Ultraviolet irradiation apparatus and ultraviolet irradiation method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12161768-B2
Application number	US-202017630409-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2020
Priority date	Jul 31, 2019
Publication date	Dec 10, 2024
Grant date	Dec 10, 2024

Abstract

An ultraviolet irradiation device includes an inner cylinder forming a treatment flow path, an inflow portion allowing the object to flow into the treatment flow path, an outer cylinder accommodating the inner cylinder, a light emitting element irradiating the object passing through the treatment flow path with ultraviolet light, an O-ring dividing a space provided between an outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder and an inner circumferential surface of the outer cylinder into a first chamber through which the object before ultraviolet irradiation passes and a third chamber through which the object after the ultraviolet irradiation passes, and a second chamber communicating with the first chamber through communication holes. The second chamber communicates with the treatment flow path through a plate.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An ultraviolet irradiation device, comprising:
a cylindrical portion configured to form a cylindrical treatment flow path extending in a longitudinal direction and have at least one open end;
an inflow portion configured to allow an object to flow into the treatment flow path from the at least one open end side of the cylindrical portion;
a light emitting element provided at least at one end of the cylindrical portion and configured to irradiate the object passing through the treatment flow path with ultraviolet light;
an outer cylinder configured to accommodate the cylindrical portion, in which a space is provided between an outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion and an inner circumferential surface of the outer cylinder;
a dividing member including a first portion in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion and a second portion in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the outer cylinder, wherein the first portion and the second portion are made of an elastic member, wherein the dividing member divides the space into an inflow-side region through which the object before being irradiated with the ultraviolet light passes and an outflow-side region through which the object after being irradiated with the ultraviolet light passes; and
a retention portion including a first communication portion and a second communication portion, wherein the retention portion is configured to communicate with the inflow-side region through the first communication portion, wherein the inflow-side region communicates with the inflow portion, and wherein the retention portion and the treatment flow path communicate with each other through the second communication portion.

2. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein a part of the outer cylinder in contact with the dividing member has an inner diameter smaller than an inner diameter of another part of the outer cylinder.

3. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein, in the longitudinal direction, the outer cylinder has an open end on a same side as the at least one open end of the cylindrical portion.

4. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 3 , comprising a lid unit configured to cover the at least one open end of the outer cylinder, the lid unit including a first protrusion inserted into a gap between the cylindrical portion and the outer cylinder.

5. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 4 , wherein the lid unit includes a second protrusion inside the first protrusion, the first protrusion and the second protrusion being connected to or separated from each other.

6. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 5 , wherein the first communication portion includes a plurality of communication holes, the inflow-side region and the retention portion communicating with each other through the first communication portion;
wherein the second protrusion is shorter in height than the first protrusion, and the second protrusion has a tip facing an end face of the cylindrical portion, the first protrusion being formed with a plurality of slits reaching from a tip of the first protrusion halfway through the second protrusion as seen from a side surface of the first protrusion, and a portion of the second protrusion where the first protrusion and the second protrusion overlap being formed with slits overlapping with the slits formed in the first protrusion; and
wherein the plurality of communication holes of the first communication portion are defined by the plurality of slits formed in the first protrusion and the second protrusion.

7. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 4 , wherein the light emitting element is provided only at one end portion of the cylindrical portion; and
wherein the one end portion is at an opposite end of the cylindrical portion from where the lid unit is provided.

8. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the retention portion is a circular cylindrical region communicating with the at least one open end of the cylindrical portion and formed on an extension of the cylindrical portion;
wherein the first communication portion includes a plurality of communication holes arranged along a circumferential direction of a side surface of the retention portion; and
wherein the inflow-side region and the retention portion communicate with each other through the first communication portion, in which a total area ratio of a sum of opening areas of the plurality of communication holes included in the first communication portion on the side surface of the retention portion to an area of an entire side surface of the retention portion is from 0.03 to 0.8.

9. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the second communication portion includes one or more plates,
wherein each plate of the one or more plates is formed with a plurality of communication holes opening between front and back surfaces of the plate, and
wherein an opening ratio, defined as a total area per plate of the plurality of communication holes relative to a cross section in a direction perpendicular to a flow in the treatment flow path, is from 0.05 to 0.8.

10. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 9 , wherein each plate of the one or more plates are also formed with the communication holes outside a concentric circle having a diameter 0.85 times an inner diameter of the treatment flow path.

11. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 9 , wherein radially inner ends of the communication holes formed in outermost circumferences of each plate of the one or more plates are located at a radial position that is less than an inner diameter of the treatment flow path proximate an installation position of the plate, as seen from the longitudinal direction of the treatment flow path.

12. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the outflow-side region communicates with the treatment flow path, and the object after passing through the treatment flow path flows into the outflow-side region.

13. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1 , comprising:
a plurality of communication portions provided in series to each other in the flow path of the object between the inflow portion and the treatment flow path;
wherein the plurality of communication portions includes the first communication portion and the second communication portion included in the retention portion, and
wherein each of the plurality of communication portions includes a plurality of communication holes.

14. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 13 , wherein, in one of the first communication portion and the second communication portion, the plurality of communication holes are oriented in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction in which the treatment flow path extends.

15. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 13 , wherein one of the first communication portion and the second communication portion of the plurality of communication portions includes, in a plane intersecting with the longitudinal direction in which the treatment flow path extends, the plurality of communication holes oriented in a direction intersecting with the plane.

16. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 15 , wherein the one of the first communication portion and the second communication portion is a circular plate formed with the plurality of communication holes, and wherein the plurality of communic

Assignees

• Asahi Chemical Ind

Inventors

• Kodama Atsushi
• Sugiyama Sho
• Kishi Hiroyuki
• Ito Naoto
• Jinno Sumire
• Baba Ryosuke
• ANDO Suguru
• Chiba Hiroshi

Classifications

• A61L2103/05

  Living organisms or biological materials · CPC title

• A61L2/10 Primary

  Ultraviolet [UV] radiation · CPC title

• C02F1/325

  Irradiation devices or lamp constructions · CPC title

• A61L2202/122

  Chambers for sterilisation · CPC title

• A61L2/26

  Accessories · CPC title