JP2001079540A - Water cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water cleaner automatically stopping the use before the term of use, being high in the safety, having a simple structure and being inexpensive. SOLUTION: This water cleaning device is provided with a water cleaner 1 having a cartridge 1b provided in the inside of a housing 1a, a water intake port 1c provided at the upper part of the housing 1a and feeding city water, and a water takeout port 1d that cleaned water passed through the cartridge 1b is discharged, an inlet piping 2 connected with the water intake port 1c of the water cleaner 1, and an outlet piping 3 connected with the water takeout port 1d of the water cleaner 1. Also, this device is provided with a valve mechanism 6 consisting of a branching pipe 4 connecting between the inlet piping 2 and the outlet piping 3, or between the water intake port 1c and the water takeout port 1d, a cylindrical bellows 5 provided in the branching piping 4 and closed the one side end, and a valve mechanism 6 consisting of a valve 6a provided at the outside of one side end of the bellows 5 and a valve base 6b provided in the outlet piping 3, and a pressure adjusting means 7 for adjusting a position of the bellows 5 so as to close the valve mechanism 6 at the time of prescribed pressure difference.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water purification apparatus having a function of automatically stopping water discharge when the treatment capacity of the purified water reaches a limit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows an example of a so-called "undersink water purifier" which is installed under a sink among water purifiers usually used in ordinary households. In the figure, 1 is a water purifier, 1a is a housing, 1b is a cartridge, 1c is a water inlet, 1d is a water outlet, 2 is an inlet pipe, 3
Is an outlet pipe, 8 is a water tap, and 9 is a switching cock. When the water tap 8 is opened and the cock switch 9 is switched to the water purifier 1 side, the tap water enters the housing 1a via the inlet pipe 2, and the suspended matter is removed by the pleated filter 1ba located at the outermost layer of the cartridge 1b. The purified water from which free chlorine, odorous substances, trihalomethane and the like are removed by the activated carbon 1bb filled therein is discharged from the outlet pipe 3. Further, there is a cartridge using a hollow fiber membrane in the cartridge 1b or a cartridge in which silver is added to activated carbon and gradually eluted to prevent contamination by microorganisms.

[0003]

However, as shown in FIG. 5, an example of the ability of the cartridge to remove substances is shown in FIG.
The time during which the filtering ability of the filter medium such as activated carbon and a filter membrane is continued differs for each substance to be filtered or for each function added to the filter medium. FIG. 5 shows a 15 m ³ undersink water purifier using activated carbon impregnated with filter media and a static pressure of 50% tap water.
This is a result of passing water at 0 kPa and an initial flow rate of 5 liter / min. In this example, when the accumulated water flow reaches about 20 m ³ ,
The trihalomethane removal rate is 0 or less, that is, the concentration on the outlet side is higher than the concentration on the inlet side. In addition, elution of silver attached to activated carbon for the purpose of preventing microbial contamination is completely stopped, and thereafter, bacteria are detected in the treated water. However, even at this point, the ability to remove free chlorine is sufficient, and the flow rate has dropped to only about 2 liters / minute. You may not even notice. In addition, the water purifier manufacturer sets the product life of the filtration cartridge according to the filtration life of the substance which is most difficult to remove among the substances to be removed, and specifies the expiration date. However, in actual use, as long as the water is discharged from the water purifier, there is a possibility that the water will continue to be used even after the end of its life. In the case where the hollow fiber membrane is used as the filter medium, the pressure loss of the cartridge suddenly increases from a certain point during continuous use, and the amount of filtered water decreases. Could be destroyed. When destroyed, microorganisms staying inside the water purifier may be mixed in the filtered water.

[0004] As described above, there is no water purifier currently available on the market that has taken effective measures against the above problems. Of course, it is technically easy to limit the amount of water used by incorporating an integrating flow meter and a solenoid valve,
Since electric power is used, it is not practical in terms of cost. Therefore, the present invention provides a simple and inexpensive water purification device that can stop water purification automatically without the user knowing the expiration date of the water purifier, has high hygiene safety without the propagation of microorganisms, and has a simple structure. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a cartridge provided inside a housing, a water inlet provided at an upper portion of the housing and supplied with tap water, and a cartridge passing through the cartridge. In a water purifier having a water purifier having a water outlet through which purified water is sent, an inlet pipe connected to an inlet of the water purifier, and an outlet pipe connected to a water outlet of the water purifier, A branch pipe connecting between an inlet pipe and the outlet pipe or between the water inlet and the water inlet / outlet, a cylindrical bellows provided in the branch pipe and having one end closed, and one end of the bellows; A valve mechanism comprising a valve provided outside the valve and a valve seat provided in the outlet pipe, and pressure adjusting means for adjusting the position of the bellows so that the valve mechanism closes when a predetermined pressure difference is reached. West There. Further, the pressure adjusting means may be constituted by a spindle, a screw and a spring.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a water purification apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 4 is a branch pipe, 5 is a bellows, 6 is a valve mechanism, 6a is a valve, 6b is a valve seat, 7 is a pressure adjusting mechanism, 7a is a screw, 7b is a spindle, and 7c is a spring. The other reference numerals are the same as those described in the related art, and thus are omitted. The cartridge 1b comprises a pleated filter 1ba and activated carbon 1bb as in the conventional example. The branch pipe 4 connects between the inlet pipe 2 and the outlet pipe 3. The bellows 5 is made of stainless steel or plastic and has a cylindrical shape with one end closed. The bellows 5 expands and contracts in the axial direction due to internal pressure, but does not easily expand in the radial direction. The bellows 5 is inserted into the branch pipe 4, the open side is fixed toward the inlet pipe 2, and the closed side is assembled toward the outlet pipe 3.
The valve mechanism 6 is composed of a valve 6a fixed to the closed side of the bellows 5, a valve seat 6b provided in the outlet pipe 3, and assembled. The pressure adjusting mechanism 7 pushes a closed end face of the bellows 5 through a threaded pipe wall of the inlet pipe 2 with a spindle 7a having a threaded portion. The screw 7b is fixed to the spindle 7a protruding out of the inlet pipe 2, and a return spring 7c is provided in a closed portion of the bellows 5. Although the screw 7b is used as a means for setting the initial position of the valve 6a, any other mechanism may be used as long as the mechanism can move the spindle 7a, or the screw 7b may be removed after setting so that the initial position cannot be changed. May be fixed to the spindle 7a.
The position of the bellows 5 was adjusted and fixed by the pressure adjusting mechanism 7 so that the valve mechanism including the valve 6a and the seat 6b was substantially "closed" when the pressure loss became about 500 kPa.

FIG. 2 shows the characteristics of the valve mechanism 6 including the valve 6a and the valve seat 6b. As can be seen from this, the valve mechanism 6 is equivalent to a general-purpose valve, and the relationship between the movement distance of the valve position and the flow rate change is non-linear. Therefore, the valve 6a
While the distance between the valve and the valve seat 6b is more than a certain distance, the flow rate does not change much with the change of the distance. On the other hand, the bellows 5 and the spring 7c of the pressure adjusting mechanism 7 expand and contract substantially linearly depending on the magnitude of the pressure loss on the inlet side and the outlet side.

Now, tap water is supplied from the inlet pipe 2 with a static pressure of 500.
Water was passed at an initial flow rate of 5 liters per minute at kPa. Tap water enters the housing 1a of the water purifier 1 and the pleated filter 1ba located at the outermost layer of the cartridge 1b.
To remove free chlorine, odorous substances, trihalomethane, and the like with activated carbon 1bb filled inside, and discharge as purified water at outlet pipe 3. When the usage time of the water purifier elapses, fine suspended substances contained in the tap water are captured by the pleated filter 1ba and the activated carbon 1bb. The difference (hereinafter referred to as “pressure loss”) gradually increases. As the pressure loss increases, the valve 6a at the time of water flow approaches the valve seat 6b, and finally closes the valve seat 6b to stop water flow.

FIG. 3 shows the results when tap water was passed through the test machine adjusted in this manner at an initial flow rate of 5 liters per minute under a static pressure of 500 kPa. According to this result,
Begins to fall from around the integrated communication amount of water is too much about 13m ³ to sudden flow rate is approximately the flow rate becomes zero at about 18m ^3. As the performance of the activated carbon at the final time point, the removal rate of trihalomethane is almost 0, but it still has some adsorption ability. Furthermore, silver impregnated on activated carbon remains for the purpose of preventing microbial contamination, and no most fungi were detected in the purified water until the end of the test. As described above, the water purifier according to the present invention has a function of forcibly preventing a user from using the water purifier beyond its expiration date. In this embodiment, the branch pipe 4 is provided between the outlet pipe and the inlet pipe, but may be provided between the water inlet 1c and the water outlet 1d of the water purifier. Further, the branch pipe 4 may be made of a transparent material so that the position of the bellows 5, that is, the pressure difference can be visually confirmed.

[0010]

As described above, the present invention has an outlet pipe connected to a water outlet of a water purifier, a branch pipe branched from the inlet pipe and connected to the outlet pipe, and a predetermined pressure difference. A valve mechanism that closes the water channel of the outlet pipe under pressure and pressure adjustment means that adjusts the pressure to a predetermined pressure difference. There is an effect that a simple and inexpensive water purifier can be stopped without any problems in hygiene such as propagation of microorganisms and has high safety.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a water purification device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram of a relative flow rate with respect to an opening degree of a valve of the water purification device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing a purification ability using the water purification device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a conventional water purification device.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing a purification ability using a conventional water purification device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Water purifier 1a: Housing 1b: Cartridge 1c: Water inlet 1d: Water outlet 2: Inlet piping 3: Outlet piping 4: Branch pipe 5: Bellows 6: Valve mechanism 6a: Valve 6b: Valve seat 7: Pressure adjustment mechanism 7a : Spindle 7b: Screw 7c: Spring 8: Water tap 9: Switching cock

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A water purifier having a cartridge provided inside a housing, a water inlet provided at an upper portion of the housing and supplied with tap water, and a water outlet provided with purified water passing through the cartridge. In a water purification apparatus comprising an inlet pipe connected to an inlet of the water purifier, and an outlet pipe connected to an outlet of the water purifier, between the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe or in front of the water inlet. A branch pipe connecting between the entry water outlet, a cylindrical bellows provided in the branch pipe and having one end closed, a valve provided outside one end of the bellows, and a valve provided in the outlet pipe A water purification apparatus comprising: a valve mechanism including a seat; and pressure adjusting means for adjusting a position of the bellows so that the valve mechanism closes when a predetermined pressure difference is reached. 2. The water purification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pressure adjusting means comprises a spindle, a screw and a spring.