JP2598017Y2 - Filter using activated carbon fiber - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a filter using activated carbon fibers, and in particular, performs filtration by allowing a fluid to permeate in a radial direction of a hollow cylindrical body having a thick portion formed by an activated carbon fiber layer. The present invention relates to a filter suitable for use as a filter element for water purification of a household water purifier used for purifying tap water or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Tap water used for drinking at home usually contains 1 ppm of chlorine for sterilization. Thus, tap water containing chlorine gives a drinker discomfort due to the chlorine odor. In addition, during the drought period of the tap water source, water odor that cannot be removed by the ordinary water purification treatment at the water purification plant remains in the tap water, giving a person who feels more discomfort than the chlorine odor.

[0003] In order to remove such odors or suspended matters such as chlorine collection and blue odor from tap water, a granular activated carbon filter element is incorporated into a household water purifier. Filtration of tap water is performed in combination with a filter element made of fiber.

That is, generally, a water purification cartridge of a household water purifier uses, for example, a filter element made of activated carbon alone, or a combination of an activated carbon filter element and a hollow fiber module. It removes bad smells and the like.

[0005] Such a water purification cartridge is mounted on a water purifier directly attached to a water tap. Alternatively, a refrigerator provided with an automatic ice maker is used as a water purifier for filtering water entering the ice maker.

[0006]

A filter element using activated carbon fibers has been used in place of a filter element made of granular or powdery activated carbon used in household water purifiers. Activated carbon fibers have a large outer surface area because of their fibrous shape, and have good contact efficiency with water. Also, due to the morphological characteristics of the fibers, it can be processed into felt, woven fabric, or paper-like material. By winding, it can be formed into a cylindrical molded body widely used in water purifiers.

A layered body of activated carbon fibers, such as felt, woven fabric, and paper-like material, in which activated carbon fibers and fibers or fine particles of a hot-melt resin are mixed as a binder, is subjected to a heat treatment after shaping into a cylindrical shape. A molded article of a predetermined shape excellent in handling is obtained, which is convenient for handling as a filter element.

[0008] The water-purifying form of the water purification cartridge made of activated carbon fiber and formed into a tubular shape may be a case where water is passed in the axial direction of the tube or a case where water is passed in the radial direction of the tube.
In a water purification filter element using activated carbon fibers, a form in which water flows in a radial direction of a cylindrical body is often adopted because of its high adsorption speed.

FIG. 5 shows a molded article of such a cartridge. In this cartridge, a tubular body is formed by the activated carbon fiber layer 1, and furthermore, water-permeable nonwoven fabrics 2, 3 are wound around the outer peripheral surface and inner peripheral surface of the cartridge so as to be in close contact with each other. The water is used such that water is absorbed from the outer peripheral side in the radial direction as indicated by the arrow in the figure, and is discharged from the center hole of the cylinder.

The outer nonwoven fabric 2 and the inner nonwoven fabric 3 protect the activated carbon fiber layer 1 constituting the thick part of the cylindrical body and prevent the activated carbon fibers 1 from falling off from the side surface of the molded body. This prevents the activated carbon fibers from being mixed into the filtered water.

However, such a filter element is manufactured by a method of cutting a cylindrical body made of a long activated carbon fiber layer 1 into a predetermined length at the time of manufacture. There is a problem that the powder of the activated carbon fiber 1 falls from the powder. In order to prevent the powder of the activated carbon fiber 1 from falling off from both ends, there is a method of arranging a nonwoven fabric at both ends, but it is not sufficient in terms of adhesiveness. A method using a felt, a woven fabric, or a paper-like material in which a large amount of a binder is mixed into the activated carbon fiber 1 is also conceivable. However, an increase in the amount of the binder is not preferable because the adsorptive performance is lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is intended to prevent the activated carbon fiber powder from falling off from the axial end of a cylindrical filter formed using activated carbon fibers. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a filter element of a water purification cartridge suitable for use in a household water purifier.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the thick portion of the hollow cylindrical body is constituted by an activated carbon fiber layer, and the hollow cylindrical body composed of the activated carbon fiber layer passes through the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface, respectively. The present invention relates to a filter using activated carbon fibers, wherein an aqueous nonwoven fabric is wound thereon, and both ends of a hollow cylindrical body comprising the activated carbon fiber layer are fixed with solid wax.

[0014]

The fluid is permeated in the radial direction of the hollow cylinder between the activated carbon fiber layers constituting the thick portion of the hollow cylinder through the outer or inner water-permeable nonwoven fabric, and at this time, the fluid is brought into contact with the surface of the activated carbon fiber. As a result, substances contained in the fluid are adsorbed and removed. Then, filtration is performed by discharging the purified fluid through the hollow portion of the hollow cylindrical body or from the outer peripheral side. The activated carbon fibers are prevented from falling off from the outer peripheral side and the central hole by the water-permeable nonwoven fabric. In addition, the solid carbon wax on both ends prevents the activated carbon fibers from falling off from both ends.

[0015]

1 and 2 show a filter element for water purification according to this embodiment. This filter element is a water purification filter in which water-permeable nonwoven fabrics 13 and 14 are wound around the outer and inner surfaces of a hollow cylinder 11 made of an activated carbon fiber layer 10, respectively. And a filter element fixed to the filter element 15 by using the filter element.

This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
As shown in the figure, the activated carbon fiber layer 10 was wound so as to constitute the thick portion of the hollow cylindrical body 11, and was formed such that the thick portion of the hollow cylindrical body 11 was constituted by the activated carbon fiber layer 10. It concerns the filter element. This filter element is obtained by processing the activated carbon fiber layer 10 into felt, woven fabric, paper-like material, etc., and shaping it into a cylindrical shape. Activated carbon fiber felt, woven fabric, paper-like material, and the like include nylon, polyester, By including a binder such as polyethylene or denatured nylon, it is possible to maintain the shape of the molded article.

As the activated carbon fiber layer 10, polyacrylonitrile-based, rayon-based, pitch-based, phenol-based, or other activated carbon fibers are used, and are not particularly limited. It is manufactured using a generally known raw material, and silver-impregnated one is preferable in that it gives a bacteriostatic action.

A felt 10 having a predetermined thickness is formed by using such activated carbon fibers, for example, as shown in FIG.
Then, the felt 10 is wound around a cylindrical mandrel 20. In this case, the inner nonwoven fabric 14 is previously wound around the mandrel 20, and the felt 10 is wound thereon. Then, the outer nonwoven fabric 13 is wound from above. Thereafter, the mandrel 20 is removed to obtain a long cylindrical body as shown in FIG. Then, the cylinder is cut at the cutting line 25 to obtain a cylinder 11 having a predetermined length.

The hollow cylinder 11 composed of the activated carbon fiber layer 10 constructed as described above has the water-permeable nonwoven fabrics 13 and 14 wound around its outer and inner parts, respectively. Such nonwoven fabrics 13 and 14 are necessary not only to prevent the activated carbon fibers 10 from dropping off when flowing water, but also to maintain the shape of the molded article. Functionally, it is not particularly limited as long as it has water permeability and filterability.
The material of the nonwoven fabric is preferably a heat-meltable fiber, and it is preferable to form the outer cover of the cylindrical molded body of the hollow cylinder 11 and heat-weld the terminal.

Both ends of the hollow cylinder 11 made of such activated carbon fibers 10 are formed with fixing portions 15 made of solid wax. That is, the solution of the solid wax is penetrated and fixed to the upper and lower ends of the hollow cylinder 11. It is not necessary that the entire amount of the solid wax penetrates into the upper and lower ends of the hollow cylinder 11, and a part of the solid wax may be formed of a layer composed of only the solid wax.

The solid wax for forming the fixing portion 15 may be either a natural wax or a synthetic wax, as long as it is solid at room temperature. Solid wax is
It is sufficient that the melting temperature is 40 to 150 ° C., and particularly in the case of using in the present embodiment, the melting temperature is preferably in the range of 80 to 120 ° C.

Animal wax, vegetable wax, mineral wax, petroleum wax and the like are known as natural wax, and petroleum wax (JIS-K-2235) is particularly preferred.

The solid petroleum wax includes paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax and the like, and any of them can be used. Especially refined paraffin wax is specified as paraffin by the Japanese Pharmacopoeia Law,
High safety is also preferable. Examples of the synthetic wax include a polyethylene wax and a Fischer-Trops wax, but the type is not particularly limited.

[0024] Even if a compounded product of two or more types of waxes or a compounded polymer is used, as long as it is mainly composed of wax, it can be used as a material for forming a fixed portion.

These waxes are inexpensive, have a track record as food packaging containers and coating materials for paper cups, and have very high safety in food hygiene.

The fixing portion 15 in which both ends of the cylindrical molded body 11 are fixed with solid wax is formed by applying molten solid wax to the end. Specifically, the solid wax melted in a film shape is pressed to the end, or the solid wax is melted on a pressure plate and cast into a film, and the end of the molded body is pressed here. The fixing portion 15 can be formed by a method of infiltrating the molten solid wax.

The filter element thus constructed is a filter element formed into a cylindrical shape, and its outer peripheral portion and inner peripheral portion are covered with water-permeable nonwoven fabrics 13 and 14, respectively. This prevents the activated carbon fibers 10 from falling off from the water flow direction. In addition, since both ends are fixed by the fixing portions 15, the activated carbon fibers 10 are prevented from falling off from both ends, and the filter element for water purification has good shape retention and is excellent in handling.

Such a filter element for water purification is a filter excellent in handleability suitable for use at home or the like as a replacement part of a water purifier.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the water-permeable nonwoven fabric is wound around the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the hollow cylindrical body made of the activated carbon fiber layer, and both ends are fixed by solid wax. It was made. Accordingly, not only the water-permeable nonwoven fabric prevents the activated carbon fibers from falling off from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side portion of the center hole, but also the active carbon fibers from the both ends are prevented from falling off by the fixing portion made of solid wax. As a result, the shape retention when used as a filter element is improved, and handling is facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a filter element according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a filter element.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a step of manufacturing a hollow cylinder.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a step of cutting a long hollow cylindrical body.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a filter element using a conventional activated carbon fiber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Activated carbon fiber layer 11 Hollow cylinder 12 Center hole 13 Water permeable nonwoven fabric (outside) 14 Water permeable nonwoven fabric (inside) 15 Fixing part 20 Mandrel 25 Cutting line

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-171234 (JP, A) JP-A-4-17814 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B01D 39/14 C02F 1/28

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] The hollow cylindrical body has a thick portion formed of an activated carbon fiber layer, and a water-permeable nonwoven fabric is wound around an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface of the hollow cylindrical body formed of the activated carbon fiber layer. A filter using activated carbon fibers, wherein both ends of the hollow cylinder made of the activated carbon fiber layer are fixed with solid wax.