Patent ID: 8282027

Claim:
An electrostatically atomizing device including a metal ion elution means for eluting sterilizing metal ions into a liquid to be electrostatically atomized, wherein said device comprises a tank configured to hold a volume of said liquid, and a carrier connected to said tank to be supplied with said liquid and to feed the liquid to a discharge end where said liquid is atomized by application of a high voltage, and wherein said metal ion elution means comprises a set of different metal bodies immersed into the liquid in said tank to give a potential difference between said metal bodies for eluting said metal ions, said tank being configured to hold the volume of said liquid so that a liquid level of said liquid has a height which is a predetermined height or more, said metal bodies being arranged to have their lower ends located below said liquid level, whereby said metal bodies are kept immersed in said liquid of said tank, wherein a leading end of said carrier which forms an emitter electrode is a capillary tube, and wherein an inner diameter of a portion of said carrier that extends from the tank, at a rear end, up to the emitter electrode, at the leading end, is set in such a manner so as to preclude capillarity.