Novel electrostatic generator using high charge low potential charge carrier

Abstract

To reduce thrust required for carrying a charge carrier by weakening strong retreating electrostatic force acting on the charged charge carrier, and to increase a conveyable charge amount by weakening potential of the charge carrier being carried, in an electrostatic generator.SOLUTION: A charge control layer remote unit is provided that conducts to a main body of a potential control layer provided in the vicinity of a charge retention layer of a charge carrier and by applying a high voltage of a different polarity of charges charged on a potential control layer body to a charge attraction electrode close to the charge control layer remote unit, charges of the potential control layer main body are moved to a potential control layer remote unit. By increasing potential of the charge carrier and conducting the charge carrier and a recovery electrode, the charges can be safely recovered.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a novel method for recovering electric charges transported by a novel electrostatic charge carrier that can significantly reduce the thrust for transporting the charge carrier from a low potential to a high potential and can significantly increase the amount of electric charge that can be transported in an electrostatic generator.

Background Art

[0002] In order to solve global warming and environmental problems, various power generation methods that do not generate carbon dioxide are being implemented. For example, nuclear power generation, solar power generation, wind power generation, etc. However, these have difficulties in terms of safety, stability, cost, durability, and miniaturization. On the other hand, an electrostatic generator is not dangerous through manufacturing, use, and disposal, is not affected by weather or power generation time, and the power generation amount is always stable. Furthermore, since it is easy to miniaturize, it does not require a capacitor or a transmission line and is a low-cost power source.

[0003] Such an electrostatic generator injects electric charges into a charge carrier at a low-potential charge charging electrode (hereinafter referred to as a charging electrode), and against the electrostatic force (hereinafter referred to as a backward electrostatic force) acting on this in an electric field, transports and lifts the charge carrier to a high-potential charge recovery electrode (hereinafter referred to as a recovery electrode), and there, recovers the transported electric charges. The most well-known and widespread electrostatic generator at present is the Vander Graaf type electrostatic generator. Its configuration is shown in FIG. 1 (Non-Patent Document 1). At the lowest point of the insulating belt 6 serving as a charge carrier, positive charges are charged by the corona discharge electrode 2 to which a high potential is applied by the high-voltage power supply 1. The insulating belt 6 is rotated clockwise by an electric motor (not shown), and the positively charged part enters the upper high-voltage electrode 4. There, a corona discharge occurs between the positive charge removal discharge electrode 3, and the transported positive charges are collected by the high-voltage electrode 4. Since the potential of the high-voltage electrode is, for example, one million volts, which is much higher than the potential of the charges charged on the insulating belt 6 at the lower part, it can be considered that power is generated. Its output is the product of the potential difference (one million volts) and the amount of charge transported. Although the potential difference is very large, the amount of charge transported is very small, and its output is smaller than the energy consumed by the electric motor. Therefore, from the perspective of the entire system, this is a high-voltage generator but not a generator. It is possible to increase the amount of transported charge by increasing the corona discharge voltage at the lowest point, but when the potential of the charge becomes high during transportation and the electric field strength around it exceeds the corona discharge starting electric field, corona discharge occurs at that point and the charge being transported disappears, so the amount of transported charge cannot be increased. Also, the method of collecting charges by corona discharge is not suitable for household use because harmful ozone is generated during the discharge. The above three points, namely, 1. To transport the charged insulating belt 6 from the power supply to the high-potential recovery source, a large thrust is required, and for this purpose, more power is required than the generated power. 2. When the amount of transported charge becomes large, its potential becomes too high during transportation and discharges, and the transported charge disappears. 3. Since the potential of the recovery electrode is higher than the potential of the transport body, corona discharge is required to collect the transported charges, but harmful ozone is generated at this time. become problems, and the current band graph type electrostatic generator has not been popularized as a general generator However, recently, a new type of charge carrier that simultaneously solves the above problems 1 and 2 has been invented (Patent Document 1). In the new type of charge carrier 7, as shown in FIG. 2, a conductive potential control layer 73 is provided via an insulating layer 72 in the vicinity of a conductive charge holding layer 71 that holds the transport charge, and charges of the opposite polarity to the transport charge are introduced therein. Reference numeral 74 is an insulating support. As a result, since both charges of opposite polarities are strongly electrostatically bound at a short distance, the electric field lines exiting the outside of the charge carrier 7 are almost eliminated, the potential is lowered, and even in a strong electric field, the electrostatic force received is reduced.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Non-Patent Documents

[0005]

Non-Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to use a charge carrier with a novel configuration that can reduce the strong backward electrostatic force acting on the charged charge carrier in an electrostatic generator that charges the charge carrier 7 with a charging source, transports the charge carrier to a recovery source, and recovers the charge there, thereby reducing the thrust required for transporting the charge carrier, and can also reduce the potential of the charge carrier during transportation to increase the charge amount that can be transported, and safely recover the charge without using corona discharge that generates harmful ozone at the recovery source.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] Problems 1 and 2 of the above-mentioned band graph electrostatic generator are solved by introducing charges of opposite polarity to the transported charges into the potential control layer 73 provided in the vicinity of the charge retention layer 71 of the charge carrier 7 in order to reduce the thrust and lower the transport potential (Patent Document 1, details will be described later). In addition to this, the present invention solves the remaining problem 3 by reducing the charges in the potential control layer 73 or moving them to another location during charge recovery.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] A potential control layer 73 is provided in the vicinity of the charge retention layer 71 of the charged charge carrier 7, and charges of opposite polarity to the charged charges of the charge retention layer 71 are introduced therein to reduce the electrostatic force acting on the charged charge carrier 7, thereby reducing its thrust and maintaining the potential of the charge carrier 7 during transport at a low potential. When recovering charges from a charge carrier 7 with a novel configuration, by making the potential of the charge carrier 7 higher than that of the recovery electrode, the charges transported without using corona discharge could be recovered. As described above, all three problems of the band graph type electrostatic generator have been solved. Therefore, an electrostatic generator that could only be used as a high-voltage generator until now can now be commonly used, and as a renewable energy source, it can contribute to solving environmental problems.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

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[0010] Hereinafter, the configuration and effects of the novel configuration of the high-charge and low-potential charge carrier 7 that can simultaneously solve the above three problems will be described. In order to reduce the thrust of the charge carrier 7 of the electrostatic generator, first, in the current electrostatic generator, it is necessary to know the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 7 from the low potential to the high potential. Also, in order to set the potential of the charge carrier 7 during transportation to a low potential, it is necessary to know the potential of the charge carrier 7 during this period. Of course, there is also air resistance and mechanical friction, but they are small compared to the electrostatic force and are thus omitted. The electrostatic force and potential can be simulated by the two-dimensional difference method. However, since the shape of the Van de Graaff generator is complex, a simulation was carried out with a simpler configuration having the same physical content. The configuration of the electrostatic generator is shown in Fig. 3.

[0011] In Fig. 3, reference numeral 6 is an insulating charge carrier substrate in the shape of a belt or a disc. Reference numeral 7 is a charge carrier whose upper and lower flat electrodes are electrically connected, although not shown, and is hereinafter referred to as a flat-plate parallel type charge carrier from its shape. Reference numeral 8 is a charging electret, which is usually negatively charged. Reference numeral 9 is a charge recovery electrode, and reference numeral 10 is a capacitor for accumulating the recovered charges. Reference numeral 11 is a charging terminal for grounding and charging the charge carrier 7 by electrostatic induction when the charge carrier 7 enters from the left and comes to the middle of the charging electret 8. Reference numeral 12 is a recovery terminal for conducting with the recovery electrode and recovering the transported charges when the charge carrier 7 enters the recovery electrode.

[0012] Between the charging electret 8 and the recovery electrode 9, an electrostatic force in the -X direction, an electrostatic force in the Y direction, and an electrostatic force in the +X direction act on the flat-plate parallel type charge carrier 7 moving to the right in the figure. However, the electrostatic force acting on the upper flat electrode of the charge carrier 7 in the +Y direction and the electrostatic force acting on the lower flat electrode in the -Y direction are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction, so they cancel each other out. Eventually, the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 7 in the Y direction becomes zero. The -X direction electrostatic force is the sum of the electric field force (Coulomb force) generated by the electric field formed between the charging electret 8 and the recovery electrode 9 and the retarding image force generated between the charging electret 8 and its back electrode. Similarly, the +X direction electrostatic force is the sum of the electric field force (Coulomb force) and the advancing image force generated between the recovery electrode 9. Therefore, while the charged charge carrier 7 moves from the charging electret 8 to the recovery electrode 9, the sum of the electrostatic forces 13 and 15 acting on the charge carrier 7, that is, the electrostatic force in the X direction and the potential of the charge carrier 7 at that time were simulated by the two-dimensional difference method.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Example

[0013] Charge carriers with various configurations that can solve the above three problems were devised, and their effects were confirmed by simulation. As a result, it was found that the object can be achieved with the charge carrier having the configuration shown in FIG. 4. Although this configuration is not the best, it will be introduced. We are looking forward to many better configurations being proposed in the future. The electrode configuration of the high-charge low-potential charge carrier 7 is a four-layer configuration of the front and back charge holding layers 71 and the potential control layer 73 inside thereof. Therefore, hereinafter, the charge carrier 7 having this configuration will be referred to as a four-layer charge carrier 7. In this configuration, the thickness of the charge holding layer 71 is 0.64 mm, the thickness of the potential control layer 73 is 0.02 mm, the width is 5.0 mm, the potential is 0 V, the thickness of the dielectric layer 72 between the charge holding layer 71 is 0.16 mm, and the thickness of the dielectric layer 74 between the upper and lower potential control layers 73 is 0.24 mm. The relative permittivity of the three dielectric layers was set to 2.0. As a result, the thickness of the dielectric layer between the upper and lower charge holding layers 71 was 0.60 mm, and the thickness of the charge carrier 7 was 1.88 mm. It has a sufficient thickness to maintain mechanical strength. The width of the charge carrier 7 was 5.0 mm and the depth was 30.0 mm.

[0014] The charging electret 8 has a width of 6.4 mm, a thickness of 0.08 mm, a depth of 30 mm, a surface potential of +3700 V (surface charge density 0.41 mC / m 2 ), the recovery electrode 9 has a width of 6.4 mm, a depth of 30 mm, a potential of -1000 V, and the distance between the charging electret 8 and the recovery electrode 9 is 14.8 mm. When the charge carrier 7 enters under the charging electret 8, the distance therebetween is 1.04 mm. As a result, the amount of charging charge to the charge carrier 7 was -9.19 nC. Note that a charge attracting electrode 13 with a width of 4.8 mm is placed in the field-free region where there is no electric field formed by the charging electret 8 and the recovery electrode 9. When the charge carrier 7 enters the recovery electrode 9, the remote portion 14 (width: 4.8 mm, thickness: 0.08 m) of the potential control layer 73 is arranged to oppose the charge attracting electrode 13 with a gap of 0.02 mm. The voltage of the charge attracting electrode 13 and its action will be described later.

[0015] With the above configuration, when the charge carrier 7 is under the charging electret 8 and the charge holding layer 71 is grounded, after being charged by electrostatic induction, when it exits the charging electret 8 and reaches the recovery electrode 9, the electrostatic force received during that time and the potential of the charge carrier 7 at that time were simulated by the two-dimensional difference method. The results are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 together with the case where there is no potential control layer 73. Note that the grounding of the charge holding layer 71 is cut off after charging, and the charge holding layer becomes floating, but the grounding of the potential control layer 73 is maintained. As a result, as the charge carrier moves away from the charging electret 8, negative charges (+5.2 to +7.6 nC) of the opposite polarity to the charge (-9.19 nC) in the charge holding layer 71 are injected into the potential control layer 73 to maintain the potential of the charge carrier 7 at a low potential. From FIG. 5, it can be seen that when there is a potential control layer 73, the backward electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 7 is almost eliminated. As a result, the electrostatic energy required to transport the charge carrier 7 charged with -9.19 nC from the charging electret 8 at +3700 V to the recovery electrode 9 at -1000 V decreased significantly from 47.4 μJ to 3.5 μJ, a reduction of 7.4%.

[0016] Also, from FIG. 6, when there is no potential control layer 73, the potential of the charge carrier 7 during transportation exceeds -20000 V and discharge occurs. On the other hand, when there is a potential control layer 73, the potential of the charge carrier 7 is suppressed to the -300 V range and no discharge occurs. However, when the charge carrier enters under the recovery electrode at -1000 V, its potential is -431 V, which is lower than the recovery potential of -1000 V. Even if the two are made conductive at the recovery terminal 12, the transported charge will not be recovered by the recovery electrode.

[0017] Therefore, in order to recover the transported charge, it is necessary to raise its potential from -431V to -1000V or higher. As described above, the potential of the charge carrier 7 is low because charges of opposite polarity to those in the charge holding layer 71 are present in an amount close to equal in the potential control layer 73 close to the charge holding layer 71. Therefore, if the charges of opposite polarity in this charge control layer 71 are removed, the potential of the charge carrier 7 will increase. However, even if the charge control layer 73 is grounded, the charges do not move. This is because charges of opposite polarity are present in an amount equal to or greater than that in the charge holding layer 71 nearby. Therefore, although the charges in the charge control layer 73 cannot be moved, charges of opposite polarity to those in the charge control layer 73 can be supplied here to reduce or eliminate the charges in the charge control layer 73. However, for this purpose, unnecessary energy is required because the charges of opposite polarity must be prepared every time the charge carrier 7 comes to the recovery electrode 9.

[0018] On the other hand, when the charge carrier 7 reaches the recovery electrode 9, if the charges in the potential control layer 73 are moved to another location and, after the charge carrier 7 passes through the recovery electrode 9, the moved charges are returned to the potential control layer 73, the above waste can be saved and the potential of the charge carrier 7 can be increased. A chance occurs when the charge carrier 7 enters directly below the recovery electrode 9. This is because electric lines of force run from a part of the negative charges in the charge holding layer 71 toward the recovery electrode 9. As a result, the force that electrostatically binds the positive charges in the potential control layer 73 weakens. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, a charge attracting electrode 13 is placed close to the potential control layer remote part 14 that is in conduction with the potential control layer main body 73, and when a negative potential of opposite polarity to the positive charges in the potential control layer 73 is applied here, a part of the positive charges in the potential control layer main body 73 moves to the potential control layer remote part 14 and the potential of the charge carrier becomes higher.

[0019] FIG. 8 shows the results of simulations of the amount of charge remaining in the charge holding layer 73 and the amount of charge that has moved to the potential control layer remote part 14 when the voltage of the charge attracting electrode 13 is changed from -0.7kV to -4.0kV. At -0.7kV, no charges move, but at -4.0kV, all charges move. When expressed in terms of the charge mobility, it becomes as shown in Fig. 9.

[0020] When the voltage of the charge attracting electrode 13 was changed from -0.7 kV to -4.0 kV, the results of simulating the potential of the charge carrier 7 are shown in Fig. 10. At -0.7 kV, it exceeds -1000 V, and at -4.0 kV, it rises to nearly -4000 V.

[0021] When the voltage of the charge attracting electrode was changed from -0.7 kV to -4.0 kV and the charge holding layer 71 and the recovery electrode 9 were made conductive, the ratio of the charges that moved (were recovered) from the charge holding layer 71 with a high potential to the recovery electrode 9 of -1000 V became as shown in Fig. 11. From this figure, it is predicted that even if the recovery voltage is raised to -4.0 kV or higher, the charge recovery rate will not increase much. When the voltage of the charge attracting electrode was changed from -0.7 kV to -4.0 kV and the charge holding layer and the recovery electrode were made conductive, the absolute amount of the charges that moved (were recovered) from the charge holding layer with a high potential to the recovery electrode of -1000 V became as shown in Fig. 12.

[0022] As described above, when the remote part 14 of the potential control layer 73 is brought close to the charge attracting electrode 13 and a high voltage of opposite polarity to the charged charge of the potential control layer 73 is applied, most of the charges of the potential control layer 73 move to the remote part 14. As a result, the potential of the charge carrier 7 becomes higher than the potential of the recovery electrode 9, and when the two are made conductive, most of the transported charges move to the recovery electrode 9. That is, they are recovered. At this time, the electric field strength between the remote part 14 of the potential control layer and the charge attracting electrode 13 greatly exceeds the corona discharge start electric field. However, since corona discharge is an electron avalanche due to the movement of free electrons in a strong electric field, it takes a little time until an electron avalanche occurs. On the other hand, since the movement of charges from the charge carrier 7 to the recovery electrode 9 ends instantaneously, if the high voltage applied to the charge attracting electrode 13 is cut off after the charge movement and before the electron avalanche occurs, corona discharge will not occur. When using the charge attracting electret 13 instead of the charge attracting electrode 13, the moving speed of the charge carrier 7 may be increased, and the charge attracting electret 13 may be passed through the remote portion 14 of the potential control layer before the corona discharge occurs. Also, if mechanically possible, the distance between the remote portion 14 of the potential control layer and the charge attracting electrode 13 may be set to a distance at which corona discharge does not occur. If this distance is 0.01 mm or less, corona discharge will not occur even under a strong electric field. Note that the charges that have moved to the remote portion 14 of the potential control layer return to the potential control layer 73 because the electrostatic force that stops them in the remote portion 14 of the potential control layer disappears when the remote portion 14 of the potential control layer passes through the charge attracting electrode 13 and exits its electric field.

[0023] As described above, by adding the potential control layer 73 to the parallel plate type charge carrier 7, even if a large amount of charges are held, the charge carrier 7 can be transported from the charging electret 8 to the recovery electrode 9 with a small thrust. Furthermore, by adding the remote portion 14 to the potential control layer 73 and adding the charge attracting electrode (electret) 13 in proximity thereto, the potential of the charge carrier 7 can be made higher than the potential of the recovery electrode 9, and the transported charges can be safely recovered. However, the above description is for the case where there is one charging electrode 8 and one recovery electrode 9 each, and the output thereof is small. In order to achieve a high output, it is necessary to arrange a large number of this combination (hereinafter referred to as one unit) and move a large number of charge carriers 7 between them at high speed. Hereinafter, an example of a high-output device will be disclosed. However, the inventor is a physicist and not familiar with machines and electricity, so this is not the best device. It is expected that more excellent devices will be proposed by experts in that field in the near future.

[0024] The four-layer charge carrier 7 can be easily manufactured by known four-layer PCB manufacturing technology. At that time, it is also possible to manufacture a large number of the four-layer charge carriers 7 radially on a dielectric disk having a diameter of 10 cm as shown in FIG. 13. Hereinafter, this disk will be referred to as the charge carrier plate 16. On the surface of a resin layer having a width of 7.3 mm, a thickness of 0.16 mm, and a relative dielectric constant of 2.0, the surface charge density is -0.41 mC / m by corona discharge 2It was charged with electricity to form a charged electret 8. Its surface potential is -3705 V when there is nothing around it (note that in the above simulation, a positively charged electret was used for convenience of calculation, but actually, electrets are usually negatively charged). When the charge carrier 7 was placed 1.04 mm below the charged electret 8 with a space in between and the charge holding layer 71 was grounded, 9.19 nC of charge was charged to the charge holding layer 71 by electrostatic induction. A recovery electrode 9 with a width of 6.4 mm was placed 14.8 mm away from the charged electret 8. Its potential is +1000 V. The charged electret 8 and the recovery electrode 9 can be fabricated in a plurality of sets radially on a dielectric disk with a diameter of 10 cm and a thickness of 0.5 mm as shown in Fig. 14. Hereinafter, this disk is referred to as a charging and recovery disk 17, 18. Note that the potential control layer remote part 14 and the charge attracting electrode 13 were placed between the charge carrier disk 16 and each electrode of the charging and recovery disk 17 and the inner opening hole in the electric field-free region.

[0025] As shown in Fig. 15, one electrostatic generator can be formed by sandwiching the charge carrier disk 16 between the charging and recovery disks 17, 18 coaxially on 19. Hereinafter, this is referred to as one set. However, the characteristic of the four-layer charge carrier is that its thrust is very low. Therefore, it is very wasteful to rotate only one charge carrier disk 16 by an external force. Thus, as shown in Fig. 16, a set composed of the charge carrier disk 16 and the charging and recovery disks 17, 18 is stacked in multiple stages, and it is efficient to rotate a large number of charge carrier disks 16 simultaneously with one motor 20. For example, since the thickness of one set composed of one charge carrier disk 16 and one charging and recovery disk 17 is 4.5 mm, 22 sets can be stacked in a square container with a height of 10 cm. Since the charging and recovery disk has the charged electret 8 and the recovery electrode 9 on both the front and back, only one charging and recovery disk to be placed between the charge carrier disks 16 is sufficient as shown in Fig. 18.

[0026] Assuming that the charge carrier disk 16 rotates at 3000 rpm due to low thrust, i.e., it rotates 50 times per second. As shown in Fig. 13, there are 18 charge carriers 7 on the charge carrier disk 16, each of which is charged with 9.19 nC of charge by the charging electret 8 and transported to the recovery electrode 9 at +1000 V. When the charge attraction voltage is +3.0 kV, 6.13 nC of charge is recovered. There are 9 sets (units) of the charging electret 8 and the recovery electrode 9 on the charging and recovery disks 17 and 18. Therefore, when the charge carrier disk 16 makes one rotation, one charge carrier passes through the charging and recovery unit 9 times, so 6.13 nC * 9 = 55.17 nC of charge is recovered by the recovery electrode 9. Since there are 18 four-layer charge carriers 7 on the charge carrier disk 16, in one rotation of it, 55.17 nC * × 18 = 993 nC of charge is recovered. The charge carrier disk 16 rotates 50 times per second, so per second, 993 nC * × 50 = 49653 nC of charge is recovered. That is, the recovery current is 0.0497 mA. Since the recovery potential is +1000 V, the output of one set is 0.0497 mA * × 1000 V = 0.0497 W is. In a generator with a side length of 10 cm, 22 sets are stacked. So, in one rotation of them, 0.0497 W * × 22 = 1.09 W is obtained. Although the output is not large, in a 1 m cube, there are 1000 generators with a side length of 10 cm, so the output becomes 1 kW.

[0027] Although the above has described the four-layer charge carrier in which the conductive charge holding layers 71 are provided on both the front and back surfaces of the dielectric support 74, the effect of the potential control layer 73 is similarly great even in the charge carrier 7 in which the charge holding layer 71 is provided only on one side. Further, although the case where there are two potential control layers in the dielectric support 74 has been described, the effect is the same even if there is one or three or more. Note that the configuration of the high-charge low-potential charge carrier 7 is not limited to the rotating disk type having a plurality of charge holding layers 71 radially on the above-described dielectric disk, but is also effective for a dielectric belt circulation type such as a Van de Graaff electrostatic generator. Further, although the charging method of the charge carrier 7 has been described by the electrostatic induction method using the charging electret 8, corona discharge or triboelectric charging may be used as in the case of a Van de Graaff electrostatic generator. Since the four-layer charge carrier is characterized by low thrust, in order to rotate a long belt or a large number of stacked disks, natural forces such as wind power and hydraulic power can be used instead of an electric motor, and it is also possible with a light manual rotation. Furthermore, if an electret electrostatic motor (see Patent Document 2) using an asymmetric electrostatic force is used, power generation can be performed for a long time, up to 100 years, which is the same as the life of the electret, without supplying external energy.

Explanation of Signs

[0028] 1: DC power source for discharging of Van de Graaff type electrostatic generator 2: Discharge electrode for positive charge application of Van de Graaff type electrostatic generator 3: Discharge electrode for positive charge removal of Van de Graaff type electrostatic generator 4: High voltage electrode of Van de Graaff type electrostatic generator 5: Discharge electrode for negative charge application of Van de Graaff type electrostatic generator 6: Insulating belt of Van de Graaff type electrostatic generator and dielectric support of electrostatic generator 7: Charge carrier 71: Charge holding layer of charge carrier 72: Dielectric layer between charge holding layer and potential control layer of charge carrier 73: Potential control layer of charge carrier 74: Dielectric support of charge carrier 8: Charging electret 9: Charge recovery electrode 10: Capacitor for accumulating the recovered charge 11: Conductive terminal for charge charging 12: Conductive terminal for charge recovery 13: Charge attracting electrode 14: Remote part of the potential control layer 15: High-voltage power supply for the charge attracting electrode 16: Charge carrier disk in which the charge holding layer is formed radially 17: Upper charge charging and recovery disk in which the charging electret and the recovery electrode are formed radially 18: Lower charge charging and recovery disk in which the charging electret and the recovery electrode are formed radially 19: Rotation axis (support column) of the charge carrier disk 20: Electric motor for rotating the multi-stage charge carrier disk

Claims

1. In an electrostatic generator that charges a charge carrier, transports it to a recovery electrode, and recovers the transported charge there, a charge carrier having a potential control layer in the vicinity of a charge holding layer is used, and when it is transported to the recovery electrode, the charge in the potential control layer is decreased or moved to make the potential of the charge carrier higher than the potential of the recovery electrode.

2. In Claim 1, when the charge carrier is transported to the recovery electrode, charges of opposite polarity to the charges in the potential control layer are supplied to the potential control layer to decrease the charges in the potential control layer.

3. In Claim 1, after charging a charge carrier having a potential control layer in the vicinity of a charge holding layer and transporting it to the recovery electrode, a high voltage of opposite polarity to the charge possessed by the potential control layer is applied to a charge attracting electrode that is in proximity and opposed to a remote portion of the potential control layer that is electrically conductive with the potential control layer, and the charge in the potential control layer is moved to the remote portion of the potential control layer to make the potential of the charge carrier higher than the potential of the recovery electrode.

4. In Claim 3, the high voltage applied to the charge attracting electrode is turned off before corona discharge occurs between the remote portion of the potential control layer and the charge attracting electrode.

5. In Claim 3, the remote portion of the potential control layer is passed through the charge attracting electrode before corona discharge occurs between the remote portion of the potential control layer and the charge attracting electrode.

6. In Claim 3, the distance between the remote portion of the potential control layer and the charge attracting electrode is set to a distance at which corona discharge does not occur even when a high electric field is formed therebetween.

7. In Claim 3, the distance between the remote portion of the potential control layer and the charge attracting electrode is set to 10 μm or less.

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