation circuit 5.
Because the electric potential holding unit 4 is positioned adjacent to the electrifying unit 6 in the gripping portion 7, noise from outside can be reduced to a considerably low level.
As shown in
Unlike the dryer, the hair brush body 29 does not have the motor 23 and the fan 26, but has ironing units 32 that can be opened and closed by a lever 31. The heater 24 is arranged in the ironing unit 32, and heats user's hair nipped by the ironing units 32. The discharging units 3 that discharge the charged particles 1 are provided on both sides of the hair iron body 30.
Based on these differences, the operations of the charged particle supplying apparatus and the hair iron having the charged particle supplying apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
In a state that the user grips the gripping portion 7 provided on the lower portion of the hair iron body 30, the user operates the lever 31 to open the ironing units 32 and nip hair between the ironing units 32 and the ironing units 32 are closed, if a user turns the operation switch 22 on, the discharging units 3 provided on both sides of the hair iron body 30 and the electric potential holding unit 4 arranged in the electrifying unit 6 are driven, and −5 kV voltage, for example, is applied from the high voltage generating apparatus 16 provided in the discharging unit 3 to the needle electrode 13 with respect to the ground electrode 14.
If the voltage is applied, because the tip end of the needle electrode 13 is sharp, concentration of electric field occurs, corona discharge is generated near the tip end of the needle electrode 13, and the charged particles 1 such as negative air ions are generated.
The discharging units 3 are driven, the heaters 24 provided in the ironing units 32 are driven, and hair nipped by the ironing units 32 is heated and dressed. At this time, the charged particles 1 (negative air ions) generated and discharged in the discharging units 3 are supplied to the human body 2 (in this case, hair of the user) together with this discharged air, and the hair is moisturized or becomes smooth.
Meanwhile, in the electric potential holding unit 4, the positive electric potential 10 generated in the positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 by the power supply 11 supplied from the power supply cord 25 charges the electrifying unit 6 with the positive electric potential 10. The electrifying unit 6 is connected to the electric potential holding unit 4 and provided on the rear surface of the gripping portion 7 adjacent to the electric potential holding unit 4.
At this time, because the electrifying unit 6 has the convex curved shape corresponding to the surface shape of the gripping portion 7, a user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 are closely contacted with each other, and because the contact area between the user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 can be increased, it is possible to always reliably hold the electric potential 10 of the user, i.e., the human body 2 in positive electric potential.
If the human body 2 is charged with the positive electric potential 10 and held, the electric line of force A is formed toward the human body 2. Therefore, the charged particles 1 move along the electric line of force A and supplied to the human body 2. The human body 2 is charged with the positive electric potential 10 by the electric potential holding unit 4 and this state is continued. Therefore, it is possible to keep supplying the charged particles 1 to the human body 2.
The transformer 8 is provided in the insulation circuit 5. Therefore, insulation between the electric potential holding unit 4, the power supply 11 to which the power supply cord 25 is connected, and the electrifying unit 6 connected to the electric potential holding unit 4 can be secured, and the predetermined electric potential 10 can be given to a secondary side of the transformer 8 by the resistors 9 provided in the insulation circuit 5.
Further, because the secondary side of the transformer 8 of the insulation circuit 5 is insulated from the power supply 11, the impedance from the ground becomes high and thus, the secondary side of the transformer 8 is susceptible to noise from outside. However, because the electric potential holding unit 4 having the insulation circuit 5 is positioned adjacent to the electrifying unit 6 in the gripping portion 7, the distance between the electric potential holding unit 4 and the electrifying unit 6 becomes short and thus, the influence of the noise from outside can be reduced to a considerably low level.
If the user turns the operation switch 22 off, the discharging units 3 are stopped, the discharging operation of the charged particles 1 is stopped, the electric potential holding unit 4 is stopped, and the holding operation of the positive electric potential 10 of the human body 2 is also stopped. Because the heaters 24 are also stopped, the heating operation of hair nipped by the ironing units 32 is stopped, and the operation of the hair iron is finished.
As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the electrifying unit 6 is formed in a shape such that the electrifying unit 6 is in close contact with a user's hand, and the contact area between the user's hand and the electrifying unit 6 is increased. Therefore, the positive electric potential 10 of the human body 2 can always and reliably be held.
Because the insulation circuit 5 is provided with the transformer 8, insulation can reliably be secured between the power supply 11 and the electrifying unit 6, and the predetermined electric potential 10 can be given to the secondary side of the transformer 8 by the resistors 9 provided in the insulation circuit 5.
Further, because the electric potential holding unit 4 is positioned adjacent to the electrifying unit 6 in the gripping portion 7, noise from outside can be reduced to a considerably low level.
As shown in
As shown in
As described above, because insulation can be secured using the resistors 9, the insulation circuit 5 can be remarkably downsized, and the insulation circuit 5 can be arranged in a small space in the gripping portion 7.
Further, ends of the lead wires 33 and the resistors 9 including the caulking irons 34 are coated with insulator 37 of vinyl chloride or the like. A creepage distance for insulation can be secured even if the resistors 9 are bent. Therefore, the insulation circuit 5 can be arranged in an even smaller space with an inexpensive configuration while sufficiently securing insulation.
In the embodiments of the present invention, the charged particles 1 having the negative electric potential 10 are generated in the discharging unit 3, and the positive electric potential 10 are held in the electric potential holding unit 4, but the charged particles 1 having the positive electric potential 10 can be generated in the discharging unit 3, and the negative electric potential 10 can be held in the electric potential holding unit 4.
In this case, as shown in
Both the positive-electric-potential generating circuit 17 and negative-electric-potential generating circuit 20 can be provided in the electric potential holding unit 4, and the electric potential 10 of the electric potential holding unit 4 can be switched according to the electric potential 10 of the generated charged particles 1.
The present invention can be applied to a hair dryer and a hair brush.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-168618 | Jun 2006 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2007/061520 | 6/7/2007 | WO | 00 | 12/10/2008 |
