The present disclosure relates to a particle detecting module, and more particularly to a particle detecting module capable of being applied to a slim portable device for monitoring gas and maintaining a specified level of humidity beneficial to gas monitoring.
Suspended particles are solid particles or droplets contained in the air. Since the sizes of the suspended particles are very small, the suspended particles may enter the lungs of the human body through the nasal hair in the nasal cavity easily, thus causing inflammation, asthma or cardiovascular disease in the lungs. If other pollutants are attached to the suspended particles, it will increase the harm to the respiratory system.
Most of the current gas detections are performed at fixed-points, and only the gas information around the gas observation station is measured. The information of the concentration of suspended particles cannot be provided anytime and anywhere. In addition, the detection of suspended particles is difficult to avoid the interference of water vapor. In a high-humidity environment, the suspended particles would be surrounded by water vapor and have larger volume. Under this circumstance, the light transmittance thereof becomes insufficient, and the small water molecules (water droplets) in the air are increased, which will directly affect the accuracy of the detection.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a particle detecting module capable of being assembled in a slim portable device for particle monitoring. The particle detecting module firstly inhales gas into a first compartment through an inlet, and then the gas is heated in the first compartment, so that the gas in the first compartment can be maintained at a monitor standard level, thereby enhancing the detecting efficiency of a gas sensor. A main body of the particle detecting module has a monitoring chamber allowing the air to flow in and flow out in one way for detecting. The resonance plate is actuated by the actuator to guide the gas. As a result, the suspended particles outside the slim portable device are really imported to the particle detecting module to be detected, and the object of detecting suspended particles at anytime and anywhere is achieved.
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a particle detecting module is provided. The particle detecting module includes a main body, a particle monitoring base, an actuator, a heater and a sensor. The interior of the main body is divided into a first compartment and a second compartment by a supporting partition plate. The main body has an inlet, a hot gas exhausting opening and an outlet. The inlet and the hot gas exhausting opening are in fluid communication with the first compartment. The outlet is in fluid communication with the second compartment. The supporting partition plate has a communicating opening in fluid communication between the first compartment and the second compartment. The particle monitoring base is disposed between the first compartment and the supporting partition plate. The particle monitoring base has a monitoring channel, which has an accommodating recess located at one end thereof and in fluid communication with the monitoring channel. The actuator is disposed within the accommodating recess for controlling gas to be introduced from the inlet into the first compartment, transported to the second compartment through the communicating opening, and discharged through the outlet, thereby achieving single-direction gas transportation. The heater is disposed within the first compartment for heating the first compartment to maintain a monitor standard level of humidity within the first compartment. The sensor is disposed adjacent to the supporting partition plate and located in the monitoring channel of the particle monitoring base, thereby monitoring the gas guided into the monitoring channel.
The above contents of the present disclosure will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
The present disclosure will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this disclosure are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
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The present disclosure provides a particle detecting module. Please refer to
According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the inlet 11f and the hot gas exhausting opening 11g are both disposed on the first body 11a, and the outlet 11h is disposed between the second body 12b and the supporting partition plate 11c. In some other embodiments, the inlet 11f and the hot gas exhausting opening 11g are both disposed between the first body 11a and the supporting partition plate 11c to be in fluid communication with the first compartment 11d, while the outlet 11h is disposed on the second body 11b to be in fluid communication with the second compartment 11e, but not limited thereto. The types of the openings can be varied according to the practical demands.
In the present disclosure, the particle monitoring base 2 is disposed within the first compartment 11d. According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the particle monitoring base 2 is disposed on the supporting partition plate 11c. In some other embodiments, the particle monitoring base 2 may also be disposed adjacent to the supporting partition plate 11c and accommodated within the first compartment 11d. In this embodiment, the particle monitoring base 2 has a monitoring channel 21. A first end of the monitoring channel 21 is directly towards the inlet 11f, so that the gas can be guided from the inlet 11f into the monitoring channel 21 directly without interference. The first end of the monitoring channel 21 also has an accommodating recess 22 in fluid communication with the monitoring channel 21. A second end of the monitoring channel 21 is in fluid communication with the communicating opening 11i of the supporting partition plate 11c.
According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the actuator 3 is disposed within the accommodating recess 22 of the particle monitoring base 2 for drawing the gas inside the first compartment 11d into the monitoring channel 21. The heater 4 is disposed in the first compartment 11d for heating the gas inside the first compartment 11d to maintain the humidity in the first compartment 11d at a monitor standard level. The monitor standard level of the relative humidity is falling within a preferable range that is beneficial to monitor the suspended particles. The water vapor generated as a result of heating the first compartment 11d by the heater 14 is exhausted through the hot gas exhausting opening 11g. The actuator 3 is disposed within the accommodating recess 22 of the particle monitoring base 2 as covering and sealing the accommodating recess 22. The actuator 3 is configured to control the gas to be introduced into the first compartment 11d through the inlet 11f, transported to the second compartment 11e through the communicating opening 11i, and discharged out through the outlet 11h, thereby achieving single-direction gas transportation within the main body 1. The sensor 5 is disposed adjacent to the supporting partition plate 11c and located in the monitoring channel 21 of the particle monitoring base 2, thereby monitoring the gas guided into the monitoring channel 21. As described above, the first end of the monitoring channel 21 is directly towards the inlet 11f, so that the gas guided into the inlet 11f can be directly guided to the monitoring channel 21 without interference. As a result, the process of guiding the gas into the monitoring channel 21 to be measured by the sensor 5 is accelerated, which enhances the working efficiency of the sensor 5. Moreover, after the gas is introduced into the first compartment 11d through the inlet 11f, the gas is heated and dehumidified by the heater 4, so that the humidity of the gas is maintained at the monitor standard level, thereby enhancing the accuracy of the detection of the sensor 5. In some embodiments, the monitor standard level of humidity is in a range between 10% and 40%. In some other embodiments, the monitor standard level of humidity is in a range between 20% and 30%.
According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the particle monitoring base 2 further includes a laser 23 and a beam channel 24. The laser 23 is electrically connected to the supporting partition plate 11c and disposed adjacent to the beam channel 24 for emitting a light beam into the beam channel 24. The beam channel 24 is perpendicularly in communication with the monitoring channel 21 to allow the light beam emitted from the laser 23 to illuminate the monitoring channel 21. When the gas in the monitoring channel 21 is illuminated by the light beam, the suspended particles contained in the gas are illuminated to generate a plurality of scattering light points projected on the sensor 5, and the sensor 5 receives the scattering light points generated by the suspended particles to measure the sizes and the concentrations of the suspended particles. The sensor 5 may be but not limited to a PM 2.5 sensor. After the suspended particles are illuminated by the light beam and the scattering light points are generated, the scattering light points are utilized to calculate the sizes and the concentrations of the suspended particles, so that the concentration of PM 2.5 is detected.
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The actuating and sensing module of the present disclosure can isolate interference, such as the heat generated by the internal actuators or other waste heat and gas pollution existing within the slim portable device 10, from affecting detection of the sensor 5. Moreover, through the utilization of the actuator 3, one-way gas transportation for introducing and discharging gas is provided, which accelerates the process of transporting gas to a surface of the sensor 5 and thereby enhancing the detecting efficiency of the sensor 5. Also, since it is the gas outside the slim portable device 10 that is transported to the actuating and sensing module, the characteristic of the gas to be monitored by and is inhaled within the actuating and sensing module is the same as the characteristic of the gas outside the slim portable device 10, which make the detecting results more precisely. In addition, the heat generated by the heater 4 is isolated by the first body 11a, thereby avoiding the heat generated by the heater 4 from affecting the operations of the components inside the slim portable device 10.
The structure and the actions of the actuator according to one embodiment are described as below.
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In the above embodiment, the actuator 3 is a gas pump. In some other embodiments, the actuator 3 of the present disclosure may be a micro-electromechanical-systems gas pump formed by a micro-electromechanical-systems method. The nozzle plate 31, the chamber frame 32, the actuating body 33, the insulation frame 34 and the conducting frame 35 can all be made through a surface micromachining technology to reduce the volume of the actuator 3.
The particle detecting module may further include at least one valve 7. Please refer to
In some embodiments, referring now to
In a first aspect of the valve 7 in the present disclosure, the displacement component 73 of the valve 7 described above is made of a charged material, and the stationary component 71 is made of a bipolar conductive material. The stationary component 71 is electrically connected with the processor of the flexible circuit board 6 for controlling the polarity (positive electrical polarity or negative electrical polarity) of the stationary component 71. In case that the displacement component 73 is made of a negative-charged material, the stationary component 71 is controlled to form a positive electrode when the valve 7 has to be controlled to open. As a result, the displacement component 73 and the stationary component 71 are controlled to maintain in opposite polarities, the displacement component 73 moves toward the stationary component 71 so that the valve 7 is in an open state (as shown in
In a second aspect of the valve 7 in the present disclosure, the displacement component 73 is made of a magnetic material, and the stationary component 71 is made of an electromagnet material and can be controlled to change its magnetic polarity. The stationary component 71 is electrically connected with the processor of the flexible circuit board 6 for controlling the polarity (positive magnetic polarity or negative magnetic polarity) of the stationary component 71. In case that the displacement component 73 is made of a negative-magnetic material, the stationary component 71 is controlled to form a positive-magnetic pole when the valve 7 has to be controlled to open. As a result, the displacement component 73 and the stationary component 71 are controlled to maintain in opposite polarities, the displacement component 73 moves toward the stationary component 71 so that the valve 7 is in an open state (as shown in
In summary, the present disclosure provides a particle detecting module having a heater within the first compartment to maintain a monitor standard level of humidity in the first compartment, and guiding the gas at the monitor standard level in the first compartment to the monitoring channel by the actuator, thereby detecting the sizes and a concentration of the particles contained in the gas. Since the humidity of the gas to be detected is maintained at the monitor standard level, the efficiency of particle detection by the sensor is enhanced. Moreover, the particle detecting module of the present disclosure is suitably combined with a slim portable device to use, so that the object of detecting suspended particles at anytime and anywhere is achieved.
While the disclosure has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
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107114583 A | Apr 2018 | TW | national |
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Extended European Search Report for European Application No. 19154731.4, dated Aug. 23, 2019. |
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20190331564 A1 | Oct 2019 | US |