JP2000064390A - Method and device for disinfection of flush toilet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent occurrence of black stains in a flushing toilet stool by providing a process supplying a flushing water containing silver ion to the flush toilet stool and a process supplying a flushing water not containing silver ion thereto. SOLUTION: After a user has used a urinal 1, a water supply valve 24 is opened by the actuation of an automatic toilet flushing system 3 and city water flows to an electrolytic tank 25 through a water supply pipe 23 and a flow sensor 32, and is supplied to the urinal 1 and water not containing silver iron is filled in the voids of scale as a porous body of a bowl face of the urinal and subsequently, after a specified time interval, electric energy of the electric source 33 is supplied to electrodes in an electrolytic cell 25 through a controller 27 to elute silver ion by a flow sensor 32 which has detected start of washing of the toilet bowl. Accordingly, even in a flush toilet to which scale has stuck, black silver deposition is not brought about.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of sterilizing a flush toilet and a sterilizing device provided in a toilet flush water supply passage to the flush toilet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is not possible to prevent water stains, slimy skin, and odors from gradually adhering to the toilet bowl by simply flushing the water after using the toilet bowl. Also, in urinals, urine stones adhere to the inside of the pipe to narrow the passage of sewage,
It adheres to the surface of the toilet bowl and impairs its appearance, becoming a hotbed for bacterial growth and giving off an odor. The urine stones once attached are difficult to remove by ordinary cleaning and cannot be removed without rubbing strongly with a brush. For this reason, it is necessary to request a specialist to remove urinary stones, which is a heavy burden.

Several methods have been disclosed for dealing with this problem by producing and supplying a component having a bactericidal power to the toilet flush water.

It has been conventionally known that silver ions have a sterilizing action. To sterilize a flush toilet, the toilet flush water supply passage for the flush toilet and the silver ion are mixed into the toilet flush water supply passage. Sterilization and purification of toilet flush water including an ion generator having a silver electrode plate and a power supply device that is closed in conjunction with the opening operation of an opening / closing valve provided in the toilet flush water supply passage to supply power to the silver electrode plate The device is known. (Actual Kaihei 7-173
91)

[0005]

However, if the toilet flush water containing silver ions as described above is simply supplied to the flush toilet bowl, the water containing the silver ions will remain as droplets on the bowl surface of the flush toilet bowl. Due to the evaporation of water, the concentration of silver ions in the water droplets relatively rises and precipitation begins. When all are evaporated and dried, all silver ions are precipitated. Although these precipitates fall off by rubbing at the initial stage, they are metallic silver, silver oxide, or silver chloride, and since they are black, there is a problem that the appearance of the flush toilet bowl is spoiled.

Further, in the case of a flush toilet used for several years,
So-called "scale", in which calcium and silicon contained in tap water are deposited in a porous form, adheres to the bowl surface of the flush toilet bowl. The scale itself attached to the surface of this flush toilet is white, and in the general water quality of Japan,
Since it adheres only to a thin layer, it does not pose a problem as it is fresh. However, when the flush toilet containing the above-mentioned silver ions is supplied to the flush toilet with the scale-attached flush toilet, precipitation of the above silver ions occurs inside the porous body of the scale and the scale is colored black. I will let you. In this case, since silver was deposited even inside the porous body, it was difficult to remove it by rubbing, which was a very serious problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and has a function of preventing a flush toilet bowl from causing water stains, sticking of slime and generation of odor. Further, in the urinal bowl, It also has a function to prevent narrowing of the passage of sewage due to adhesion, damage to the aesthetics, and the generation of odors, and a sterilizing method for flush toilets that does not cause darkening on the bowl surface of the flush toilet and toilet flush water. An object is to provide a sterilization device.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems and Actions / Effects] According to claim 1 of the present invention made to solve the above problems, in the method of sterilizing a flush toilet, the silver ion supplying means is operated to contain silver ions. It has a step of supplying toilet flush water to the flush toilet, and a step of continuing the step and stopping the silver ion supply means to supply toilet flush water containing no silver ion to the flush toilet. A method of sterilizing a flush toilet is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sterilizing device provided in the water supply path for the toilet flush water to the flush toilet, silver ion supply means for supplying silver ions to the toilet flush water is provided to supply the silver ion. Subsequent to the step of operating the means to supply toilet flush water containing silver ions to the flush toilet, the step of stopping the silver ion supply means and supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet Disclosed is a sterilizer for flush toilets, which has a control device to be implemented.

With these sterilizing methods and sterilizing devices, the step of supplying toilet flush water containing silver ions to the flush toilet is followed by the step of supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet. The silver ion concentration of the water droplets remaining on the bowl surface of the flush toilet can be made extremely thin. Therefore, even if the water droplets are evaporated and dried, no black silver precipitate is produced.

As a result, the silver ion concentration of the water droplets remaining on the bowl surface is extremely thin, and the silver ion concentration of the water retained in the trap portion can be maintained at a concentration necessary for sterilization, so that water traps in the trap portion of the flush toilet bowl, It has a function to prevent the attachment of slime and the generation of odor, and in the urinal also has the function of narrowing the passage of sewage due to the attachment of urinary stones, damaging the aesthetic appearance, and also preventing the generation of odor, It is possible to provide a method for sterilizing a flush toilet and a device for sterilizing flush water, which does not cause darkening on the bowl surface of the flush toilet.

The present invention, which is more preferable than the above, comprises the step of stopping the silver ion supply means to supply toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet, and subsequent to this step, the method according to claim 1 There is provided a method for sterilizing a flush toilet, which comprises steps.

Further, in the present invention, the control device continues the step of stopping the silver ion supply means to supply toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet.
There is provided a sterilizer for a flush toilet, which is characterized by carrying out the process described in 1.

With these sterilizing methods and sterilizing devices, first, a step of supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet is followed by a step of supplying toilet flush water containing silver ions to the flush toilet. And a step of supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ion to the flush toilet. Therefore, even if it is a flush toilet bowl with scale attached to the bowl surface and it is dried for a certain period of time, the step of supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet is first performed. As a result, the scale, which is a porous body, absorbs water and the voids of the scale are filled with water that does not contain silver ions. Therefore, even if the step of supplying the toilet flush water containing silver ions to the flush toilet after that,
It becomes difficult for water to be absorbed in the voids of the scale, and by the subsequent step of supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet, both of the scale surface and the scale-free surface of the bowl surface of the flush toilet have residual water drops. The silver ion concentration can be made extremely thin. Therefore, even in a flush toilet with scale attached, black silver deposits do not occur.

When the present invention is applied to a urinal, it exhibits excellent effects in addition to the effects described above. The reason is described below.

The mechanism of urinary stone attachment to the urinal is considered to be as follows. If you urinate in a urinal,
Urine adheres to the surface of the urinal, and urine accumulates in the trap portion inside the urinal. Generally, many bacteria are present in the urinal. Urine contains a large amount of urea, but if bacteria are present in the urinal bowl surface or in the accumulated water on the trap, urea is decomposed into ammonia and carbon dioxide by the action of urease enzyme urease. A large amount of ammonia produced at this time contributes to odor. Further, when ammonia is generated, it is dissolved in the liquid adhering to the surface of the urinal bowl and the accumulated water in the trap portion, and the pH of the liquid rises. When the pH is raised, the calcium ions contained in the liquid adhering to the urinal bowl surface and the accumulated water in the trap change to carbonates and phosphates and deposit, adhering to the urinals as urinary stones and causing colored stains. Cause of.

From the above, in a mode in which the sterilizer for flushing water of the present invention is applied to a urinal, the generated silver ions are flowed through the urinal to sterilize the bacteria present in the urinal. The cause of such urinary stone adhesion is eliminated,
The urinal is always kept in a clean state without spoiling its appearance, and the narrowing of the waste water passage due to the attachment of urine stones in the pipe is prevented, and the generation of odor due to ammonia or the like is also prevented.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an example in which the method for sterilizing a flush toilet and the apparatus for sterilizing flush water according to the present invention are mainly applied to a urinal is shown, but the same effect can be exhibited even when used in a urinal.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a sterilizer for toilet flush water according to the present invention. The electrolytic bath 25 and the flow rate sensor 32 are provided downstream of the water supply valve 24, which is a flush valve of the toilet pipe water supply pipe 23. The water supply valve 24 is electrically connected to a known toilet bowl automatic cleaning system 3. The toilet flush water supply pipe 23 is connected to the urinal 1. In addition, the control device 27 includes the power supply unit 33 and the flow rate sensor 3.
2. Electrically connected to the electrodes 6a and 6b of the electrolytic bath 25 and the automatic toilet bowl cleaning system 3.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the electrolytic cell 25 used in this embodiment. Inside the electrolytic bath 25, there are a pair of electrodes 6a, 6b, which are arranged with flat plates of metallic silver facing each other, and an inter-electrode flow path 7 formed between the electrodes is formed.

Next, the operation will be described. After the user uses the urinal 1, the water supply valve 24 is opened by the operation of the toilet automatic cleaning system 3, and tap water flows through the toilet cleaning water supply pipe 23 in the order of the flow sensor 32 and the electrolytic cell 25. This is the first step, in which tap water, that is, toilet flush water containing no silver ions, is supplied to the urinal 1 as it is.

According to the first step, even if the urinal 1 has the scale attached to the bowl surface, and the bowl surface is dried for a certain period of time, it is a toilet flush water containing no silver ion. Is performed in the flush toilet bowl, the scale, which is a porous body, absorbs water, and the voids of the scale are filled with water that does not contain silver ions.

The start of flushing of the toilet is detected by the flow rate sensor 32, and a predetermined time (generally from 2 seconds until the water containing no silver ions is filled in the void of the scale of the bowl surface of the urinal 1). After about 10 seconds), the electric energy of the power supply unit 33 is supplied to the pair of electrodes 6a and 6b in the electrolytic bath 25 through the control device 27, and the electrodes 6a and 6b
Silver ions are eluted from any of the anodes 6b, and toilet flush water containing silver ions is supplied to the urinal 1 through the toilet flush water supply pipe 23. This is the second step, in which the toilet flush water containing silver ions is supplied to the urinal 1.

By this second step, water containing silver ions can be supplied to the bowl surface of the urinal 1, the trap portion, and the pipes downstream of the urinal 1, so that the urinal 1 is filled with water. It is possible to prevent adhesion of slime and generation of odor, and also to prevent narrowing of passage of sewage due to adhesion of urine stones, damage to appearance, and generation of odor.

Since the first step is carried out prior to the second step, even if the step of supplying the toilet flush water containing silver ions to the flush toilet (second step) is carried out, the scale is It becomes difficult for water to be absorbed into the voids, and it is possible to prevent silver ions from being absorbed into the voids of the scale.

Since the flow rate sensor 32 can detect the flow rate, the control device 27 controls the electrodes 6a, 6
By controlling so that an electric current proportional to the flow rate flows in b, the concentration of dissolved silver ions can be maintained constant.

After cleaning the urinal 1 for a predetermined time (generally about 10 to 20 seconds), the controller 27 controls the electrode 6a,
The power supply to 6b is cut off. Then, after a predetermined time (generally about 2 to 5 seconds), the control device 27 closes the water supply valve 24 and stops tap water through the toilet automatic cleaning system 3. This is the third step, which is the step in which the toilet flush water containing no silver ions is again supplied to the urinal 1 as it is.

The silver concentration in the trap portion after these three steps is determined by the silver ion concentration and the amount of supplied water in the second step, the amount of supplied water in the third step, and the capacity of the trap portion. , These may be appropriately determined.

By this third step, the silver ion concentration of the water droplets remaining on the bowl surface of the urinal 1 can be made extremely thin, and even if the water droplets evaporate and dry, black silver precipitates are produced. Disappears.

At this time, instead of the flow rate sensor 32, a constant flow rate valve is provided so that the control device 27 can detect the open / closed state of the water supply valve 24, and the water supply valve 24 is opened in the second step described above. At the time of valve operation, the electric energy of the power supply unit 33 is transmitted through the control device 27 to the pair of electrodes 6a, 6b in the electrolytic cell 25.
May be powered. In this case, since the flow rate can be kept constant by the constant flow rate valve, the control device 2
By controlling 7 so that a constant current flows through the electrodes 6a and 6b, the concentration of dissolved silver ions can be kept constant.

The polarities of the electrodes 6a and 6b (that is, the anode and the cathode) are periodically reversed by the controller 27 to prevent the scale such as calcium carbonate from adhering to the cathode side. At this time, the electrodes 6a and 6b are consumed with the supply of silver ions. Therefore, the pair of electrodes 6a and 6b are uniformly consumed by keeping the time when the electrodes are the anodes and the time when the electrodes are the cathodes equal. Therefore, the electrodes 6a and 6b can be used up to the end without waste. Since the electrodes 6a and 6b elute silver ions from themselves, a plate material of pure silver is preferable in that the life can be extended, but an alloy containing silver or silver plating may be used.

At least one of the pair of electrodes 6a and 6b may be silver. When an electrode other than silver is used for one side, silver ions can be supplied by switching the polarity of the silver electrode side to the anode by the control device 27. A plurality of pairs of electrodes, at least one of which is silver, may be provided.

Further, depending on the manner of use of the toilet, the operation is not necessarily limited to the operation of supplying silver ions at the time of each toilet cleaning as described above. That is, if it is desired to suppress the consumption of silver as much as possible, the silver ion may be supplied only when the toilet bowl is washed several times. Further, when it is desired to make the time consumption of silver constant, silver ions are not supplied at the time of cleaning the toilet after using the toilet, and the controller 27 controls the water supply valve 24 via the toilet automatic cleaning system 3 at regular intervals. The toilet may be automatically washed by opening and closing, and silver ions may be supplied only at this time. In addition, if you want to maintain a higher level of sterilization even if the consumption of silver increases, not only when cleaning the toilet bowl after using it, but also when not using it, the toilet bowl is automatically cleaned at regular intervals. It is also possible to carry out and supply silver ions also at this time. The above operation can be dealt with by changing the program of the control device 27 according to the manner of use of the toilet bowl and changing the conditions for opening the water supply valve 24.

Next, the silver ion concentration and the electric current required to exert the effects of the present invention will be described. The concentration of silver ions contained in the toilet flush water is preferably 50 μg / liter or more, which is generally considered to have a sterilizing effect on silver ions, but according to the experiments and confirmation by the applicant, To kill bacteria floating in water, silver ion of 50 μg / liter or more is certainly required.
It was found that even if the concentration is lower than this (for example, about 20 μg / liter), the bacteria are sufficiently effective in order to prevent bacteria from adhering to and propagating on the wall surfaces (the bowl surface of the toilet bowl and the wall surface of the trap portion in this embodiment). It is considered that this is due to the fact that darkness is likely to occur due to the presence of silver ions, and that silver ions have a property of easily acting on the wall surface. On the other hand, if the concentration is too high, darkening occurs in the retention area such as the trap portion, so it should be avoided to make the concentration too high.

The flow rate of the toilet flush water of the urinal is generally about 15 liters / minute (= 0.25 liters / second). At this time, a current is generated between the electrodes 6a and 6b in the electrolytic cell 21. When only 0.03 A was energized, the electrode reaction efficiency (ratio of the amount used for silver ion generation to the amount of electricity flowing between the electrodes 6a and 6b) was set to 100%, and the Faraday constant was set to 96500. Then, the pair of electrodes 6a,
The concentration of silver ions (atomic weight 107.9) flowing out of the anode side of 6b is about 134 μg / liter as shown in the following formula. (0.03 × 107.9 / 96500 / 0.25) = 1.34 × 10 ⁻⁴ g / liter = 134 μg / liter The electrode reaction efficiency depends on the design of the electrolytic cell 25 (electrode area, interelectrode distance, interelectrode flow). It varies depending on the cross-sectional area of the passage, voltage, current, etc.) and the quality of the toilet flush water (electrical conductivity, chloride ion concentration, pH, etc.). Since the range is 50 to 100% under any condition, the silver ion concentration produced is expected to be 67 to 134 μg / liter, which is within the suitable silver ion concentration range. This is the silver ion concentration after the second step described above.

In the present example, subsequently, as a third step, water containing no silver ion is flown into the urinal. The volume of the trap portion of the urinal is generally about 0.5 liter.
Assuming that the trap part is a complete mixing model, the concentration of the trap part decreases according to the formula: trap part concentration = initial trap part concentration × exp (−elapsed time / residence time). Now, the volume of the trap is 0.5 liters, and the flow rate of toilet flush water is 1
If it is set to 5 liters / minute, the residence time is 2 seconds, which is this quotient, and the initial concentration of the trap part is 1 as in the above example.
Introducing into the above equation with 34 μg / l and operating time of the third step of 2 seconds, the silver concentration after the third step is 49 μg / l, which is sufficient to kill bacteria in the trap. Moreover, it is possible to maintain the density at which darkening does not occur.

As a result of the above, since the silver ion concentration of the water droplets remaining on the bowl surface is extremely thin and the silver ion concentration of the water retained in the trap portion can be maintained at the concentration required for sterilization, water stains and slime can be applied to the urinal 1. It has a function to prevent the adherence of urine and the generation of odor. It also prevents the narrowing of the passage of sewage due to the adhesion of urine stones, damages the appearance and odor generation, and also darkens the bowl surface of the urinal 1. It can be prevented.

Even when the first step of the present embodiment is omitted, the silver ion concentration and the amount of water supplied in the second step are set to be high and the supply in the third step is performed. By setting the amount of water to a high level, it is possible to prevent the darkening of the bowl surface of the urinal 1 and to maintain the concentration of silver ions in the trap portion at a predetermined concentration or higher. Therefore, this first step can be omitted.

In each of the embodiments of the present invention described above, a silver electrode was used as the sterilizing component supplying means, and silver ions as the sterilizing component were supplied by this electrode reaction. It is not limited to this. That is, the problem to be solved by the present invention will not be overlooked as long as the control device 27 can control whether or not silver ions are contained in the toilet flush water.

For example, the silver nitrate solution stored in the tank is
It may be configured to supply by an electric pump operated by the control device 27. In addition, a flow path for passing an antibacterial resin pellet capable of eluting silver ions (for example, one in which silver zeolite is kneaded into a resin) and a flow path for bypassing the flow path are provided in parallel, and a control device is provided. The configuration may be such that 27 selects any one of the flow passages to allow water to flow therethrough.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a sterilizer for toilet flush water according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an electrolytic cell used in an example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Urinal 3: Automatic toilet cleaning system 6a, 6b: electrodes 7: Flow path between electrodes 23: Water pipe for toilet bowl cleaning 24: Water supply valve 25: Electrolyzer 27: Control device 32: Flow sensor 33: Power supply unit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shuji Nishiyama             2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture             No. Totoki Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenji Sakamoto             2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture             No. Totoki Equipment Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2D038 AA02 BA11 ZA06                 4H011 AA02 DD01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method of sterilizing a flush toilet, comprising the steps of operating a silver ion supply means to supply toilet flush water containing silver ions to the flush toilet, and following this step,
A method of sterilizing a flush toilet, comprising the step of stopping the silver ion supply means and supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet. 2. A step of stopping the silver ion supply means to supply toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet, and a step of claim 1 following this step. How to sterilize a flush toilet. 3. A sterilizer provided in a water supply path for toilet flush water to a flush toilet, comprising silver ion supply means for supplying silver ions to the toilet flush water, and operating the silver ion supply means to generate silver ions. After the step of supplying the toilet flush water containing the same to the flush toilet, it has a control device for carrying out the step of stopping the silver ion supply means and supplying the toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet. A characteristic sterilizer for flush toilets. 4. The control device performs the step according to claim 3, following the step of stopping the silver ion supply means and supplying toilet flush water containing no silver ions to the flush toilet. A characteristic sterilizer for flush toilets. 5. The method of sterilizing a flush toilet according to claim 1, wherein the flush toilet is a urinal. 6. The sterilizer for flush toilet according to claim 3, wherein the flush toilet is a urinal.