INSTANTANEOUS BALANCE CONTROL SCHEME FOR IONIZER

摘要

PURPOSE: A method of balancing positive and negative ion output is provided to stably control the ion balance for short and long periods by comparing an output voltage of an ion balance sensor mounted near an ion emitter with a set voltage, switching a high voltage power source to a high-state when the output voltage exceeds a predetermined amount in the first direction, and switching the same to a low-state when the output voltage exceeds a predetermined amount in the second direction. CONSTITUTION: The system includes a sensor(58), sensor circuitry(60), a microcontroller(62), a switch controller(64), a constant output DC voltage power supply(66), a positive and negative polarity HV DC power supply(68,70), and respective ionizing point(s) or pin(s)(72,74). An optional air moving device is placed near the ionizing points(72,74). The sensor(58) is placed near the ionizing points(72,74) to provide feedback to the microcontroller(62). That is, the output of the sensor(58) is connected to the input of the sensor circuitry(60), and the output of the sensor circuitry(60) connects to an input of the microcontroller(62). An output of the microcontroller(62) connects to a first input of the switch controller(64) and the output of the DC voltage power supply(66) connects to a second input of the switch controller(64). The output of the DC voltage power supply(66) also connects to the input of the positive polarity HV DC power supply(68). The output of the switch controller(64) connects to the input of the negative polarity HV DC power supply(70). In this manner, the positive polarity of the HV DC power supply(68) is continuously driven at a selected input voltage, and thus has a steady state DC output. The negative polarity of the HV DC power supply(70) is driven by the DC voltage power supply(66) through the switch controller(64) under the control of the microcontroller(62). Due to this configuration, the negative polarity HV DC power supply(70) can produce a greater quantity of ions that the positive polarity HV DC power supply(68). The negative polarity of the HV DC power supply(70) thus switches between a high state and a low state based upon the output control signals from the microcontroller(62) which controls the switch controller(64).