Ultraviolet light irradiation device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019321505-A1
Application number	US-201916382501-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 12, 2019
Priority date	Apr 20, 2018
Publication date	Oct 24, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A fluid sterilization module includes an inner cylinder forming a processing flow path extending in a longitudinal direction, a first chamber communicating with the processing flow path via an opening on one end side of the inner cylinder, an inflow portion allowing an object to flow in the first chamber, an outflow portion allowing the object having passed through the processing flow path to flow out from an other end side of the inner cylinder, and a light emitting element facing an opening on the other end side of the processing flow path and irradiating the object passing through the processing flow path with ultraviolet light along the longitudinal direction. The first chamber has an inner volume equal to or more than ⅔ of the cube of an equivalent inner diameter of the processing flow path and equal to or less than 3 times of inner volume of the processing flow path.

First claim

1 . An ultraviolet light irradiation device comprising:
a cylindrical portion configured to form a cylindrical processing flow path extending in a longitudinal direction and include an opening at one end side of the cylindrical portion; a first chamber configured to cover the opening and communicate with the processing flow path via the opening; an inflow portion configured to allow an object to flow into the first chamber; an outflow portion configured to allow the object having passed through the processing flow path to flow out from an other end of the cylindrical portion; and a light emitting element provided at least on the one end side or the other end side of the cylindrical portion and configured to apply ultraviolet light to the object passing through the processing flow path, wherein the first chamber has an inner volume equal to or more than ⅔ of the cube of an equivalent inner diameter of the processing flow path and equal to or less than 3 times of inner volume of the processing flow path.

2 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the first chamber is formed along an outer periphery of the cylindrical portion.

3 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein an amount of change in a main cross-sectional area from a most upstream portion to a most downstream portion of the processing flow path is 5% or less.

4 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , further comprising a plate configured to cover the opening at the one end side of the cylindrical portion, wherein the plate includes a plurality of opening holes penetrating between front and back surfaces of the plate, and has an aperture ratio of from 5% to 80%.

5 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 4 , wherein the opening holes have an equivalent diameter equal to or more than 0.5 mm and equal to or less than ⅓ of the equivalent inner diameter of the processing flow path.

6 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 4 , further comprising a protruding portion at a position facing the opening on a wall surface of the first chamber, wherein the plate is fixed by being sandwiched between the protruding portion and an end face of the cylindrical portion.

7 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 4 , wherein the plate is circular in plan view, and the aperture ratio is set to be larger at positions closer to a center of the plate and smaller at positions closer to a periphery of the plate, and wherein the light emitting element is provided on the other end side of the cylindrical portion, and applies ultraviolet light to the object flowing through the processing flow path, in which, in a cross-section of the processing flow path orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, an intensity distribution of the ultraviolet light applied by the light emitting element has higher ultraviolet light intensity in a vicinity of a center than ultraviolet light intensity in a periphery of the center.

8 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 7 , wherein when the plate is divided into three regions being concentric circles and having an equal area, the aperture ratio of an innermost region is from 6 times to 10 times with respect to the aperture ratio of an outermost region.

9 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 4 , wherein the aperture ratio of the plate is from 10% to 50%.

10 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 7 , wherein the first chamber includes a tapered portion having an inner diameter gradually increasing along the longitudinal direction, and communicating with the processing flow path, the inflow portion being provided at a small diameter side end of the tapered portion.

11 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 10 , wherein the tapered portion has a tapered shape with a taper ratio of from 0.2 to 0.68.

12 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the inflow portion is arranged at a position close to the other end side of the cylindrical portion by a distance equal to or more than an inflow port equivalent radius of the inflow portion and equal to or less than ⅔ of a processing flow path length from an end on the one end side of the cylindrical portion.

13 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , further comprising a second chamber between the processing flow path and the outflow portion.

14 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 13 , wherein on the other end side of the cylindrical portion is provided a communication port configured to allow for communication between the processing flow path and the second chamber, the second chamber being provided along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion.

15 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 14 , wherein the outflow portion is arranged at a position close to the one end side of the cylindrical portion by a distance equal to or more than an outflow port equivalent radius of the outflow portion and equal to or less than ⅔ of the processing flow path length.

16 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein on an end face on the other end side of the cylindrical portion is provided a component configured to cover an entire opening on the other end side of the cylindrical portion, the component being bonded to the end face on the other end side of the cylindrical portion via an elastic member.

17 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein, in the cross-section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction at a position including the first chamber of the cylindrical portion, a cross-sectional area of the first chamber is from 1/10 to 1 of a cross-sectional area of the processing flow path.

18 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the cylindrical portion is formed using an ultraviolet light reflecting material having a diffuse transmittance of from 1%/mm to 20%/mm and a total reflectance of from 80%/mm to 99%/mm in an ultraviolet light region.

19 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the inflow portion is formed using polyolefin.

20 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the ultraviolet light irradiation device is a fluid sterilization module configured to sterilize a fluid as the object.

21 . The ultraviolet light irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the object is a liquid.

Assignees

• Asahi Chemical Ind

Inventors

• Kodama Atsushi
• Jinno Sumire
• Baba Ryosuke
• Yabuki Naoto
• Ito Naoto
• Kishi Hiroyuki
• Sugiyama Sho

Classifications

• A61L2/10 Primary

  Ultraviolet [UV] radiation · CPC title

• C02F2201/3228

  Units having reflectors, e.g. coatings, baffles, plates, mirrors · CPC title

• C02F2201/328

  Having flow diverters (baffles) · CPC title

• C02F1/325

  Irradiation devices or lamp constructions · CPC title

• C02F2201/3222

  Units using UV-light emitting diodes [LED] · CPC title