JP2000161502A - Constant flow rate valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a constant flow rate valve with a low cost which can install it the place with a small fluid pressure. SOLUTION: When a water pressure becomes high, a second flow route 14 and third route 15 are crushed by the elastic deformation and crush of a projection 13. Thereby, these flow route sectional areas become small. This flow route sectional area becomes small as the pressure of a city water becomes big. Therefore, the supply amount of the city water is regulated so as to keep a fixed amount. Thus, in the fixed flow rate valve installed on the place with a small fluid supply pressure, the projection 13 easy to elastically deform is provided and the water amount is held in a fixed flow rate by pressing to the holding part 9 by the water pressure and deforming and crushing the second flow route 14. Thereby, a constant flow rate valve with a low cost which can install to the place with a small fluid supply pressure is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a constant flow valve, which is suitable for a water purifier or an alkali ion water conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A constant flow valve is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1 (1999) -1995, there is known a device in which a flow rate is kept constant by a cylindrical rubber material. In this publication, a cylindrical rubber material is arranged so that the direction of the center axis of the cylinder is the fluid flow direction, and when the water pressure increases,
By elastically deforming the entire rubber material so as to be twisted, the amount of water is reduced, and a constant flow rate (30 to 50 L / min) is maintained.

[0003] Conventionally, a water purifier in which a water purifier having a built-in activated carbon filter is attached to a water tap in a kitchen or the like, and an alkali ion water purifier for alkali ionizing tap water from a health aspect are well known.

For example, in an alkali ion water conditioner, when the tap water pressure is high and the supply amount of water is large, a flow rate sensor is provided to convert a large amount of water to a sufficient value by alkali ionization. The ionization capacity is increased as is larger, that is, the electrolytic voltage applied to water is increased.

[0005]

Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned alkali ion water purifiers and water purifiers, a low-cost and inexpensive version in which a constant flow valve is provided without using a flow sensor or the like has been considered. As the constant flow valve, for example, a valve that reduces the flow rate to a constant amount by deforming a rubber material as in the above-mentioned publication device may have a small number of parts.

[0006] However, usually in the water supply of homes and the like,
A large flow of water such as 30 to 50 L / min is not supplied as in the above publication. For this reason, if the entire rubber material is twisted by applying a constant flow valve as in the above-mentioned gazette device to the water supply at home or the like, the rubber material does not sufficiently deform and functions as a constant flow valve. Can not.

An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost constant flow valve which can be installed in a place where the fluid pressure is small.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the valve body (1) has a side opposite to the side receiving the fluid pressure on the upstream side in the flow direction of the fluid. The valve body (1) is elastically deformed so that the valve body (1) is crushed by receiving the fluid pressure, whereby the flow path (14) is provided. The fluid flow rate is adjusted to a constant amount by restricting the flow rate.

[0009] With this arrangement, the projections which are easily elastically deformed are provided, are elastically deformed by the fluid pressure, and crush the flow path to maintain the water flow at a constant flow rate.
It is possible to provide a low-cost constant flow valve that can be installed in a place where the fluid supply pressure is small.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the valve body (1) is provided with a projection (13) on the upstream side in the flow direction of the fluid, on the side opposite to the side receiving the fluid pressure. The body (1) receives the fluid pressure so that the protrusions (13) can move the inner wall (9) of the housing (4, 6, 9).
The channel (1) is elastically deformed so that
It is characterized in that the fluid flow rate is adjusted to a constant amount by narrowing down 4).

Thus, in addition to the function and effect of the first aspect, a constant flow rate function can be achieved only by the housing and the valve element.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the valve body (1) prevents elastic deformation of the projection (13) on the same side as the projection (13) until the fluid pressure reaches a predetermined pressure. It is characterized in that the restricting portion (16) is integrally formed.

Accordingly, when the fluid pressure is low, the elastic deformation of the projection is prevented by the blocking portion, and the cross-sectional area of the flow channel does not need to be reduced. As a result, the rise of the amount of water can be made faster.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this example, the constant flow valve of the present invention is applied to an alkali ion water conditioner. FIG. 1 shows a partial cross-sectional view of an alkali ion water purifier incorporating a constant flow valve 1.

The alkali ion water conditioner is provided with a water purification section 2 on the upstream side in the water flow direction. The water purification unit 2 has a resinous (for example, ABS resin) housing 3 that forms a flow path of water. The housing 3 is roughly divided into a cylindrical cylindrical housing 4 forming an upstream passage and a filter housing 6 forming a downstream passage and accommodating a columnar activated carbon filter 5. The tap water that has been purified by passing through the activated carbon filter 5 is sent to an alkali ion water conditioning unit (not shown), and alkali ionized by an internal application electrode (not shown).

The cylindrical housing 4 is configured such that the flow path extends in the horizontal direction. A water supply pipe (not shown) is fitted into the upstream end of the cylindrical housing 4 by male and female fitting. An O-ring 7 for sealing so that water does not leak from the male and female fitting portion is fitted into the outer peripheral portion of the upstream end portion. O-ring 7 of the outer peripheral portion of cylindrical housing 4
On the further downstream side, a flange portion 8 is integrally formed,
The flange portion 8 serves as a positioning portion when the water supply pipe is fitted.

The filter housing 6 has a cylindrical holding portion 9 for accommodating and holding a columnar activated carbon filter 5 (hereinafter referred to as a filter). The lower end of the holding portion 9 is bent inward to filter 5. The base part 10 is provided.

The communication path 11 (flow path) connecting the flow path between the cylindrical housing 4 and the filter housing 6 is very small with respect to the flow path 4a of the cylindrical housing 4. This is because the holding section 9 is configured such that the flow path 4a
Is formed so as to extend substantially perpendicular to the flow direction of the flow path 4a so as to cover most of the downstream part of the flow path 4a.
In this example, the holding section 9 causes the communication path 11 to be a flow path having a substantially semicircular cross section.

With the above configuration, tap water flows in the cylindrical housing 4 in the horizontal direction, and then flows into the lower part of the filter housing 6 through the communication passage 11. In the filter housing 6, the flowing tap water changes its direction and flows upward to the filter 5.

Next, the constant flow valve 1 (valve element) which is a main part of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 shows an external view of the constant flow valve 1 as viewed from the left side to the right side in FIG. Fig. 3 shows a constant flow valve 1
The single figure of is shown.

The constant flow valve 1 is made of an elastically deformable rubber material (eg, EPDM rubber). The constant flow valve 1 has an annular shape when viewed largely. Constant flow valve 1
Means that the axial direction of the central through hole 12 is the cylindrical housing 4
Is inserted (press-fitted) into the cylindrical housing 4 so as to coincide with the axial direction of. The through-hole 12 constitutes a flow path through which tap water flows.
Call it 2.

The constant flow valve 1 of this embodiment is elastically deformed by receiving water pressure (fluid pressure) from one end in the axial direction of an annular shape (right side in FIG. 1 and upstream of water). On the left side of FIG. 1, a projection 13 is formed integrally to facilitate elastic deformation. The protrusions 13 are formed on the innermost side of the ring as shown in FIG. 1, and a plurality of protrusions 13 are arranged in a circle as shown in FIG. 2. Further, the tip of the projection 13 is formed in a curved surface so as to be easily elastically deformed.

The valleys between the projections 13 form a first flow path 12 inside the projection 13 and a plurality of second flow paths 14 communicating with the outside of the projection 13 as shown in FIGS. The second flow path 14 is formed in a V-shaped notch having a triangular cross section as shown in FIG.

On the outside of the constant flow valve 1 on the same side as the protruding portion 13, an annular regulating portion 16 projecting at a predetermined interval to the downstream side of the water is integrally formed. This predetermined interval is
A third flow path 15 communicating with the second flow path 14 is configured.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the height of the restricting portion 16 is slightly larger than that of the projecting portion 13 (0.1 to 0.4).
mm) higher. When the constant flow valve 1 is mounted on the cylindrical housing 4 at a predetermined position and no water pressure is applied, the regulating portion 16 comes into contact with the holding portion 9 (inner wall), but the protrusion 13 is in a non-contact state. State. FIG.
Is difficult to understand in the drawing, but the projection 13 is in a non-contact state.

Next, the operation of the constant flow valve 1 will be described. First, a case in which the supplied water pressure is lower than a predetermined pressure will be described.

Water tap (water tap) not shown by the user
When the water is opened (twisted), tap water is supplied into the cylindrical housing 4. In this state, although the water pressure is applied to the constant flow valve 1, the restricting portion 16 may serve as a stick, and the restricting portion 16 may be slightly elastically deformed (there is no need to be deformed at all). However, the protrusion 13 is not in contact with the holder 9.

In such a state, the tap water which has flowed into the cylindrical housing 4 flows through the first flow path 12 of the constant flow valve 1, and then flows through the second flow path 14, the projection 13, and the holding section 9. It flows into the gap and flows outward in the circumferential direction of the constant flow valve 1. As a result, the tap water flows into the third flow path 15 between the protrusions 13 and then becomes the third connection port with the communication path 11.
It gathers below the flow path 15 and flows through the communication path 11. Thereafter, the tap water is purified by passing through the activated carbon filter 5, sent to the alkali ionization section, and alkali ionized.

Next, when the water pressure of the tap water becomes higher than the predetermined pressure, the regulating portion 16 is elastically deformed and crushed, and the projection 13 comes into contact with the holding portion 9.
4 flows into the third flow path 15 only. Then, when the water pressure further increases, the second flow path 14 and the third flow path 15 are crushed by the elastic deformation of the protrusion 13 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the cross-sectional area of these flow paths is reduced. This flow path cross-sectional area becomes smaller as the water pressure of the tap water increases. Therefore, the supply amount of tap water is regulated, and a constant amount (2.5 L / min in this example) is maintained as shown in FIG.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the constant flow valve installed in a place where the fluid supply pressure is small, the projection 13 which is easily elastically deformed is provided, and the projection 13 is pressed against the holding part 9 by water pressure to be elastically deformed. The water flow was maintained at a constant flow rate by crushing the flow path 14. Thus, in this example, it is possible to provide a low-cost constant flow valve that can be installed in a place where the fluid supply pressure is small. Furthermore, in this example, a constant flow function can be achieved only by the housing 4 and the constant flow valve 1 (valve element).

Next, the reason for providing the restricting portion 16 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows data in the case where only the protrusion 13 is not provided with the restricting portion 16.

Here, usually, even when an alkali ion water conditioner is attached, tap water can be usually used by bypassing the alkali ionization section. In addition, when the above-mentioned alkali ion water conditioner is attached to the water supply, the water flow resistance is generated, so that the amount of water is reduced as compared with a case where there is no alkali ion water conditioner. And
Normally, the amount of water is proportional to the amount of operation of the tap cock by the user.

Therefore, in the case where tap water is used without alkali ionization and in the case where alkali ionization is not performed, the amount of water is much smaller in the former, even if the operation amount of the tap cock is the same. For this reason, when the user wants to quickly increase the large amount of water using alkaline ionized water, that is, to obtain 2.5 L / min controlled to a constant flow rate by the constant flow rate valve 1, the user needs to largely operate the water supply twist part. Have to do it. Then, the above-mentioned regulation part 16 exists.

That is, if there is no regulating part 16, the projection 13 is elastically deformed even at a low water pressure, and the cross-sectional area of the second flow path 14 is reduced. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the rise of the water amount is delayed, and in order to obtain the water amount of 2.5 L / min, it is necessary to largely twist the water pressure, that is, the water twist part. On the other hand, when the regulating portion 16 is provided as in this example, the elastic deformation of the projection 13 is prevented by the blocking portion 16 in a state where the water pressure is low, so that the flow path cross-sectional area of the flow path 14 does not need to be reduced. As a result, the rise of the amount of water can be made faster, and a water amount of 2.5 L / min can be obtained quickly.

(Modification) In the above embodiment, the constant flow valve 1
Is not symmetrical as shown in FIG. 1, so when the constant flow valve 1 is mounted in the cylindrical housing 4, it is erroneously mounted and the function of the constant flow valve is not fulfilled at all. There is.

Therefore, by making the constant flow valve 1 a symmetrical structure as shown in FIG. 6, an error in the mounting direction can be eliminated.

In the above embodiment, the constant flow valve of the present invention is applied to an alkali ion water conditioner. However, the constant flow valve of the present invention may be used for any purpose.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a state diagram of a constant flow valve when a water pressure is low in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a single view of the constant flow valve when FIG. 1 is viewed from left to right.

FIG. 3 is a single view of the constant flow valve in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a state diagram of the constant flow valve when the water pressure is high in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a data diagram showing the effect of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a modified structure of the constant flow valve of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Constant flow valve (valve element), 4 ... Cylindrical housing (housing), 4a ... Flow path, 6 ... Filter housing (housing), 9 ... Holding part (housing), 11 ... Communication path (flow path) 12 ... 1 flow path (flow path), 14 ... second flow path (flow path), 15 ... third flow path (flow path), 4a ... flow path, 11 ... communication path (flow path) 12 ... first flow path (flow path) (Flow path), 14 ... second flow path (flow path). 16 ... blocking part.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3H052 AA01 BA25 BA35 CA04 CA18 DA06 EA02 3H059 AA02 BB22 BB40 CA03 CA04 CA20 CD12 EE13 FF02 4D024 AA02 BA02 CA11 DA03 DA05 DB09 4D061 DA03 DB08 EA02 EB39 FA06 GB19 GC19 GB19

Claims (4)

[Claims] A flow path (4a, 11, 12, 14, 15)
The valve body (1) made of a rubber material is elastically deformed by the fluid pressure in the inside, so that the flow paths (4a, 11, 12, 1) are formed.
4, 15) a constant flow valve for adjusting the flow rate of the fluid flowing through the valve body (1) to a side opposite to the side receiving the fluid pressure on the upstream side in the flow direction of the fluid. Projection (1
3) is provided, and the valve element (1) receives the fluid pressure and elastically deforms so that the protrusion (13) is crushed, thereby narrowing the flow path (14). A constant flow valve, wherein the fluid flow rate is adjusted to a constant amount. 2. A flow path (4a, 11, 12, 14, 15).
A valve element (1) made of a rubber material, which is disposed in a housing (4, 6, 9) forming the following, and narrows the flow path area of the flow path (14).
A constant flow valve that adjusts a flow rate of a fluid flowing through the flow path (4a, 11, 12, 14, 15) to a constant amount by elastically deforming the valve body (1) by a fluid pressure. The valve body (1) has a protrusion (1) on the upstream side in the flow direction of the fluid on the side opposite to the side receiving the fluid pressure.
3) is provided, and the valve body (1) receives the fluid pressure so that the protrusion (13) is pressed against the inner wall (9) of the housing (4, 6, 9). A constant flow valve, wherein the fluid flow rate is adjusted to a constant amount by restricting the flow path (14) by elastic deformation. 3. The valve body (1) has a protrusion (1).
On the same side as 3), a restricting portion (16) for preventing elastic deformation of the protrusion (13) until the fluid pressure reaches a predetermined pressure.
The constant flow valve according to claim 1 or 2, wherein is integrally formed. 4. The plurality of projections (13) are provided so as to be arranged in a line, and the portion where the flow path (14) is narrowed is a valley between the plurality of projections (13). Item 4. The constant flow valve according to any one of Items 1 to 3.