Patent Application
20200390921
The present disclosure relates to a drug-containing capsule and a component for an air treatment device.
There is a known fin including a base member and a hydrophilic film and used for a heat exchanger (for example, Patent Literature 1). The hydrophilic film includes a plurality of types of drug particles that have a surface covered with a capsule material having controlled dissolubility in water and that are different from each other in the timing of exerting the drug action. In this way, the drug particles can exert the drug action for a long term.
PTL 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-125698
A first embodiment of the present disclosure is directed to a drug-containing capsule (20, 30, 40) including a capsule material (21, 31, 41) and a drug (22, 32, 42) disposed within the capsule material (21, 31, 41) and having a sterilization action for a specific microorganism. The capsule material (21, 31, 41) includes a degradable part (21a, 31a, 41a) formed of a raw material that is caused to biodegrade by the specific microorganism.
A drug-containing capsule (20, 30, 40) according to an embodiment is used for an air treatment device (1). As illustrated in
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Incidentally, in this Description, the “specific microorganism” means a microorganism to be destroyed by the drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40). The microorganism is specifically a mold, a yeast, or a bacterium proliferating in the air treatment device (1): the mold includes at least one of Penicillium molds, Cladosporium molds, Aspergillus molds, Toxicocladosporium molds, Engyodontium molds, Aureobasidium molds, Alternaria molds, Paecilomyces molds, Tricoderma molds, Nigrospora molds, Chaetomium molds, Ulocladium molds, Fusarium molds, Eurotium molds, Curvularia molds, Rhodotorula molds, Chaetomium molds, Mucor molds, and Rhizopus molds; the yeast includes at least one of true fungi that are collectively called yeast; and the bacterium includes at least one of Arthrobacter bacteria, Baccilus bacteria, Serratia bacteria, and Staphylococcus aureus.
Hereinafter, how the drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) exert the drug action will be described.
For example, on the surface of the heat exchanger (10a) of the air conditioning device (1), moisture in the air condenses during a cooling operation to generate drain water, which leads to proliferation of a specific microorganism.
The proliferating specific microorganism causes biodegradation of the capsule materials (21, 31, 41) of the first to third drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40). In this case, first, the outer capsule material (21) of the first drug-containing capsule (20) and the capsule material (31) of the second drug-containing capsule (30) are perforated. This causes release of the drugs (22, 32) from within the capsule materials (21, 31) to destroy the specific microorganism.
When the specific microorganism further proliferates, the inner capsule material (21) of the first drug-containing capsule (20) is then perforated. This causes release of the drug (22) from within the capsule material (21) to destroy the specific microorganism.
When the specific microorganism further proliferates, the capsule material (41) of the third drug-containing capsule (40) is then perforated. This causes release of the drug (42) from within the capsule material (41) to destroy the specific microorganism.
In this way, the first to third drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) exert the drug action at the spot and timing of the proliferation of the specific microorganism. The capsule materials (21, 31, 41) are perforated at timings different from each other, so that the drug action is exerted for a relatively long term.
The drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) according to these embodiments include capsule materials (21, 31, 41) and drugs (22, 32, 42) disposed within the capsule materials (21, 31, 41) and having a sterilization action for a specific microorganism, wherein the capsule materials (21, 31, 41) include degradable parts (21a, 31a, 41a) formed of a raw material that is caused to biodegrade by the specific microorganism.
The inventors of the present application focused on disposition of drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) for a specific microorganism at the spot of proliferation of the specific microorganism. They have found that, by using a raw material that is caused to biodegrade by the specific microorganism to form at least portions of the capsule materials (21, 31, 41), the specific microorganism is destroyed at the spot and timing of proliferation. The degradable parts (21a, 31a, 41a) of the capsule materials (21, 31, 41) of the embodiments are caused to biodegrade by a specific microorganism at the spot of proliferation of the microorganism. This causes release of the drugs (22, 32, 42) from within the capsule materials (21, 31, 41) to destroy the proliferating microorganism. In this way, the drug action of the drugs (22, 32, 42) is exerted at the spot and timing of proliferation of the specific microorganism.
The specific microorganism is a mold, a yeast, or a bacterium proliferating in the air treatment device (1). Therefore, the embodiments provide drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) that effectively act against the mold, the yeast, or the bacterium proliferating in the air treatment device (1).
The mold includes at least one of Penicillium molds, Cladosporium molds, Aspergillus molds, Toxicocladosporium molds, Engyodontium molds, Aureobasidium molds, Alternaria molds, Paecilomyces molds, Tricoderma molds, Nigrospora molds, Chaetomium molds, Ulocladium molds, Fusarium molds, Eurotium molds, Curvularia molds, Rhodotorula molds, Chaetomium molds, Mucor molds, and Rhizopus molds; the yeast includes at least one of true fungi that are collectively called yeast; and the bacterium includes at least one of Arthrobacter bacteria, Baccilus bacteria, Serratia bacteria, and Staphylococcus aureus. The inventors of the present application have newly found that such molds, yeasts, or bacteria proliferate in the air treatment device (1). In the embodiments, a raw material that is caused to biodegrade by such a mold, a yeast, or a bacterium is used to form capsule materials (21, 31, 41). Therefore, the embodiments provide drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) that effectively act against such a specific mold, yeast, or bacterium.
In the drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) according to the embodiments, the raw material that is caused to biodegrade by such a specific microorganism is a polymer including caprolactone or a polymer including ethylene adipate. Therefore, the embodiments provide drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) that effectively act against the microorganism that causes biodegradation of such a polymer.
In the first drug-containing capsule (20) according to the embodiment, the capsule material (21) includes two capsule materials (21) disposed as layers, and the drug (22) is disposed within each of the capsule materials (21). Thus, upon biodegradation of the outer capsule material (21), the drug (22) disposed therein is released to destroy the specific microorganism. Subsequently, upon biodegradation of the inner capsule material (21), the drug (22) disposed therein is released to destroy the specific microorganism. In this way, such first drug-containing capsules (20) each provide a drug action twice.
The component (10) for the air treatment device (1) according to the embodiment includes the film (13) including the drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40). Thus, the embodiment, in the air treatment device (1), effectively suppresses proliferation of the specific microorganism on the component (10) including the film (13) including the drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40).
In the component (10) for the air treatment device (1) according to the embodiment, the film (13) includes the first to third drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40), and, in the third drug-containing capsule (40), the thickness (T3) of the degradable part (41a) of the capsule material (41) is larger than the thicknesses (T1, T2) of the degradable parts (21a, 31a) of the capsule materials (21, 31) of the first and second drug-containing capsules (20, 30). Thus, compared with the first drug-containing capsule (20) and the second drug-containing capsule (30), in the third drug-containing capsule (40), perforation of the capsule material (21, 31, 41) due to biodegradation occurs at a later timing, so that the drug action is exerted in a later period. Therefore, compared with a case where the thicknesses (T1 to T3) of the capsule materials (21, 31, 41) of all the drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) are substantially the same, the total period of exerting the drug action by the first to third drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) becomes longer.
The drug-containing capsule (20, 30, 40) according to the embodiment includes the capsule material (21, 31, 41) including the degradable part (21a, 31a, 41a) formed of a polymer including caprolactone or a polymer including ethylene adipate, and the drug (22, 32, 42) disposed within the capsule material (21, 31, 41) and having a sterilization action for a microorganism. Thus, the degradable part (21a, 31a, 41a) of the capsule material (21, 31, 41) is caused to biodegrade by a microorganism proliferating in the air treatment device (1). This causes release of the drug (22, 32, 42) from within the capsule material (21, 31, 41) to destroy the microorganism. In this way, in the air treatment device (1), the drug action of the drugs (22, 32, 42) is exerted at the spot and timing of proliferation of the microorganism.
The above-described embodiments may be provided so as to have the following configurations.
In the above-described embodiment, the air treatment device (1) is constituted by the air conditioning device (1). Alternatively, the air treatment device (1) may be constituted by, for example, an air purification device, a humidity control device, or a ventilation device. In this case, the component (10) may be constituted by, for example, a fan or filter of the air purification device, a humidifying unit, fan, or filter of the humidity control device, or a fan, filter, or duct of the ventilation device.
In the above-described embodiment, the drugs (22) disposed within the two capsule materials (21) of the first drug-containing capsule (20) are of the same type. Alternatively, as illustrated in
In the above-described embodiment, the capsule materials (21, 31, 41) of the first to third drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) are wholly constituted by the degradable parts (21a, 31a, 41a). Alternatively, as illustrated in
The drug-containing capsules (20, 30, 40) included in the hydrophilic film (13) may be of two or less types, or four or more types.
The embodiments and modifications have been described so far, and it would be understood that the forms and details can be changed in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the Claims. The above-described embodiments and modifications can be appropriately combined or substituted unless the function of the subject matter of the present disclosure is degraded. industrial applicability
As has been described so far, the present disclosure is useful for drug-containing capsules and components for air treatment devices.
1 air conditioning device (air treatment device)
10 component
10
a heat exchanger (component)
10
b fan (component)
10
c drain pan (component)
10
d filter (component)
13 hydrophilic film (film)
20 first drug-containing capsule (drug-containing capsule)
21 capsule material
21
a degradable part
22 drug
30 second drug-containing capsule (drug-containing capsule)
31 capsule material
31
a degradable part
32 drug
40 third drug-containing capsule (drug-containing capsule)
41 capsule material
41
a degradable part
42 drug
T1 to T3 thicknesses (of degradable parts)
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-065107 | Mar 2018 | JP | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2019/011146 | Mar 2019 | US |
| Child | 17003413 | US |
