JP2009241064A - Cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact and high-performance cartridge for purifying water. <P>SOLUTION: The cartridge includes a cylindrical container having an inlet for a fluid to be treated and a cylindrical member housed inside the container, wherein the inlet is provided in a portion located at one end with respect to the axial direction of the container and located in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction. The cartridge further includes: a granular filter medium disposed between the side surface of the container and the side surface of the cylindrical member; and a distribution part for the fluid to be treated which is provided with a ringlike filter medium and disposed between the side surface of the container and the side surface of the cylindrical member and upstream of the granular filter medium. The ringlike filter medium is made by winding a long filter medium with an ion-exchangeability in stacked layers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a cartridge for purifying water.

  Interest in the safety of tap water has been rapidly increasing, and the demand for water purifiers has become more sophisticated. Attention has been focused not only on removing foreign substances such as residual chlorine odors, trace organic compounds, and dust in tap water, but also on the ability to remove heavy metals such as lead dissolved in tap water. Examples of the cartridge capable of removing heavy metals such as lead include a cartridge using granular activated carbon and a granular ion exchanger, and a cartridge using a granular filter medium and a fibrous filter medium having ion exchange ability (see, for example, Patent Document 1). It is done. However, in the cartridge described in Patent Document 1, when a granular filter medium and a fibrous filter medium having ion exchange capacity are incorporated in a container of a predetermined size, the fibrous filter medium is oriented in the water flow direction. Therefore, there is a risk that the contact between the filter medium and the water to be treated may be insufficient or a short pass may occur, and there is a problem that high performance cannot be exhibited for the amount of filter medium stored. It was. That is, it was difficult to make a small and high-performance cartridge.

  Moreover, as a cartridge, the cartridge (for example, refer patent document 2) which used the ring-shaped fibrous activated carbon for the member which regulates the position of a granular adsorbent is mentioned. However, in this cartridge, the inlet of the water to be treated is provided at one end of the container in the axial direction and at a part in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction. In order to supply uniformly, a space is provided on the upstream side of the filter medium, and it has been necessary to increase the size in order to improve the removal performance.

  Furthermore, a cartridge using a fibrous filter medium including ion exchange fibers formed in a roll shape (see Patent Document 3) is known. However, in the cartridge described in Patent Document 3, the roll-shaped fibrous filter medium is installed on the downstream side of the granular activated carbon and has an inlet provided at the end of the peripheral side surface of the inner case (hollow fiber membrane storage case). Since it is installed so as to close, water may flow through various paths in the fibrous filter medium, but it is concentrated in the vicinity of the inner circumference of the fibrous filter medium (inner case circumferential side surface) with the least pressure loss. Since it flows in a drift, there is a problem that the fibrous filter medium is enlarged to obtain a predetermined removal capability.

JP 2005-238187 A JP 2002-177951 A JP 2004-305996 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a small and high-performance cartridge.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cartridge having a cylindrical container having an inlet for a fluid to be processed, and a cylindrical member housed in the container. It is provided at one end of the container in the axial direction and at a part of the container in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and there is a particulate filter medium between the side surface of the container and the side surface of the cylindrical member. And a portion for distributing the fluid to be treated provided with a ring-shaped filter medium between the side surface of the container and the side surface of the tubular member and upstream of the granular filter medium, The ring-shaped filter medium is characterized by a cartridge in which long filter media having ion exchange ability are wound and laminated in layers. Here, the ring-shaped filter medium preferably expands 5 to 30% in the radial direction when taken out from the cartridge. Furthermore, the water purifier provided with these cartridges and the flow path switching valve is also preferable.

  In the present invention, “one end part in the axial direction of the container and a part in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction” means on one axial end face of the container or on the end part of the container side surface. And a part of a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction.

  According to the present invention, on the upstream side of the granular filter medium, by arranging a ring-shaped filter medium in which a long filter medium having ion exchange capacity is wound and laminated in layers, a cartridge that exhibits the removal ability by a plurality of filter media, In addition, the inlet of the water to be treated is a cartridge provided at one end in the axial direction of the container and in a part in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction. The water to be treated can be distributed to the filter medium without providing a substantial space for distributing the water to be treated between the inlet and the particulate filter medium. Therefore, a small and high-performance cartridge and a water purifier can be obtained.

  Further, in the present invention, when the ring-shaped filter medium expands 5 to 30% in the radial direction when taken out from the cartridge, it can stably exhibit high removal performance from the beginning of use of the cartridge. it can.

It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the water purifier in this invention. It is typical sectional drawing which shows an example of the cartridge in this invention. It is typical sectional drawing of the cartridge produced by the comparative example. It is a graph of the time-dependent change of the soluble lead removal rate in an Example.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking a water purifier attached to a faucet of a home kitchen or the like as an example.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the water purifier of the present invention is composed of a main body portion 2 having a built-in switching valve and a cartridge 3 containing a filter medium, and the cartridge 3 is accommodated inside the main body portion 2. The The main body 2 is provided with a lever 5, and by operating the lever 5, the raw water flowing from the faucet 4 through the raw water inlet is discharged as shower water, as it is as straight water, or directly into the cartridge. Select whether to supply or not. The raw water (fluid to be treated) supplied to the cartridge 3 is filtered by an adsorbent such as activated carbon or a hollow fiber membrane and discharged as purified water from a purified water outlet.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the cartridge is housed inside the main body. However, an embodiment in which the cartridge is arranged outside the main body and is water-tightly connected to the main body by a bayonet type or the like is also possible. .

  In the cartridge 3, as shown in FIG. 2, the bottom portion of the cylindrical container 11, that is, one end portion in the axial direction of the cylindrical container 11 and one in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction. The part is provided with a raw water inlet 12 (inlet) for receiving raw water and a purified water supply port 13 for supplying purified water. As described above, since the raw water receiving port 12 (inflow port) is provided on a part of one end surface or the side surface end portion in the axial direction of the cylindrical container 11, the raw water is supplied to the cartridge 3. In other words, it is not evenly distributed, but rather flows partially. Here, the side surface end portion of the cylindrical container 11 refers to an upstream portion of the side surface of the cylindrical container 11 with respect to an upstream end surface (surface on the filter 19 side) of a granular filter medium 18 described later. The raw water inlet 12 and the purified water supply port 13 are respectively provided with O-rings 14 and 15 to prevent water from leaking outside when the cartridge 3 is connected to the main body 2.

  A cylindrical protrusion is formed on the inner bottom surface (left side in the figure) of the cylindrical container 11, and the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 is fitted and erected on the cylindrical protrusion via an O-ring 17. A granular filter medium 18 is provided between the side surface of the cylindrical container 11 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 16, and ring-shaped filters 19 and 20 are fixed to hold the granular filter medium 18.

  A hollow fiber membrane bundle 21 in which a plurality of hollow fiber membranes are bundled and bent into an inverted U shape is accommodated inside the cylindrical member 16. At both ends of the hollow fiber membrane, a curable resin (filled between the hollow fibers and between the hollow fibers and the cylindrical member at the end of the cylindrical member 16 on the side where the purified water supply port 13 is provided) It is sealed and fixed (potted) with a sealing agent 22. Since each hollow fiber membrane is partially cut and removed before being fitted into the cylindrical container 11, the end is opened toward the purified water supply port 13.

Furthermore, in the cartridge according to the present invention, a long filter medium having ion exchange capacity between the side surface of the cylindrical container 11 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 16 and in the raw water distribution region upstream of the granular filter medium 18. Is provided with a ring-shaped filter medium 23 that is wound and laminated in layers. There is little space on the upstream side of the ring-shaped filter medium 23 in the raw water distribution area. Alternatively, there may be substantially no space. In the present invention, even if the ring-shaped filter medium 23 is disposed in the raw water distribution region, the ring-shaped filter medium 23 is formed by winding and laminating long filter media in layers. Almost uniformly distributed to the ring-shaped filter medium 23, specific ions (such as heavy metal ions such as soluble lead) are ion-exchanged upon contact with the ring-shaped filter medium 23, and the granular filter medium 18 disposed downstream thereof It can flow uniformly. That is, the ring-shaped filter medium 23 formed by laminating long filter media in layers has a large molding density (0.1 to 0.4 g / cm ³ ), and the water flow pressure loss in the ring-shaped filter medium portion is upstream of the ring-shaped filter medium. Therefore, the raw water is uniformly distributed to the ring-shaped filter medium 23 because the pressure loss is sufficiently larger than the pressure loss of the slight space portion (or the interface portion when there is virtually no space). Moreover, since the ring-shaped filter medium 23 formed by laminating long filter media in layers is highly uniform in each part of the molding density (made homogeneously), the raw water flowing into the ring-shaped filter medium 23 is Since it is difficult to drift and circulates through the inside almost uniformly, the entire volume of the filter medium is effectively utilized and a high removal capability is exhibited. If the ring-shaped filter medium is not formed by laminating and laminating long filter media in layers, for example, if the ion-exchange fiber is simply compression molded, the molding density is obtained by laminating long filter media in layers. Therefore, the uniformity of distribution and distribution of the raw water to the ring-shaped filter medium becomes insufficient, and high removal performance cannot be obtained.

The ring-shaped filter medium 23 is preferably packed by being compressed at a compression rate of 10 to 30% in the radial direction. At this time, the ring-shaped filter medium 23 is filled in contact with the side surface of the cylindrical container 11 and the side surface of the cylindrical protrusion, or in contact with the side surface of the cylindrical container 11 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 16. It is preferable. When compressed in this range, while suppressing excessive pressure loss, the density and uniformity of the ring-shaped filter medium 23, the degree of adhesion of the ring-shaped filter medium to the inner and outer contact surfaces, and winding in layers Since the degree of adhesion between the laminated layers is further increased, the removal performance inherent to the cartridge can be stably exhibited from the beginning of use of the cartridge. Here, the compression ratio X radial say, when the thickness of the ring-shaped filter medium in the natural state before the compression t _i, the thickness of the ring-shaped filter material in the cartridge was t _a, X = (t is a value represented by _{i -t a) / t i ×} 100.

For the same reason, it is preferable that the ring-shaped filter medium 23 expands 5 to 30% in the radial direction when taken out from the cartridge. This value (expansion Y) is a t _a (length in the axial direction of the cylindrical container 11) the thickness of the ring-shaped filter material in the _cartridge, the thickness of the ring-shaped filter medium in natural state after removal from the cartridge t when the _o, represented by _{Y = (t o -t a)} / t o × 100.

Further, ring-shaped filter material 23, it is easy to manufacture the winding stacked ring in layers, to facilitate maintaining the shape as of the filter medium to the outer diameter d _o of the ring-shaped filter material in the cartridge thickness t _a It is preferable that the ratio t _a / d _o satisfies the relationship of 0.05 to 0.35.

  In addition, the raw water distribution region (between the side surface of the cylindrical container 11 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 16, and granular for easy insertion and filling of the ring-shaped filter medium 23, compression rate securing, and compactness. The ratio of the ring-shaped filter medium 23 to the upstream area of the filter medium 18 is 80 to 100 vol. % Is preferred. For the axial positioning of the insertion and filling of the ring-shaped filter medium 23, it is also preferable that positioning portions (steps, protrusions, ribs, etc.) are provided on the side or bottom of the raw water distribution area. Furthermore, in the raw water distribution region, at least the inlet portion of the ring-shaped filter medium 23 is tapered toward the insertion direction (from the downstream to the upstream direction of the raw water flow in FIG. 2) so that the cross-sectional area becomes small. It is desirable to have it. This taper can reduce the possibility of misalignment or turning when inserting and filling the ring-shaped filter medium 23 wound in layers.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 2, as described above, the ring-shaped filters 19 and 20 are fixed to hold the granular filter medium 18. The filter 19 on the upstream side of the granular filter medium 18 can be omitted, and the ring-shaped filter medium 23 can play the role of the filter 19. In that case, the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

  The long filter medium having ion exchange capability is preferably a sheet of ion exchange fiber, but may be a non-woven fabric or felt carrying an adsorbent having ion exchange capability. Further, when the ring-shaped filter medium 23 is produced by slicing a sheet-like long filter medium wound in layers into a predetermined axial thickness in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction. Is more preferable because it can be manufactured at low cost. In addition, for example, it may be a ring-shaped filter medium manufactured by winding and laminating long band-shaped long filter media having a width corresponding to a predetermined axial thickness. The ion exchange fiber is a fiber in which a predetermined functional group is bonded to a styrenic, acrylic, methacrylic acid, or phenol polymer matrix. In order to obtain higher performance, it is preferable to use an acrylic or methacrylic acid base. Examples of the predetermined functional group include sulfonic acid, carboxylic acid, trimethylammonium, dimethylethanolammonium, dimethylamine, polyamine, iminodiacetic acid, aminocarboxylic acid, and polycarboxylic acid. In order to obtain higher performance, sulfonic acid or carboxylic acid is preferable. As the adsorbent having ion exchange capacity, it is preferable to use inorganic adsorbents such as zeolite, aluminosilicate, calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate and titanosilicate, and organic adsorbents such as ion exchange resin and chelate resin. . In order to obtain higher performance, it is preferable to use titanosilicate and aluminum silicate. The long filter medium may be used by mixing a plurality of filter media. For example, when a molded body in which ion exchange fibers and fibrous activated carbon are mixed to form a sheet is used, a cartridge having excellent heavy metal removal performance and improved removal performance of trihalomethane, mold odor and the like can be obtained.

  The upper part of the cylindrical container 11 is opened so that the hollow fiber membrane bundle 21 and the particulate filter medium 18 can be easily filled, and a transparent cap 24 is fitted and ultrasonically welded so that the internal dirt can be confirmed.

  The cartridge 3 configured as described above is loaded into the main body 2, the cartridge cap 6 is screwed and fixed at a position where it covers the cartridge 3, and the cartridge 3 is fixed at a predetermined position. It plays the role of The cartridge cap 6 is provided with an opening / closing cap 7. When the opening / closing cap 7 is opened, the degree of contamination of the hollow fiber membrane can be confirmed through the opening of the cartridge cap 6 and the transparent cap 24 of the cartridge 3. It is like that.

  The present invention will be described in detail using examples.

<Example 1>
The cartridge shown in FIG. 2 was prepared to treat tap water, and the ability to filter soluble lead was evaluated to see the effect of the filter medium having ion exchange capacity, and the filterability of chloroform was evaluated to see the effect of the granular filter medium. The filtration flow rate was evaluated to see the effect of pressure loss on each filter medium.

  Note that 35 g of activated carbon having a particle size of 0.10 to 0.25 mm was used as the granular filter medium 18. As a long filter medium having an ion exchange capacity constituting the ring-shaped filter medium 23, a fiber having a carboxylic acid functional group bonded to an acrylic polymer matrix is mixed with a heat-meltable binder fiber, and heat treatment is performed. A 0.5 mm sheet was used. Further, the ring-shaped filter medium 23 had an outer diameter of 45 mm, an inner diameter of 35 mm, and a thickness of 8 mm before being housed in the cartridge, and was used after being compressed by 10% in the radial direction. The expansion coefficient specified as described above was 5%.

  In addition, the soluble lead filtration capacity test is performed at a flow rate of 1.6 L / min in accordance with JIS S 3201: 2004 “Test method for household water purifiers”, and the change in removal rate with time is confirmed. As a result, the removal rate at the time of 50L water flow was measured, and the total water flow amount until the removal rate was lower than 80% was measured. The concentration analysis of soluble lead was performed by ICP (inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer). This soluble lead filtration ability test was conducted with n number = 2, and the average was described as a result. Moreover, chloroform filtration ability was implemented by n number = 2 according to JIS S3201: 2004 "test method of household water purifier", and the average was described as a result.

  The filtration flow rate was also carried out with n number = 2 in accordance with JIS S 3201: 2004 “Test method for household water purifier”, and the average was described as a result.

As a result, the total water flow until the soluble lead removal rate falls below 80% is 900L (initial performance is 95% or more), the total water flow until the chloroform removal rate falls below 80% is 800L, and the filtration flow rate is 2.5L / It was confirmed that the capacity was sufficiently satisfactory as min and cartridge. Moreover, as shown in the graph of the change over time of the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the filter medium having ion exchange ability stably exhibited high removal performance immediately after the start of cartridge use. <Example 2>
Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ring-shaped filter medium 23 having an expansion coefficient of 30% as defined above was compressed in the radial direction by 30%.

  As a result, the total water flow until the soluble lead removal rate falls below 80% is 1000L (initial performance is 95% or more), the total water flow until the chloroform removal rate falls below 80% is 800L, and the filtration flow rate is 2.2L / It was confirmed that the capacity was sufficiently satisfactory as a cartridge. Moreover, as shown in the graph of the change over time of the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the filter medium having ion exchange ability stably exhibited high removal performance immediately after the start of cartridge use.

<Comparative Example 1>
Instead of the ring-shaped filter medium 23 formed by laminating a long filter medium having ion exchange capacity in a layered manner, only a ring-shaped ion exchange fiber having an ion exchange capacity is compressed by 30% in the radial direction. To produce a cartridge. The expansion coefficient specified as described above was 30%. Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that these points were changed.

  As a result, it was confirmed that the total water flow until the soluble lead removal rate was below 80% was 300 L and the filtration flow rate was 2.2 L / min, but the soluble lead filtration capacity was very low.

<Example 3>
Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ring-shaped filter medium 23 having an expansion coefficient of 4% as defined above was compressed 8% in the radial direction.
As a result, the total water flow until the soluble lead removal rate falls below 80% is 900L, the total water flow until the chloroform removal rate falls below 80% is 800L, and the filtration flow rate is 2.7L / min. Confirmed the ability to do. However, as shown in the graph of the time-dependent change of the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the removal performance by the filter medium having the ion exchange capability once declined immediately after the start of use of the cartridge.

<Example 4>
Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ring-shaped filter medium 23 having an expansion coefficient of 32% as defined above was compressed in the radial direction by 35%.
As a result, the filtration flow rate decreased slightly to 1.6 L / min, but the total water flow until the soluble lead removal rate was below 80% was 1000 L (initial performance 95% or more), until the chloroform removal rate was below 80%. It was confirmed that the total water flow rate was 800 L, which was a sufficiently satisfactory capacity. Moreover, as shown in the graph of the change over time of the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the filter medium having ion exchange ability stably exhibited high removal performance immediately after the start of cartridge use.

<Comparative Example 2>
The cartridge shown in FIG. 3 was prepared and treated with tap water, and the soluble lead filtration ability, the chloroform filtration ability, and the filtration flow rate were evaluated. That is, evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the granular filter medium 18 was 30 g and the ring-shaped filter medium 23 was provided not at the raw water distribution area but at the position of the granular filter medium in FIG.

  As a result, the total water flow rate until the lead solubility removal rate fell below 80% was 1000 L (initial performance was 95% or more), and the filtration flow rate was 2.1 L / min. It was confirmed that the total amount of water flow until the capacity dropped below 80% was 450 L.

  The results are shown in the table.

1: Water purifier 2: Body part 3: Cartridge 4: Faucet 5: Lever 6: Cartridge cap 7: Opening / closing cap 11: Cylindrical container 12: Raw water receiving port 13: Purified water supply port 14: O-ring 15: O-ring 16: Cylindrical member 17: O-ring 18: Granular filter medium 19: Filter 20: Filter 21: Hollow fiber membrane bundle 22: Curable resin 23: Ring-shaped filter medium 24: Transparent cap

Claims (3)

A cartridge having a cylindrical container having an inlet for a fluid to be processed, and a cylindrical member housed in the container,
The inflow port is provided at one end of the container in the axial direction and in a part of the direction perpendicular to the axial direction,
Between the side surface of the container and the side surface of the cylindrical member has a granular filter medium,
Between the side surface of the container and the side surface of the cylindrical member, and on the upstream side of the granular filter medium, has a distribution portion of the fluid to be treated provided with a ring-shaped filter medium,
Furthermore, the ring-shaped filter medium is a cartridge formed by laminating long filter media having ion exchange capacity in a layered manner. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ring-shaped filter medium expands 5 to 30% in a radial direction when taken out from the cartridge. A water purifier comprising the cartridge according to claim 1 or 2 and a flow path switching valve.

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