JP2010167327A - Water treatment cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact cartridge which has high performance and can easily be assembled. <P>SOLUTION: The water treatment cartridge 30 is provided with: a cylindrical vessel 17 having an inflow port 10 for the fluid to be treated and an outflow port 22 for the fluid to be treated, wherein one is opened; and in the cylindrical vessel 17, a cylindrical member 14 to one end of which a hollow fiber membrane 15 communicated with the outflow port 22 is fixed and the other end of which is opened; a granular filter medium 16 provided at a space between the tubular vessel 17 and the tubular member 14; and an ion exchanger 18, and has a cap 20 clogging the release part of the cylindrical vessel 17. In the ion exchanger 18 having a ring shape, the bottom face 24 being the upstream side is opened, and the upper face 25 is inserted into an almost cylindrical case 19 having an opening part 23. <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.

As cartridges that can remove heavy metals such as soluble lead, there are Patent Literature 1, Patent Literature 2, and Patent Literature 3. These are filled with activated carbon between a cylindrical housing provided with a raw water inlet and a purified water outlet at one end and opened at the other end, and a cylindrical case to which a hollow fiber membrane is fixed. A cap is provided between the case and an ion exchanger is installed to close the opening on the other end of the housing. The raw water flowing in from the raw water inlet passes through the activated carbon, the ion exchanger and the hollow fiber membrane, and the purified water is passed through the purified water outlet. It is configured to come out. However, in the cartridge described in Patent Document 1, an elastic seal rubber is installed on the inner side and a protective coating is installed on the outer side to prevent a short path of the ion exchanger. In addition, the cost of parts becomes expensive and downsizing is difficult. In addition, the elastic seal rubber has a high coefficient of friction with respect to the ion exchanger and cylindrical case, so it is expected to be difficult when inserting an ion exchanger or mounting an elastic seal rubber. There is no way to check even if this occurs inside the cartridge. In the cartridge of Patent Document 2, since the support of the ion exchanger is composed of three members, an outer case, an inner case, and a bottom lid, the ion exchanger is included for supporting the ion exchanger and sealing around it. The dimensions of the four members require high-accuracy tolerances. For example, if the size of the ion exchanger is small, the short path is excessive, and if it is large, the tightening is excessive, and if it is a roll-shaped ion exchanger, a partial displacement occurs, and there is a concern about performance degradation. In addition, as in Patent Document 1, once assembled and formed into a cartridge, there is also a problem that there is no method for confirming whether or not the ion exchanger is normally attached.

  Moreover, since the cartridge of Patent Document 3 forms a molded body with fibrous activated carbon and an adsorbent having ion exchange capacity and has sealing members on the upstream side and the downstream side thereof, this also increases the number of members. Since it takes assembling man-hours, it is not an inexpensive cartridge.

Japanese Patent No. 3700669 Japanese Patent No. 4073351 JP 2001-232361 A

An object of the present invention is to provide a water treatment cartridge that is small, has high performance, is easy to assemble, and is inexpensive.

  In order to achieve the above object, the water treatment cartridge of the present invention has the following configuration.

  That is, a cylindrical container having one opening having an inlet for processing fluid and an outlet for processing fluid, and a hollow fiber membrane communicating with the outlet at one end are fixed inside the cylindrical container. A cylindrical member having an open end; a granular filter medium provided in a space between the cylindrical container and the cylindrical member; and an ion exchanger; and a cap that closes an open portion of the cylindrical container. A water treatment cartridge comprising: a water treatment cartridge, wherein the ion exchanger has a ring shape, an upstream bottom surface is opened, and an upper surface is inserted into a substantially cylindrical case having an opening. Is provided.

  Moreover, according to the preferable form of this invention, the said ion exchanger provides the water treatment cartridge by which the sheet-like filter medium is wound and laminated | stacked on the layer form.

  Moreover, according to the preferable form of this invention, the said case provides the water treatment cartridge hold | maintained so that attachment or detachment is possible between the said cylindrical container and the said cylindrical member.

Moreover, according to the preferable form of this invention, the said case which inserted the said ion exchanger provides the water treatment cartridge arrange | positioned between the said granular filter medium downstream and the said hollow fiber membrane.

Moreover, according to the preferable form of this invention, when the said ion exchanger is taken out from the said case, the water treatment cartridge which expands 5 to 30% in a radial direction is provided. Moreover, according to the preferable form of this invention, the water purifier provided with said water treatment cartridge and the flow-path switching valve is provided.

According to the present invention, after the ion exchanger is inserted into the case, it can be assembled into a water treatment cartridge, and an ion exchanger insertion defect product can be visually determined. Therefore, a defective insertion product is not mixed. In addition, since the ion exchanger is built in the case, it is easy to assemble into the cartridge and has only one holding member that contacts the ion exchanger, and has a small number of members and good sealing properties, so it is small and high in size. A high performance water treatment cartridge and a water purifier can be obtained. In the present invention, since the ion exchanger expands in the radial direction by 5 to 30% when it is taken out from the case, the drift in the ion exchanger and the contact surface between the ion exchanger and the case that is the holding member In this way, the high-removal performance can be exhibited stably from the beginning of using the water treatment cartridge.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the water purifier which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of a case concerning one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the case shown in FIG. 2. It is a graph of the change of the soluble lead removal rate in an Example.

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

  Drawing 1 shows the longitudinal section of the water purifier concerning one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the water purifier 40 is composed of a main body 2 having a switching valve built therein, a cartridge 30 containing a filter medium, and the like. The cartridge 30 is watertight by a main body 2 and a bayonet type via a packing 4. Connected. The main body 2 is provided with a lever 3, and by operating the lever 3, the raw water flowing from the faucet 1 through the raw water inlet is discharged as shower water as it is or as straight water, or as a cartridge 30. Select whether to supply to. The raw water (fluid to be treated) supplied to the cartridge 30 is filtered by an adsorbent such as activated carbon or a hollow fiber membrane, and is discharged as purified water from the purified water outlet 22.

  In the cartridge 30, the raw water receiving port 10 (inflow port) that receives the raw water is discharged to the outer peripheral surface near the end surface of the vertical lower surface of the cylindrical container 17, and the purified water is discharged to the center of the bottom of the cylindrical container 17. A purified water outlet 22 is provided.

  A cylindrical protrusion is formed on the inner bottom surface of the cylindrical container 17, and the lower end of the cylindrical member 14 is fitted and erected on the cylindrical protrusion via the O-ring 12. A granular filter medium 16 is provided between the side surface of the cylindrical container 17 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 14. In order to hold the particulate filter medium 16, a ring-shaped filter 11 is fixed on the upstream side, and a case 19 containing an ion exchanger 18 is detachably fixed on the downstream side. The hollow fiber membrane is disposed further downstream of the ion exchanger 18. In the case of the present embodiment, the ion exchanger 18 also functions as a holding member on the downstream side of the particulate filter medium. A case 19 containing the ion exchanger 18 may be detachably fixed to the upstream side of the granular filter medium 16. In this case, the filter 11 is fixed downstream. Moreover, it is also possible to arrange | position the case 19 which divided | segmented the granular filter medium up and down and contained the ion exchanger 18 in the meantime. In this case, the filters 11 are provided on both the upstream side and the downstream side. Further, the case 19 containing the ion exchanger 18 is not positioned between the side surface of the cylindrical container 17 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 14, for example, between the open upper end of the cylindrical member 14 and the cap 20. Embodiments that house in space are also possible. In this case, the case 19 can be held inside the side surface of the cap 20. Regardless of the arrangement position of the case 19 in which the ion exchanger 18 is incorporated, the assembly of the ion exchanger 18 to the cartridge 30 is performed by inserting the case 19 in which the ion exchanger 18 has been inserted and incorporated in advance into a cylindrical container. Since it is only inserted into the inside of 17 from the opening above the cylindrical container 17, it is easy. In particular, as shown in FIG. 1, in the case of this embodiment arranged between the downstream side of the particulate filter medium 16 and the hollow fiber membrane, it is the easiest because it is a position close to the opening at the top of the cylindrical container 17.

  A hollow fiber membrane bundle 15 in which a plurality of hollow fiber membranes are bundled and bent into an inverted U shape is housed inside the cylindrical member 14. Both ends of the hollow fiber membrane are curable resin filled between the hollow fibers and between the hollow fibers and the cylindrical member 14 at the end of the cylindrical member 14 on the side where the purified water outlet 22 is provided. (Sealing agent) 13 is sealed and fixed (potted). Each hollow fiber membrane has a potting portion partly cut and removed before fitting into the cylindrical container 17, so that the end is open toward the purified water outlet 22.

  Furthermore, in the cartridge 30 according to the present embodiment, the ion exchanger 18 is built in the case 19 between the side surface of the cylindrical container 17 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 14 and on the downstream side of the granular filter medium 16. Since the raw water is distributed, the raw water is rectified by the particulate filter medium 16 and can uniformly contact the entire ion exchanger 18, and specific ions (such as heavy metal ions such as soluble lead) in the raw water are ion-exchanged. Removed.

  FIG. 2 is a top view of a case according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the case shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the case 19 has a substantially cylindrical shape composed of an open bottom surface 24 that is upstream, an upper surface 25 having an opening, an inner cylinder 26, and an outer cylinder 27. is doing. A step portion 28 is preferably provided on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 27. Similarly, a step portion may be provided on the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 26. The case 19 is preferably a synthetic resin molded article so that it can be manufactured at a low cost, and the ion exchanger 18 can be slip-compressed and inserted and assembled, and has rigidity that does not deform even when compressed. As the synthetic resin material, polypropylene, ABS resin (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin), polyacetal, polystyrene, AS resin (acrylonitrile styrene resin), polycarbonate, acrylic resin, polyethylene, and the like can be used. The shape of the open portion is preferably a ring shape similar to the shape of the ion exchanger so that the ion exchanger 18 can be inserted from the open portion of the bottom surface 24 of the case 19. The opening 23 on the upper surface 25 of the case 19 preferably has an opening area that is as large as possible within the allowable range of the strength of the case 19 in order to secure a water passage area in the ion exchanger 18. As shown in FIG. 2, the shape of the opening 23 is preferably a plurality of oval shapes obtained by equally dividing the ring-shaped upper surface 25 so as to allow uniform water flow. Other shapes such as an opening may be used. Portions other than the opening 23 on the upper surface 25 of the case 19 also serve to position the ion exchanger 18 to be inserted in the axial direction.

  The outer peripheral surface of the stepped portion 28 in the outer cylinder 27 of the case 19 according to the present embodiment and the side surface portion of the cylindrical container 17 related to the mounting of the case 19 have the same shape. The peripheral surface and the side surface portion of the cylindrical member 14 related to the mounting of the case 19 have the same shape. Thereby, the case 19 containing the ion exchanger 18 can be fitted between the side surface of the cylindrical container 17 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 14 as described above, and can be fixed detachably. Further, the dimensional tolerances of the outer peripheral surface of the stepped portion 28 in the outer cylinder 27 of the case 19 and the side surface portion of the cylindrical container 17 to which the case 19 is attached, and the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 26 of the case 19 and the case 19 Appropriately managing the mutual dimensional tolerances of the side portions of the cylindrical member 14 to be mounted improves the sealing performance of the fitting portion, reduces unnecessary short paths, and allows water to flow into the ion exchanger 18. This is preferable because it makes it possible to ensure the high removal performance. Further, providing a step on the side surface of the cylindrical container 17 so that the case 19 comes into contact with and is locked can secure the fixing position of the case 19. It is preferable from the viewpoint of assembly management.

The ion exchanger 18 is preferably in the form of a ring in which long filter media having ion exchange ability are wound and laminated in layers. In particular, when the ion exchanger 18 is a ring-shaped piece manufactured by slicing a sheet-like long filter medium wound in a cross-section perpendicular to the axial direction to a predetermined axial thickness, It is more preferable because it can be manufactured at low cost. In addition, for example, a ring shape in which layers of filter media having a relatively short ion exchange capability such as a strip shape are connected and wound in layers may be used. Alternatively, a fibrous filter medium having ion exchange capacity may be simply compression-molded into a ring-shaped predetermined shape.
It is preferable that the ion exchanger 18 is inserted and filled in the case 19 after being compressed at a compression rate of 10 to 30% in the radial direction. When compressed in this range, the pressure loss in the ion exchanger 18 can be suppressed, a predetermined cartridge filtration flow rate can be secured, and the drift in the ion exchanger 18 and the case 19 that is the ion exchanger 18 and the holding member can be secured. Therefore, 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, the radial thickness of the ion exchanger in a natural state before the compression and t _i, the radial thickness of the ion exchanger 18 in the casing 19 and t _a Then, X = (t _i −t _a ) / t _i × 100.

For the same reason, it is preferable that the ion exchanger 18 expands 5 to 30% in the radial direction when taken out from the case 19. This value (expansion Y), when the thickness of the ion exchanger 18 in the casing 19 t _a, the radial thickness of the ion exchanger 18 in the natural state after removal from the case 19 was set to t _o, Y = (t _o −t _a ) / t _o × 100

Furthermore, ion exchangers 18, easily fabricated wound laminated ring in layers, to facilitate maintaining the shape as the ion exchanger to the outside diameter d _o of the ion exchanger 18 in the case 19 18 It is preferable that the ratio t _a / d _o of the radial thickness t _a satisfies the relationship of 0.05 to 0.35.

  Further, in order to facilitate insertion and filling into the case 19, to ensure the compressibility, and to be compact, the volume of the case 19 relative to the volume of the ion exchanger 18 (the volume of the space for inserting the ion exchanger 18) The ratio is 80-100 vol. % Is preferred.

  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. 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 aluminosilicate, calcium phosphate, 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 aluminosilicate. 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 17 is opened to facilitate the mounting of the hollow fiber membrane 15, the filling of the granular filter medium 16, and the mounting of the case 19 containing the ion exchanger 18. Is blocked. The cap 20 is preferably transparent so that the inside of the cartridge 30, in particular, the attachment state of the case 19 and the ion exchanger 18 and the contamination inside the ion exchanger 18 can be confirmed. When the case 19 in which the ion exchanger 18 is inserted is arranged immediately below the cap 20, that is, for example, at a position having a gap of about 0.5 to 10 mm as a water passage under the cap 20, the cap 20 The case 19 and the ion exchanger 18 can be easily visually confirmed. As the material of the cap, for example, a transparent ABS resin is used. The cap 20 is protected by an outer cap 21.

  The present embodiment will be described in detail using examples.

<Example 1>
The cartridge 30 shown in FIG. 1 is manufactured to treat tap water, and the soluble lead filtering ability is examined to see the effect of the ion exchanger 18 made of a filtering medium having ion exchange ability, and the chloroform of the chloroform is used to see the effect of the granular filtering medium. The filtration capacity was evaluated, and the filtration flow rate was also 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 16. As a long filter medium having an ion exchange capacity constituting the ion exchanger 18, a fiber in which a carboxylic acid functional group is 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. In addition, the ion exchanger 18 has an outer diameter of 45 mm, an inner diameter of 35 mm, and a thickness of 8 mm before being housed in the case 19, and this 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 according to JIS S 3201: 2004 “Test method for household water purifiers” to confirm the change in removal rate, and as the initial performance. The removal rate at the time of 50 L water flow was measured, and the total water flow amount until the removal rate fell below 80% was measured. The concentration analysis of soluble lead was performed by ICP (inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer). This soluble lead filtration capacity test was performed twice and the average was reported as a result. Moreover, chloroform filtration capability was implemented twice 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 twice according to 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 satisfied as a minute and cartridge. Moreover, as shown in the graph of the change in the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the ion exchanger stably exhibited high removal performance immediately after the start of cartridge use.

<Example 2>
Evaluation was conducted in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ion exchanger 18 having an expansion coefficient of 30% as defined above was compressed 30% in the radial direction.

  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 of the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the ion exchanger 18 stably exhibited high removal performance immediately after the start of cartridge use.

<Comparative Example 1>
The ion exchanger 18 was not put in the case 19 but was compressed by 30% in the radial direction so as to be sandwiched between the cylindrical container and the cylindrical member 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, the filtration flow rate was sufficient at 2.2 L / min, but the total water flow until the soluble lead removal rate fell below 80% was 300 L, and it was confirmed that the soluble lead filtration capacity was very low. After disassembling and examining after passing water, it was found that the ion exchanger could not be inserted correctly inside the cartridge.

<Example 3>
Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ion exchanger 18 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 change in the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the removal performance by the ion exchanger once declined immediately after the start of cartridge use.

<Example 4>
Evaluation was conducted in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ion exchanger 18 having an expansion coefficient of 32% as defined above was compressed 35% in the radial direction.

  As a result, the filtration flow rate dropped 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 in the soluble lead removal rate in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the ion exchanger 18 stably exhibited high removal performance immediately after the start of cartridge use.

The results are shown in Table 1.

1: Faucet 2: Main body part 3: Lever 4: Packing 10: Raw water receiving port 11: Filter 12: O-ring 13: Curable resin 14: Tubular member 15: Hollow fiber membrane bundle 16: Granular filter medium 17: Tubular container 18: Ion exchanger 19: Case 20: Cap 21: Outer cap 22: Purified water outlet 23: Opening 24: Bottom 25: Upper surface 26: Inner cylinder 27: Outer cylinder 28: Stepped portion 30: Cartridge 40: Water purifier

Claims (6)

A cylindrical container having one inlet having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, and a hollow fiber membrane communicating with the outlet is fixed to one end of the cylindrical container, and the other end is fixed to the cylindrical container. Water having an open cylindrical member, a granular filter medium provided in a space between the cylindrical container and the cylindrical member, and an ion exchanger, and having a cap that closes an open portion of the cylindrical container In the treatment cartridge, the ion exchanger has a ring shape, an upstream bottom surface is opened, and an upper surface is inserted into a substantially cylindrical case having an opening. The water treatment cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ion exchanger is formed by laminating sheet-like filter media in layers. The water treatment cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the case is detachably held between the cylindrical container and the cylindrical member. The water treatment cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the case in which the ion exchanger is inserted is disposed between the downstream side of the particulate filter medium and the hollow fiber membrane.
The water treatment cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the ion exchanger expands 5 to 30% in a radial direction when taken out from the case. A water purifier comprising the water treatment cartridge according to claim 1 and a flow path switching valve.

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