JP2002292365A - Water cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water cleaner capable of measuring a necessary quantity of water without any meter. SOLUTION: This cleaner is provided with a water quantity display means composed of a rotor that rotates by passing water, a magnet contained in the rotor, a device 26 that detects the number of rotation of the rotor, a control circuit that calculates the quantity of water from the start of water pass at every pass according to the signal from the device 26, a liquid crystal display part 28 that displays the calculated water quantity, and a power source 29 for the device 26, the control circuit, and the liquid display part and optionally provided with a liquid crystal display member displaying the accumulation of the quantities of water used at respective passes of water.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water purifier suitably used at home and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in areas where the quality of tap water is poor, a water purifier is often provided in a kitchen or the like. There is a display that prompts the user to replace the cartridge when the replacement reference is reached.

By the way, cooking often requires a prescribed amount of water. In this case, a measuring instrument such as a measuring cup is used, and once water is poured into the measuring instrument and the amount of water is measured. It is necessary to transfer to a pot or the like. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a measuring instrument separately from a pot or the like and wash it after use, and immediately after pouring water, the water surface is not constant, so once the water surface has settled down, weighing must be performed,
It is time-consuming and complicated. In addition, if more than the desired amount of water is poured during weighing, the excess water must be discarded, wasting water and the capacity of the filter media.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a water purifier capable of easily measuring a required amount of water without using a measuring instrument.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by a water purifier provided with flow rate display means for displaying the flow rate of water passed each time water is passed. It is assumed that.

Here, the flow rate display means detects that the flow rate is automatically initialized after a lapse of a predetermined time after the completion of the flow of water, and detects the rotor rotated by the flow of water and the number of rotations of the rotor. And a display member that calculates and displays the flow rate based on the detected rotation speed.

[0007] The water purifier further includes a raw water flow path, a purified water flow path, a filter medium provided to communicate with the purified water flow path, and a flow of the raw water flowing into the raw water flow path as it is or to the purified water flow path. It has a flow path switching valve provided with a water stopping mechanism together with a mechanism for selectively switching whether to pass water, and operating means for operating the flow path switching valve, and the flow rate display means is operated from the water stopping state by the operating means. It is preferable to display the flow rate of the water that has flowed from the start to the end of the flow of water. It is preferable to display the flow rate.

[0008] The water stopping mechanism referred to here may be any mechanism that can substantially stop the passage of water, and includes a mode in which a small amount of water is leaking.

Then, for any of the above water purifiers,
It is preferable to include a hollow fiber membrane and that the flow rate display means include a liquid crystal display member. In addition, it is preferable to provide a means for integrating the flow rate of water flow each time, and to display a message for promoting the replacement of the cartridge when the integrated value reaches a value equivalent to the life of the cartridge. In this case,
The display that promotes cartridge replacement is an LED display,
It is more preferable that the flow rate of water per time is displayed on the LCD. Furthermore, it is preferable that the flow rate display means digitally displays one flow rate.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a water purifier showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main body part of the water purifier of FIG. FIG.
It is another longitudinal sectional view of the water purifier of FIG. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the filtration cartridge.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, for example, the water purifier of the present invention includes a main body 1 for switching a flow path, and a main body 1
And a flow rate display means for accumulating and displaying the flow rate of the water used each time when the water is passed once.

The main body 1 is connected to a raw water inlet 5 which is connected to a water tap to receive raw water, a raw water outlet (raw water straight port 19, raw water shower port 17) for directly flowing out the received raw water, and to the filtration unit 2. The apparatus includes a raw water supply port 9, a purified water receiving port 11 for receiving purified water from the filtration unit 2, a flow path switching valve 30 for switching a selected flow path, a switching lever 4 for operating the flow path switching valve 30, and the like. In addition, the main body 1 has a liquid crystal display 2 for displaying the integrated flow rate from the start of water supply for each water supply.
8 and a selected flow path display window (not shown) for displaying a selected flow path such as a raw water straight, a raw water shower, and purified water.

The flow rate display means is provided in a pipe 23 from the purified water receiving port 11 to the purified water outlet 20 and rotates by the flow of water, a magnet 25 inserted in the rotor, Detector 26 for detecting rotation
A control circuit 27 for calculating a flow rate from the start of water flow for each water flow from a signal of the detector 26, a liquid crystal display section 28 for displaying the calculated flow rate, a detector 26, a control circuit 27, and a liquid crystal display section. And a power source 29 for the filter 28, and is configured to integrate and display the flow rate of the water treated by the filter medium.

Next, the filtration unit 2 accommodates the filtration cartridge shown in FIG. 4, and connects the raw water supply port 9 of the main body 1 to the raw water reception port 10 of the filtration cartridge. And the purified water supply port 50 of the filtration cartridge are connected to each other.

[0015] As shown in FIG.
An adsorbent 21 for adsorbing and removing chlorine odor and the like in the received raw water and a hollow fiber membrane bundle 2 for filtering bacteria and the like are placed in a container 32.
2 are stored. A plurality of hollow fiber membranes are bundled, bent in an inverted U-shape, and housed in a cylindrical body 33, and both ends of the hollow fiber membrane are
3, between the hollow fiber membranes and between the hollow fiber membrane and the cylindrical body 33
Is sealed and fixed (potting) by the curable resin 37 (sealant) filled between the two.

The potting portion of each hollow fiber membrane is partially cut and removed before it is fitted into the container 32, so that the end is open toward the purified water supply port 50. In addition, cylindrical body 3
Activated carbon, zeolite,
Adsorbent 21 made of ion exchange resin, chelate resin, etc.
Has been deployed.

A cylindrical projection 32a is formed on the inner bottom surface of the container 32, and the lower end of the cylindrical body 33 is inserted and erected through an O-ring 34. Ring-shaped filters 35 and 36 for holding the adsorbent layer 21 for treating the raw water passing between the surface and the inner wall surface of the container 32 are fixed. The container 32
The upper part is opened so that the hollow fiber membrane bundle 22 and the adsorbent can be easily filled, and a transparent cap 38 is fitted so that the degree of contamination of the hollow fiber membrane can be easily seen from the outside.

In the water purifier of the present invention, the tap water (raw water) flowing into the main body 1 through the raw water inflow port 5 from the water tap is operated by the operation of the switching lever 4 so that the straight water which is not purified is obtained. (Raw water straight), unpurified shower water (raw water shower), or purified water discharged from the purified water outlet 20 through the filtration unit 2 from the raw water supply port 9 and discharged. At this time, the state of the discharged water (raw water straight, raw water shower, purified water) is displayed in the selected flow path display window.

The raw water supplied to the filtration unit 2 by the operation of the switching lever 4 of the main body 1 removes chlorine, lead and the like when passing through an adsorbent 21 made of activated carbon, zeolite, ion exchange resin, chelate resin or the like. After that, the hollow fiber membrane bundle 2
Bacteria and the like are filtered by 2 and discharged from the purified water outlet 20 through the purified water supply port 50, the purified water receiving port 11, and the pipe 23.

At this time, the purified water passing through the pipe 23 is supplied to the rotor 2
Rotate 4. As a result, the magnetic flux density of the magnet 25 provided inside the rotor 24 changes. Therefore, the change in the magnetic flux density, that is, the rotation of the rotor 24 is detected by the detector 26 and a signal is transmitted to the control circuit 27. The control circuit 27 counts the number of rotations of the rotor 24 based on the signal transmitted from the detector 26, and uses the counted number of rotations and the water amount per one rotation of the rotor 24 which is input in advance to use the number of times. The calculated flow rate of the water is calculated, and the flow rate is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 28.

The liquid crystal display unit 28 and the control circuit 27 are configured to be automatically reset and return to the initial state after a predetermined time, for example, about 3 to 5 seconds, has elapsed after the completion of water passage. When the water flow is started again, the flow rate is calculated and displayed from the initialized state. When the water supply is started again within the predetermined time, the control circuit 27 and the liquid crystal display unit 28 are not reset, so that the number of revolutions of the rotor 24 is continuously counted and the flow rate is displayed. That is, after the completion of water passage, the flow rate is calculated and stored in the control circuit 27 within a predetermined time, and when the filtered water is passed again within the predetermined time, it is added to the stored flow rate.

As described above, in the present invention, the flow rate display means displays the flow rate of the water passed each time when the water is passed, so that the specified amount of water used for cooking or cooking is used. Can be measured very easily without using other cooking utensils and the like, which is time efficient. In addition, there is no need for trouble such as cleaning the utensils, which is required when using the utensils. Also, if the configuration is such that the initialization is performed after the elapse of a predetermined time, even if the faucet is closed at the time when the amount of water is less than the desired amount, if the faucet is opened again and added to obtain purified water, The total amount of water can be known, and a delicate additional adjustment of the amount of water can be easily performed.

Next, the flow path switching valve 30 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the flow path switching valve 30 includes balls (valve elements) 7a to 7c and cams 6a to 6c that move the balls 7a to 7c to open and close the respective water passages. A valve shaft 16 is provided. The valve shaft 16 is configured to operate in response to rotation of the switching lever 4 in only one direction by a ratchet mechanism or the like, and the switching lever 4 rotated in one direction is automatically moved to the initial position. It is preferable to provide a torsion coil spring or the like at the support point of the switching lever 4 so as to return. Further, a display ring which is switched with rotation of the switching lever 4 in only one direction is provided (not shown). The display ring is configured to be visible through the selected channel display window. The rotation of the switching lever 4 is transmitted to the valve shaft 16 by the driving gear 14 and the spur gear 15, and transmitted to the display ring by the driving gear 14.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the raw water is filtered by the filtration unit 2 and discharged as purified water. The cam unit 6a pushes up the ball 7a to open the water passage to the filtration unit 2 and the raw water. The water passage to the straight mouth and the water passage to the raw water shower mouth are closed by balls 7b and 7c. Therefore, the raw water flowing into the water purifier flows to the filtration unit 2 and is purified. At this time, “purified water” is displayed on the display ring that can be seen through the selected flow path display window.

Next, when the switching lever-4 is rotated from this state, the valve shaft 16 is rotated with the rotation of the switching lever 4, and the cam 6c is turned upward instead of the cam 6a, and Push up 7c. Thereby, the water passage communicating with the filtration unit 2 is closed, and the water passage communicating with the raw water shower port is opened. As a result, the raw water is discharged from the raw water shower port 17. At this time, “shower” is displayed on the display ring that can be seen through the selected flow path display window.

When the finger is released from the switching lever-4, the switching lever-4 is released.
4 rotates in the opposite direction due to the restoring force of the torsion coil spring,
Return to the initial position and stop. At this time, the drive gear 14, the display ring, and the valve shaft 16 connected via the ratchet mechanism do not rotate.

When the switching lever-4 is pressed again, the display ring rotates as described above, and at the same time, the valve shaft 16 rotates, so that the cam 6b faces upward instead of the cam 6c, and pushes up the ball 7b. Thereby, the water passage communicating with the raw water shower opening is closed, and the water passage communicating with the raw water straight opening is opened. As a result, the raw water is discharged from the raw water straight port 19. At this time, “raw water” is displayed on the display ring viewed from the selection display member.

The switching lever 4 may be of a both-ends support type or a one-ends support type. The switching mechanism of the selected flow path may be any mechanism such as a one-way clutch in addition to a ratchet mechanism.

The present invention can be modified as shown in FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a water purifier showing another embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the main body 101 of the water purifier shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the flow measurement unit 112 shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a flow switching valve 111 shown in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the state of the switching lever 130 at the time of the switching operation corresponding to FIG.

The water purifier shown in FIG. 5 comprises a main body 101 and a filtration section 102. The main body 101 has a flow path switching valve 111, a switching lever 130 for operating the flow path switching valve 111, a flow rate Flow rate measuring unit 112 constituting a display means,
A control circuit 113, a display unit 115, a battery holder 114 for holding a battery serving as a power supply, a reset button 116 of the control circuit 113, and the like are provided. In addition, 10
1 is provided with a measurement switch so that flow path measurement can be performed when desired. The measurement switch is fixed to the main body 101 via a spring, and the switching lever 130 pressed by hand abuts on the measurement switch and contracts the spring to be turned on. The switching lever 130 is configured to be turned off when the switching lever 130 starts returning due to the restoring force.

The flow path switching valve 111 includes a switching lever 130,
Valve shaft 131, ball (valve element) 132a, 132b, 13
2c. The valve shaft 131 is rotated by the rotation operation of the switching lever 130, and the cam portions 133a to 133d provided on the valve shaft 131 are moved in the same manner as in the previous embodiment.
One of the balls 132a, 132b, 132c is pushed up, and the corresponding raw water straight, raw water shower, or purified water flow path is opened.

In this embodiment, the switching lever 130
Even if the valve shaft 131 is rotated by the cam, the cam is not pushed up at a predetermined position, that is, the water is stopped, and the flow rate of the purified water is measured at another predetermined position. Part is provided. Hereinafter, a specific description will be given.

As shown in FIG. 8, cam portions 133a to 133d are provided at, for example, four positions on the valve shaft 131, and three of the positions (cam portions 133a to 133c) are shifted in phase by 72 ° and the remaining one is shifted. The place (133d) is one point from the cam part 133c.
08 ° offset.

Therefore, the switching lever 130 is rotated,
When the position is set to the “raw water straight” as shown in FIG. 9A, the cam portion 133 as shown in FIG.
c pushes up the ball 132c, and the raw water flows out straight as it is. At this time, the other flow path is the ball 13
It is closed by 2a, b.

Subsequently, when the switching lever 130 is rotated by 72 ° to adjust the position of the “raw water shower” as shown in FIG. 9B, the cam portion 13 is moved as shown in FIG.
3b pushes up the ball 132b, and the raw water flows out like a shower. At this time, the other flow paths are balls 132a, c
Has been closed by.

Further, when the switching lever 130 is rotated by 72 ° to adjust the position of the “purified water” as shown in FIG. 9C, the cam 133a is moved to the ball position as shown in FIG. Since the water purification channel is opened by pushing up the water 132a, the raw water is guided to the filtration unit 102, purified as described in the previous embodiment, and taken out as purified water. At this time,
The other channels are closed by balls 132b and 132c.

The above is the method of use when the amount of water used is not measured.

Next, a description will be given of a case in which the amount of water, particularly the amount of water used in this embodiment, is measured.

The switching lever 130 is further rotated by 72 ° in the same direction from the state shown in FIG. 9C, and is once adjusted to the “water stop” position as shown in FIG. 9D. At this time, ball 1
Since 32a to 132c are not pushed up by any of the cam parts 133a to 133c as shown in FIG. 8D, all the flow paths of the raw water shower, the raw water straight, and the purified water are closed. Therefore, the water is stopped as a water purifier.

When the switching lever 130 is further rotated by 36 ° from this state, as shown in FIG. 9E, the switching lever 130 comes into contact with a measurement switch 134 provided on the main body 101 via a spring 135. Touch When the switching lever 130 is kept in contact with the measurement switch, the cam portion 133d moves the ball 132a as shown in FIG.
To open the purified water flow path, guide the raw water to the filtration unit 102, purify it, and flow out. Other channels are balls 132b, 1
Since it is closed by 32c and the state where the spring 135 is contracted is maintained, the purified water flow rate is measured. When you release your hand from the switching lever 130 after obtaining the required amount of purified water,
The switching lever 130 automatically returns to the “water stop” position by the restoring force of the spring 135, and the outflow of the purified water is stopped and the flow measurement is finished.

The flow rate of the purified water is measured by a flow rate measuring unit 1 shown in FIG.
12 measured. This is because the raw water is
A magnet 121 embedded in the rotor 121, a rotor 121
And a reed switch (detector) 123 provided on the outer periphery of the pipeline and near the rotor 121 to detect the rotation of the pipe.

When the raw water is guided to the filtration unit 102, the rotor 121 rotates by the water flow, and the magnet 122 also rotates integrally therewith. As a result, the magnetic flux density near the rotor 121 changes, so that the reed switch 123 is turned on.
Repeat / OFF. ON / O of reed switch 123
The FF signal (pulse signal (p)) is sent to the control circuit 113 via a lead wire. The control circuit 113 counts the number of times the reed switch is turned ON / OFF (integrated pulse P), converts this to a flow rate (flow rate conversion Q), and if the measurement switch 134 is ON, this converted value is calculated. Send to display unit 115. ON of the counted reed switch
The number of times / OFF is automatically initialized after a predetermined time elapses after the completion of water flow (P = 0, Q = 0).

The measurement result of the flow rate is transmitted to the control circuit 11.
3 and are sequentially integrated (integrated flow rate S). When this integrated value reaches the cartridge replacement guide provided in the filtering unit 102, a signal for turning on the cartridge replacement sign is sent from the control circuit 113 to the display unit 115.
The integrated value stored in the control circuit 113 is reset by pressing the reset button 116 after replacing the cartridge (P = 0, Q = 0, S = 0).

A series of operations as described above is performed, for example, in FIG.
Is controlled by an algorithm program as shown in FIG.

The display unit 115 includes an LED 151 for indicating a cartridge replacement guide and an LCD 152 for indicating a purified water flow rate.
And an LED 153 for a battery exchange sign, and the LCD 152 for displaying the purified water flow rate is preferably a color liquid crystal with a backlight and digitally displaying the purified water flow rate. These display functions may be displayed visually or by a buzzer, voice, or the like, if necessary, or a combination of visual display and auditory display may be used.

The battery holder 114 holds a battery inside and supplies power to the control circuit 113 and the display unit 115.
As a battery, a button-type lithium battery is preferably used for miniaturization, but a rechargeable battery such as used in a mobile phone or a household outlet may be used as a power source.

Further, the present invention can be modified as follows. (1) In the embodiment described above, the flow rate of the purified water treated by the filter medium is displayed. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which a rotor is provided near the raw water inlet and water is detected in the raw water channel so that the flow rate of the used water is integrated and displayed for each water. (2) In the above embodiment, the switching valve uses a ball for the valve body. However, a switching valve in which a rubber packing or an O-ring is mounted on the rotating shaft may be used. (3) Any display device such as a mechanical counter type can be used for the liquid crystal display unit in the above embodiment.

[0049]

As described above, the water purifier of the present invention displays the flow rate of the water passed each time when the water is passed each time. The amount of water can be measured very easily without using other cooking utensils and the like, and is time efficient. Further, it is possible to reduce the trouble such as cleaning of the utensils required when using the utensils. Furthermore, if it is configured to initialize after the elapse of a predetermined time, even if the faucet is closed at the time when the amount of water is less than the desired amount, if the faucet is opened again and added to obtain purified water, The total amount of water can be known, and a delicate additional adjustment of the amount of water can be easily performed.

Further, a flow path switching valve provided with a water stopping mechanism,
Operating means for operating the flow path switching valve, and when the operating means is configured to display the flow rate of the water flowing from the water stoppage state to the start and end of water flow, the operating means Thus, the flow of water can be stopped easily, and the operation of starting and ending the flow measurement can be linked with the movement of the operation means, so that a desired amount of water can be obtained by a simple operation. Further, since the water is caused to flow out of the water stopping state by the operation means and the flow rate is measured, the water and the filter medium can be accurately measured without waste.

In particular, when a lever is used as the operating means, it can be operated with one hand despite simple structure, and the operability is good. Further, when the switching lever is automatically returned to the "water stop" position by a spring or the like, the water can be stopped simply by releasing the hand from the spring, thereby preventing excess water from flowing more reliably. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a water purifier according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of the water purifier shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line YY of the water purifier shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a filtration cartridge to be loaded into the water purifier of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a water purifier showing another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional view of a main body 101 of the water purifier shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the flow rate measurement unit 112 shown in FIG.

8 is a schematic diagram showing a state at the time of a switching operation of the flow path switching valve 111 shown in FIG.

9 shows a switching lever 130 at the time of the switching operation corresponding to FIG.
It is a schematic diagram which shows the state of.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an algorithm relating to flow measurement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: body part 2: filtration part 4: switching lever 5: raw water inflow port 6a-6c: cam part 7a-7c: ball (valve element) 8a-8c: water passage 9: raw water supply port 10: raw water receiving port 11: Purified water receiving port 13: Display ring 14: Driving gear 15: Spur gear 16: Valve shaft 17: Raw water shower port 19: Raw water straight port 20: Purified water outlet 21: Adsorbent 22: Hollow fiber membrane bundle 23: Pipe line 24: Rotor 25: Magnet 26: Detector 27: Control circuit 28: Liquid crystal display unit 29: Power supply 30: Flow path switching valve unit 32: Container 32 a: Cylindrical projection 33: Cylindrical body 34: O-ring 35: Filter 36: Filter 37 : Curable resin 38: Transparent cap 50: Purified water supply port 101: Main body section 102: Filtration section 111: Flow path switching valve 112: Flow rate measurement section 113: Control circuit 1 4: Battery holder 115: Display unit 116: Reset button 121: Rotor 122: Magnet 123: Reed switch 130: Switching lever 131: Valve shaft 132a to 132c: Ball (valve element) 133a to 133c: Cam unit 134: Measurement switch 135 : Spring 151: LED for indication of cartridge replacement 152: LCD for water purification flow display 153: LED for battery replacement sign

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2F030 CA01 CC02 CE22 CE25 CG01 CG09 2F041 AA00 4D006 GA07 HA03 HA19 HA91 HA95 JA63Z JA70A KA01 KB12 KE03P KE22Q MA01 PA01 PB24 PC52 4D024 AA02 AB11 BA02 BA07 BA17 BA05 DB05 CA04 DA05 AA10 CC08 EE05 EE25 JJ06 JJ07 KK19

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A water purifier comprising flow rate display means for displaying a flow rate of water passed each time when water is passed once. 2. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate display means is automatically initialized after a lapse of a predetermined time after the completion of the water flow. 3. The flow rate display means includes a rotor that rotates by passing water, a detector that detects the number of rotations of the rotor, and a display member that calculates and displays a flow rate based on the detected number of rotations. The water purifier according to claim 1. 4. A raw water flow path, a purified water flow path, a filter medium provided to communicate with the purified water flow path, and whether raw water flowing into the raw water flow path or water is passed through the purified water flow path. A flow switching valve provided with a water shutoff mechanism together with a mechanism for selectively switching, and operating means for operating the flow switching valve, the flow rate display means starts water flow from the water stop state by the operating means. The water purifier according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the flow rate of the water flowing until the end is displayed. 5. The operating means comprises a lever.
The water purifier described in 1. 6. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate display means displays a flow rate of the purified water treated by the filter medium. 7. A method comprising a hollow fiber membrane.
The water purifier according to any one of the above. 8. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein said flow rate display means includes a liquid crystal display member. 9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising means for integrating the flow rate of water flow each time, and displaying an indication for promoting replacement of the cartridge when the integrated value reaches a value corresponding to the life of the cartridge. Water purifier. 10. An indication for promoting replacement of the cartridge is LE.
D display, and the water flow rate per time is LCD display.
The water purifier according to claim 9. 11. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate display means digitally displays one flow rate.