JP2007244927A - Water softener - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically terminate regenerating operation by closing a regenerating valve and a drain valve without using an electric power. <P>SOLUTION: The water softener 1 is provided, where a raw water line 3, a soft water line 4, a regenerated liquid supply line 5, and the drain line 6 are connected to a resin accommodating section 2 where an ion exchange resin is accommodated, the regenerating valve 11 and the drain valve 15 are respectively provided at the line 5 and the line 6, wherein a valve controlling mechanism 15 for closing each of the valves 11, 14 opened at the time of regenerating operation start is provided after a predetermined time lapses away since a regenerating operation start. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a water softener that removes the hardness in raw water with an ion exchange resin.

  The soft water device is used in, for example, a water treatment system in a factory or a bathroom in a general household, and supplies raw water from a raw water line to a resin container that contains ion exchange resin, and the hardness component contained in the raw water, that is, Soft water is generated by replacing calcium ions and magnesium ions with sodium ions or potassium ions, and this soft water is supplied from the soft water line.

  By the way, in the water softener, when the ion exchange resin reaches a predetermined amount of treated water, the ion exchange groups are almost saturated with a hardness, and the ion exchange capacity is lost, that is, a breakthrough state. Therefore, in the soft water device, before the ion exchange resin enters a breakthrough state, the ion exchange resin is supplied with salt water in which salts such as sodium chloride and potassium chloride are dissolved in water as a regenerant. A regeneration operation for restoring the ion exchange ability of the exchange resin is performed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

The regeneration operation includes a step of supplying salt water from the regeneration solution supply line to the resin container to restore the ion exchange capacity of the ion exchange resin, that is, a regeneration step, and the regeneration solution supply line from the regeneration solution supply line after passing the salt water. This is performed including a step of supplying cleaning water to the resin container and cleaning the inside of the resin container, that is, a cleaning step. Then, salt water and washing water supplied to the resin container during the regeneration operation, that is, regenerated liquid, are discharged from the resin container through the drain line as reclaimed waste water.
JP 2004-237259 A

  Here, the regeneration operation is started by opening a regeneration valve and a drain valve respectively provided in the regeneration liquid supply line and the drain line, and the valves opened at the start of the regeneration operation are closed. It ends when it completes. At this time, the rotational force of a motor using a battery as a power source is transmitted to the cam mechanism portion, and the valves are closed by the cam mechanism portion. Thus, since the conventional water softener uses a battery, it is necessary to replace the battery periodically, and the electrode of the battery housing part may be corroded or there is a risk of electric leakage. There was a problem with this point.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to automatically close the regeneration operation by closing the regeneration valve and the drain valve without using electric power.

  This invention was made in order to solve the said subject, and the invention of Claim 1 has a raw | natural water line, a soft water line, a regenerated liquid supply line, and a drainage line in the resin storage part which accommodated the ion exchange resin. The soft water device is connected to the regeneration liquid supply line and the drainage line, respectively, and is provided with a regeneration valve and a drainage valve. A valve control mechanism for closing is provided.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 2 is the valve control mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the valve control mechanism according to claim 1 sets a timer unit for setting the closing timing of each valve, and stores the energizing force when the timer unit is set. And a cam mechanism section that closes the valves by an urging force from the accumulator section when the timer section finishes timing.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, after the elapse of a predetermined time from the start of the regeneration operation, each valve opened at the start of the regeneration operation is closed by the valve control mechanism, and the regeneration valve is used without using electric power. In addition, the regeneration operation can be automatically terminated by closing the drain valve.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the opening timing of each of the valves is set by the timer unit, and when the timer unit finishes counting, the accumulator unit stores energy when the timer unit is set. Since each valve is closed by the force, the regeneration operation can be automatically ended by closing the regeneration valve and the drain valve without using electric power.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic flow of a water softening device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a valve control mechanism of the water softening device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of the regenerative valve and the cam mechanism portion of the valve control mechanism shown in FIG. 2, and is an explanatory view showing when the regenerative valve is in a closed state. FIG. 4 shows that the regenerative valve is opened from the state shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state at the time.

  The water softener 1 of this first embodiment is a water softener installed in a bathroom in a general household. The water softener 1 includes a resin container 2 that stores an ion exchange resin (not shown). In the resin container 2, a raw water line 3, a soft water line 4, a regenerated liquid supply line 5, and a drain line 6 are provided. It is connected.

  The raw water line 3 is provided with a water flow valve 7, and by opening the water flow valve 7, raw water from a raw water supply source (not shown) flows through the raw water line 3 and flows into the raw water line 3. It is supplied to the resin container 2.

  The raw water supplied to the resin container 2 becomes soft water in the resin container 2 and is supplied to the soft water line 4. A currant unit 9 and a shower unit 10 are connected to the soft water line 4 via a switching valve 8, and the soft water from the resin storage unit 2 flows from the soft water line 4 to the currant unit 9 or the shower unit. 10 is supplied.

  The regenerated liquid supply line 5 uses regenerated liquid used in the regenerating operation, that is, salt water used in the regenerating process, raw water used as raw water for generating the salt water, and raw water used as cleaning water in the cleaning process. , A line for supplying the resin container 2.

  The regenerated liquid supply line 5 has one end connected to the resin container 2 and the other end connected to the raw water line 3 upstream of the water flow valve 7. And in the said regeneration liquid supply line 5, the regeneration valve 11 and the regeneration agent storage part 12 are provided in this order from the said raw | natural water line 3 side. The regenerant storage unit 12 includes a sealed container 13 containing a salt such as sodium chloride, and the salt in the container 13 is dissolved in the raw water introduced from the raw water line 3 during the regeneration operation. The salt water obtained in step 1 is supplied to the resin container 2. Here, the container 13 contains an amount of salts necessary for one regeneration operation.

  The drainage line 6 is provided with a drainage valve 14. During the regeneration operation, the drainage valve 14 is opened, and salt water and washing water supplied from the regeneration liquid supply line 5 to the resin container 2. Is supposed to be discharged.

  The water softener 1 includes a valve control mechanism 15 that closes the regeneration valve 11 and the drain valve 14 that are opened when the regeneration operation starts after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the regeneration operation.

  The valve control mechanism 15 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the valve control mechanism 15 has the same basic configuration as that disclosed in JP-A-53-49334, and only the outline thereof is shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and the outline configuration will be described in the following description. .

  The valve control mechanism 15 includes a timer unit 16 that sets the closing timing of the valves 11 and 14, a power storage unit 17 that stores a biasing force when the timer unit 16 is set, and a time count of the timer unit 16. And a cam mechanism portion 18 that closes the valves 11 and 14 by an urging force from the energy accumulating portion 17 at the end.

  The timer section 16 includes a timer block 19 containing a first spring (not shown), and a knob 21 for setting a timer is fixed to the tip of the timer shaft 20 derived from the timer block 19. Has been. Further, the first spring is fixed to the timer shaft 20 in the timer block 19, and the first spring is stored as the knob 21 rotates. Further, a timer gear 22 having a part of an engaging claw (not shown) attached to the timer shaft 20 is rotatably mounted, and the timer shaft 20 is positioned at a position corresponding to the engaging claw of the timer shaft 20. A lever cam 24 having a locking portion 23 that can be locked with the engaging claw is fixed.

  The energy storage unit 17 is provided on the first shaft 25 and is engaged with the timer gear 22. The second pinion 28 is provided on the second shaft 27 and is engaged with the first pinion 26. It has. On the first shaft 25, a second spring 29 that is stored with the rotation of the first shaft 25 is fixed.

  The cam mechanism portion 18 includes a cam shaft 30, an open / close gear 31 that meshes with the second pinion 28, a regenerative valve operation cam 32 that opens and closes the valves 11 and 14, and the cam shaft 30. A drain valve operation cam 33 is provided.

  The valve control mechanism 15 includes a speed-regulating rotating body (not shown) and a regulating lever (not shown). The speed-regulating rotating body is provided at a position corresponding to the lever cam 24, and rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the first pinion 26 only when the valves 11 and 14 are closed. The regulating lever engages with the speed-regulating rotating body when the timer unit 16 is set, and regulates the rotation of the first pinion 26. When the timer unit 16 finishes timing, the lever cam 24 controls the regulating lever. The engagement with the fast rotating body can be released.

  Further, the valve control mechanism 15 includes an interlocking gear mechanism (not shown) including a plurality of interlocking gears (not shown), and the governing rotating body is connected to the first pinion 26 via the interlocking gear mechanism. It is designed to rotate in conjunction with the rotation. Among the plurality of interlocking gears, the interlocking gear that meshes with the first pinion 26 is connected to the opening / closing gear 31 when the first pinion 26 is rotated by the stored energy of the second spring 29. An engagement pin (not shown) that can be engaged with an engagement lever that will be described later is provided.

  Here, the cam mechanism 18 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The opening / closing gear 31 has a fan shape, and a tooth 34 that meshes with the second pinion 28 (not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) is formed on the circular arc portion. A pinion detachment recess 35 having no gap is formed. The engagement lever (not shown) is provided on the pinion separation recess 35 side.

  Further, the regeneration valve operation cam 32 has a notch 37 formed in a part of the cam surface 36, and when the push rod 41 described later is positioned in the notch 37 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the valve 11 is closed, as shown in FIG. 4, when the push rod 41 comes out of the notch 37 and is pressed against the cam surface 36, the regeneration valve 11 is opened. It becomes. Here, the drain valve operation cam 33 has the same configuration as the regeneration valve operation cam 32, and the regeneration valve operation cam 32 also operates to open and close the drain valve 14 by the drain valve operation cam 33. Therefore, in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the drain valve operation cam 33 is not shown and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the regeneration valve 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Here, since the drain valve 14 has the same configuration as the regeneration valve 11, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The regeneration valve 11 includes a ball 38, and the ball 38 is in contact with a packing 39 as a valve seat so that the flow path is closed. On the other hand, the flow path is opened when the ball 38 is pushed away from the packing 39 by the push rod 41 inserted into the pipe 40 constituting the regeneration liquid supply line 5. .

  Here, the push rod 41 is supported by the pipe 40 so as to be slidable in the axial direction while being sealed by a seal member (not shown), and a spring (not shown) of the regeneration valve operation cam 32 is supported. The state is biased in the direction.

  Now, in the water softener 1, the regeneration valve 11 and the drain valve 14 are closed when water flows, and the water valve 7 is opened to supply soft water to the currant unit 9 or the shower unit 10. .

  On the other hand, when the regeneration operation is performed, the water flow valve 7 is closed, and the regeneration valve 11 and the drain valve 14 are opened. As a result, raw water, which is raw water for generating salt water, flows from the raw water line 3 through the regenerated liquid supply line 5 and flows into the regenerant storage unit 12, and the salt in the container 13 is supplied by the raw water. Dissolves to produce salt water. And this salt water is supplied to the said resin accommodating part 2 from the said regeneration liquid supply line 5, and a regeneration process is implemented. At this time, the salt water supplied to the resin container 2 is discharged from the drain line 6 as recycled waste water.

  When the salt in the container 13 is completely dissolved, the regeneration process is completed, and the raw water of the raw water line 3 is supplied as cleaning water from the regeneration liquid supply line 5 to the resin container 2 and the cleaning process is performed. . At this time, the raw water supplied to the resin container 2 is discharged from the drain line 6 as reclaimed waste water. Then, as will be described later, from the start of the regeneration operation, when the closing time of the valves 11 and 14 set by the timer unit comes, the valves 11 and 14 are closed and the cleaning process is completed, and the regeneration is performed. Operation ends.

  Here, the operation of the valve control mechanism 15 during the regeneration operation will be described. When starting the regeneration operation, the knob 21 is turned to set the time required for the regeneration operation that combines the regeneration step and the cleaning step, that is, the closing timing of the valves 11 and 14. At this time, when the knob 21 is turned, the timer shaft 20 is rotated to accumulate the first spring (not shown), and the lever cam (not shown) is rotated integrally. The engaging portion (not shown) of the engaging portion engages with the engaging claw (not shown) pivotally attached to the timer gear 22 to rotate the timer gear 22. As the timer gear 22 rotates, the first pinion 26 that meshes with the second gear 29 rotates while accumulating the second spring 29 on the first shaft 25, and further meshes with the first pinion 26. The opening / closing gear 31 rotates through the second pinion 28. As a result, the cam shaft 30 rotates and the cams 32 and 33 rotate, and the push rod 41 resists the spring force of the spring by the cam surface 36 as shown in FIG. When pressed, the ball 38 is pushed, and the valves 11 and 14 are opened. At this time, when the second pinion 28 is disengaged from the teeth 34 and reaches the pinion disengaging recess 35, the second pinion 28 is in an idle state, and the opening / closing gear 31 does not rotate any more, and each of the valves 11 and 14 are kept fully open.

  Here, when the knob 21 is turned to rotate the lever cam 24 to a predetermined position, the regulating lever (not shown) is engaged with the speed-regulating rotating body (not shown) and the first pinion 26 is moved. The rotation is restricted.

  Now, when the closing timing of the valves 11 and 14 is set by the timer unit 16 and the valves 11 and 14 are opened, the lever cam 24 and the knob 21 are rotated by the stored power of the first spring. Start to move. At this time, the first pinion 26 also tries to rotate by the stored energy of the second spring 29, but the rotation of the first pinion 26 is restricted as described above. It is held in the state.

  Then, when the lever cam 24 is rotated to a position where the rotation restriction of the governing rotating body by the restriction lever is released, the time counting of the timer unit 16 is finished, and the set valves 11 and 14 are set. It is the opening time of. At this time, when the rotation restriction of the governing rotating body is released, the first pinion 26 is rotated by the stored power of the second spring 29, and the interlocking gear (not shown) that meshes with the first pinion 26 rotates. To do. Accordingly, the engagement pin (not shown) provided on the interlocking gear engages with an engagement lever (not shown) of the opening / closing gear 31, and the valves 11, 14 are closed in the closing direction. The open / close gear 31 is rotated to mesh the second pinion 28 with the teeth 34. At this time, the second pinion 28 is engaged with the first pinion 26 that is rotated by the stored energy of the second spring 29, and thus the opening and closing gear 31 is rotated by the valves 11,. 14 is rotated in the opening direction. As a result, the regenerative valve operation cam 32 and the drain valve operation cam 33 rotate via the cam shaft 30, and when the notch 37 reaches the position of the push rod 41 as shown in FIG. The push rod 41 falls into the notch 37 by the spring force of the spring, and the valves 11 and 14 are closed.

  According to the soft water device 1 described above, the regeneration operation can be automatically terminated by closing the valves 11 and 14 without using electric power.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic flow of the water softening device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the valve control mechanism of the water softening device shown in FIG. 5 and 6, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those of the water softening device 1 of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the water softening device 50 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, as regeneration valves provided in the regeneration liquid supply line 5, a first regeneration valve 51 and a second regeneration valve are respectively provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the regeneration agent storage unit 12. 52 are provided. In FIG. 6, the cam mechanism section 18 includes a first regeneration valve operation cam 53 and a second regeneration valve operation provided on the camshaft 30 as regeneration valve operation cams for operating the regeneration valves 51 and 52. And a cam 54.

  Here, in the water softening device 50 of the second embodiment, the container 13 of the regenerant storage unit 12 is an open type, and the regenerant supplied to the regenerant storage unit 12 is used as the regenerant. It is comprised so that it may fall from the storage part 12 to the said resin accommodating part 2. FIG. The second regeneration valve 52 is a valve for preventing soft water from flowing from the resin container 2 into the regenerant reservoir 12 when the water softener 1 is passed through.

  In the water softening device 50 according to the second embodiment, when the water flows, the regeneration valves 51 and 52 and the drain valve 14 are closed, and the water valve 7 is opened to allow the currant unit 9 or the Soft water is supplied to the shower unit 10.

  On the other hand, when the regeneration operation is performed, the closing timing of the regeneration valves 51 and 52 and the drain valve 14 is set by turning the knob 21 as in the first embodiment, and the valves 51, 52, and 14 are opened. When the set closing timing is reached, the cams 53, 54, 33 are rotated by the rotation of the opening / closing gear 31 and the valves 51, 52, 14 are rotated, as in the first embodiment. Is closed. Thereby, the effect similar to said 1st embodiment can be acquired.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated by said 1st, 2nd embodiment, this invention is not restricted to each said embodiment, Of course, various changes can be implemented in the range which does not change the main point.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the schematic flow of the water softener of 1st embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the valve control mechanism of the water softener shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a regenerative valve and a cam mechanism portion of the valve control mechanism shown in FIG. 2 when the regenerative valve is in a closed state. It is explanatory drawing when the said regeneration valve opens from the state shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the schematic flow of the water softener of 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the valve control mechanism of the water softening device shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,50 Soft water apparatus 2 Resin accommodating part 3 Raw water line 4 Soft water line 5 Regeneration liquid supply line 6 Drain line 11 Regeneration valve 14 Drain valve 15 Valve control mechanism 16 Timer part 17 Accumulation part 18 Cam mechanism part 51 First regeneration valve ( Regenerative valve)
52 Second regeneration valve (regeneration valve)

Claims (2)

Soft water in which a raw water line, a soft water line, a regenerated liquid supply line, and a drain line are connected to a resin container that stores an ion exchange resin, and a regenerative valve and a drain valve are provided in the regenerated liquid supply line and the drain line, respectively. A device,
A water softener comprising a valve control mechanism for closing each of the valves opened at the start of a regeneration operation after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the regeneration operation.   The valve control mechanism includes: a timer unit that sets the closing timing of each valve; an accumulator unit that accumulates an urging force when the timer unit is set; and from the accumulator unit when the timer unit finishes timing The soft water device according to claim 1, further comprising a cam mechanism portion that closes each valve by an urging force.

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