JP5484659B2 - Water purification cartridge and water purifier - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a water purification cartridge and a water purifier, and more particularly, to a water purifier that is attached to a tap water faucet for home use and a water purification cartridge that is used in the water purifier.

Conventionally, a so-called faucet-direct water purifier that is directly attached to a tap is known. This type of water purifier is generally composed of a water purification cartridge containing a filter medium and a main body provided with a switching mechanism for switching the type of discharged water, that is, raw water / purified water.
Moreover, in this kind of water purifier, there exist some which employ | adopted the activated carbon fiber which is excellent in adsorption | suction performance as a filter medium. In recent years, in order to increase the mechanical strength of this activated carbon fiber and improve the handleability, for example, the activated carbon fiber is formed into a cylindrical shape, and water is allowed to flow from the outside to the inside of the cylinder to make chlorine, etc. There has been proposed a molded activated carbon that adsorbs (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 3007307

By the way, in the faucet direct connection type water purifier, further downsizing is required so as not to obstruct the view below the water purifier or to disturb the operation of the water tap. However, in the above-described conventional water purifier, the activated carbon formed in a cylindrical shape is fixed by a binder such as a heat-welding resin, so in the case of the same volume, the adsorption capacity is reduced by the amount that the binder is included. End up. As a result, the molded activated carbon becomes large, and it becomes difficult to reduce the size of the water purification cartridge.
On the other hand, when reducing the binder ratio to improve the adsorption capacity of the molded activated carbon, the strength of the molded activated carbon will decrease, so for example, if impact is applied by transportation at the time of shipment, the shape of the molded activated carbon collapses Therefore, there is a possibility that the adsorption performance is partially reduced.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a water purification cartridge and a water purifier that can prevent the shape of the molded activated carbon from collapsing and can reduce the size of the water purification cartridge without impairing the adsorption performance of the filter medium.

In order to solve the above problem, the water purification cartridge according to claim 1 is a cylindrical body (for example, the cylindrical body 44 in the embodiment) having both ends opened inside the case (for example, the case 13 in the embodiment). A molded activated carbon (for example, activated carbon 56 in the embodiment) formed into a certain shape using a binder and a fibrous activated carbon inside the cylindrical body, and a filtration membrane (for example, the hollow fiber membrane 57 in the embodiment) ) And a rectifying plate (for example, the rectifying plate 54 in the embodiment), and the raw water taken into the case is discharged from the inlet (for example, the inlet 47 in the embodiment) of the cylindrical body (for example, The water purification cartridge purifies by passing water to the outlet 48) in the embodiment, wherein the cylindrical body is formed on at least a part of the inner wall surface from the inlet side to the outlet side. Taper as the tapered toward (e.g., reduced diameter portion 53a in the embodiment) equipped with, along with the cross-sectional shape of the tubular body is formed in a substantially circular shape, said forming activated carbon substantially cylindrical or substantially frusto-conical The side surface of the molded activated carbon is in contact with the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body at the tapered portion, and the content of the fibrous activated carbon is in the range of 85 to 99%, and the density after filling Is within a range of 0.15 to 0.30 g / ml, the filtration membrane is fixed inside the cylindrical body, and the rectifying plate is disposed between the filtration membrane and the molded activated carbon. It is characterized by that.

The water purification cartridge described in claim 2 is characterized in that the molded activated carbon is fixed to the cylindrical body by press-fitting from the inlet side of the cylindrical body.

The water purification cartridge described in claim 3 is characterized in that a non-woven fabric is provided on the inlet side of the cylindrical body based on the molded activated carbon.

The water purification cartridge described in claim 4 is characterized in that the rectifying plate is provided with a plurality of arms (for example, the arm portion 54d in the embodiment) extending from the center toward the outer peripheral portion. .

A water purifier according to claim 5 is a water purifier main body (for example, implementation) having the water purification cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4 (for example, the water purification cartridge 4 in the embodiment) and a water purification outlet. And the main body 3).

The water purifier according to claim 6 is provided with a male connector portion (for example, male connectors 14a, 14b, 14c in the embodiment) on one side of each of the outer wall of the case and the water purifier main body, and on the other side. Female connector portions (for example, female connectors 12a, 12b, and 12c in the embodiment) that are inserted and fitted into the water connector portion, and by fitting the male connector portion and the female connector portion, A water passage (for example, a water purification passage 26 and a raw water introduction passage 27 in the embodiment) is formed, and the cartridge is supported by the water purifier body.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by providing a taper on the inner surface of the cylindrical body, the side of the molded activated carbon is held by the case while preventing the molded activated carbon from being displaced to the outlet side due to the inflow of raw water. Therefore, there is an effect that the shape of the formed activated carbon can be prevented from collapsing due to impact or the like.
In addition, since the shape of the molded activated carbon can be prevented from collapsing, for example, the ratio of the binder contained in the molded activated carbon can be made lower than the ratio of the binder contained in the conventional molded activated carbon. Miniaturization can be achieved while maintaining the performance.
Furthermore, since the molded activated carbon is in contact with the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body at the tapered portion, the formation of a gap between the molded activated carbon and the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body is suppressed, and raw water is allowed to flow into the molded activated carbon. Therefore, the adsorption performance of the molded activated carbon can be sufficiently exhibited.
In addition, the content of the fibrous activated carbon in the formed activated carbon is in the range of 85 to 99% and the density after filling is 0.15 to 0.30 g / ml. As compared with the case where the after density is less than 0.15 g / ml and larger than 0.30 g / ml, it is possible to reduce the size while sufficiently securing the necessary adsorption performance.

Furthermore, since the side surface of the molded activated carbon and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body can be made substantially circular, the contact area between the two can be increased while satisfying the requirements for miniaturization. There is an effect that can prevent the collapse.

According to the invention described in claim 2 , the molded activated carbon is press-fitted into the cylindrical body, thereby suppressing the generation of a gap between the side surface of the molded activated carbon and the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body, and more reliably. Since the raw water can be set so as to flow through the formed activated carbon, the adsorption performance of the formed activated carbon can be sufficiently exhibited.

According to the invention described in claim 3 , since the nonwoven fabric functions as a prefilter, it is possible to prevent a relatively large object to be filtered from flowing into the case. Moreover, it can prevent that the powder which comes out of shaping | molding activated carbon with a nonwoven fabric flows out of the case of a filtration unit.

According to the invention described in claim 4 , since a plurality of arms are provided, a water flow from the inlet side to the outlet side inside the cylindrical body collides with the arm, so that the water flow is locally biased. Therefore, water can be evenly distributed in the cylindrical body, and therefore, there is an effect that the utilization efficiency of the molded activated carbon and the filtration membrane can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 5 , since the water purification cartridge can be reduced in size without deteriorating the adsorption performance of the activated carbon, the water purifier itself can be reduced in size, thus improving the commercial value. There is an effect that can be made.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the male connector portion and the female connector portion provided for coupling the water purifier main body and the cartridge each constitute a water passage, whereby a conventional water purifier is provided. Thus, the water purifier body and the cartridge can be arranged closer to each other than the case where the coupling means and the passage are separately provided as in the case of the above, so that the space for arranging the coupling means can be omitted. There is an effect that the water purifier can be reduced in size by reducing the length of the water purifier.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a water purifier. The water purifier 1 includes a main body 3 attached to an arm 2a of a tap faucet 2 and a substantially cylindrical water purification cartridge 4 provided detachably on the rear surface of the main body 3. In this embodiment, the water purifier 1 is attached to the arm 2a of the tap faucet 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and the front of the tap faucet 2, that is, the extension line of the arm 2a is stood. The front-rear direction viewed from the user is referred to as the front-rear direction of the water purifier, and the left-right direction viewed from the user in the above state is referred to as the left-right direction of the water purifier.

  The main body 3 is provided with a raw water inlet 5 at the top, and is connected to the arm 2 a of the tap faucet 2 via a ring-shaped mounting jig 6 provided at the periphery of the raw water inlet 5. A shower outlet 7 (see FIG. 5) for discharging raw water and a purified water outlet 8 (see FIG. 4) for discharging purified water are arranged at the lower part of the main body 3.

  An operation lever 9 that is long in the left-right width direction of the main body 3 is attached to the front surface of the main body 3. The operation lever 9 selects the type of water discharged from the water purifier 1, that is, raw water or purified water, and a central portion in the left-right width direction is pivotally supported by the main body 3. The left end portion 9a and the right end portion 9b of the operation lever 9 can swing in the front-rear direction.

  The central portion 9 c of the operation lever 9 has a shape curved rearward along the shape of the periphery of the raw water receiving port 5. On the other hand, left and right end portions 9 a and 9 b provided on the left and right of the central portion 9 c are formed wider than the central portion 9 c and extend along the left and right direction of the water purifier 1. A shower mark 10 is formed on the front surface of the right end portion 9b, and a water purification mark 11 is formed on the front surface of the left end portion 9a. As described above, the central portion 9c of the operation lever 9 is formed to be slightly curved toward the rear, thereby suppressing the protrusion of the operation lever 9 to the front and the size in the width direction from increasing. .

  As shown in FIG. 3, substantially cylindrical female connectors 12 a, 12 b, and 12 c that open toward the rear are formed on the back surface of the main body 3. These female connectors 12a, 12b, and 12c are arranged substantially along the left-right width direction of the main body. More specifically, the female connector 12a is disposed on the left side (right side in FIG. 3) of the main body 3, the female connector 12b is disposed on the center of the left and right sides of the main body 3, and the right side of the main body 3 (left side in FIG. 3). Is provided with a female connector 12c. The female connector 12a and the female connector 12c are respectively disposed in left-right symmetrical positions with respect to the female connector 12b, and the female connector 12b is disposed slightly above the female connectors 12a and 12c.

  On the other hand, the cartridge 4 includes a substantially cylindrical case 13. On the outer peripheral wall of the case 13, substantially cylindrical male connectors 14a, 14b, 14c are formed at positions corresponding to the female connectors 12a, 12b, 12c described above. The male connector 14b is disposed at a central position in the axial direction of the cartridge 4 formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the male connector 14a and the male connector 14c are disposed at symmetrical positions with respect to the male connector 14b. ing.

  Here, the male connector 14a is paired with the female connector 12a described above, and the male connector 14b is paired with the female connector 12b. The male connector 14c is paired with the female connector 12c. The female connector 12a and the male connector 14a described above constitute a water purification passage 26 that is a water purification passage between the cartridge 4 and the main body 3, and the female connector 12b and the male connector 14b are provided between the cartridge 4 and the main body 3. The raw water introduction passage 27 which is a passage for the raw water is configured.

  A double O-ring 15 is mounted around the male connector 14a, and only one O-ring 15 is mounted around the male connector 14b. The O-ring 15 is not attached around the male connector 14c. Only one O-ring 15 may be provided around the male connector 14a, or the O-ring 15 may be provided around the male connector 14c.

  With this configuration, when the male connector 14a is inserted into the female connector 12a, the male connector 14b is inserted into the female connector 12b, and the male connector 14c is inserted into the female connector 12c and pushed in, the female connector 12a, The male connectors 14a, 14b fitted with the male connectors 14a, 14b, 14c and the O-ring 15 are respectively sealed with the O-ring 15 so that the male connectors 14a, 14b are inserted and removed. Displacement is restricted, and the cartridge 4 is supported by the main body 3 through the male connectors 14a, 14b, 14c and the female connectors 12a, 12b, 12c.

  Locking pieces 16 projecting toward the main body 3 are formed between the male connector 14a and the male connector 14b and between the male connector 14b and the male connector 14c of the cartridge 4. Each of the locking pieces 16 is formed with a screw hole 17. On the other hand, between the female connector 12a and the female connector 12b of the main body 3 and between the female connector 12b and the female connector 12c, positions corresponding to the screw holes 17 of the locking pieces 16 of the bottom wall 18 of the main body 3 are provided. In addition, a loose insertion hole 19 is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, with the cartridge 4 mounted on the main body 3, a screw 20 is inserted from below through the loose insertion hole 19 and screwed into the screw hole 17 of the locking piece 16. The bottom wall 18 and the locking piece 16 are fixed, and the movement of the cartridge 4 in the direction away from the main body 3 is restricted. Although the case where the bottom wall 18 of the main body 3 and the locking piece 16 of the cartridge 4 are fixed with the screw 20 has been described, the locking piece is not fixed with the screw 20 but, for example, using a claw or the like. You may make it engage with. Note that the above-described locking piece 16 is provided only for restricting displacement in the direction in which the cartridge 4 is detached from the main body 3, and is not for supporting the cartridge 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the cartridge 4 attached to the main body 3 has a central axis s disposed at substantially the same height as the bottom wall 18 of the main body 3. The male connectors 14 a, 14 b, and 14 c described above extend from the rear of the water purifier 1 toward the front above the center of the cartridge 4 while being attached to the main body 3.

  On the other hand, the back surface of the main body 3 is provided with a concave portion 38 formed in a shape corresponding to the peripheral surface of the cartridge 4, that is, in a substantially arc shape in a side view that is concave toward the front surface side of the main body 3. Thus, when the cartridge 4 is mounted on the main body 3, the outer peripheral wall of the cartridge 4 comes into contact with the concave portion 38, and the front portion of the cartridge 4 slightly enters the main body 3 side.

  In addition, the rear upper edge portion of the main body 3 extends rearward while abutting along the peripheral surface of the cartridge 4 to form a collar portion 21. The collar portion 21 is formed in a convex shape extending rearward toward the center in the left-right width direction of the main body 3 (see FIG. 2). By providing the collar portion 21, when the cartridge 4 is mounted on the main body 3, the cartridge 4 can be guided to the concave portion 38 of the main body 3 in a correct posture, and both end portions of the mounted cartridge 4 are vertically moved. Displacement in the direction can be restricted. The upper edge portion 22 of the female connectors 12a, 12b, and 12c is stepped, and only the stepped upper edge portion 22 is in contact with the peripheral surface of the cartridge 4 in the same manner as the collar portion 21 described above. Further, it extends rearward as it goes above the upper edge portion 22 (see FIG. 3).

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 5, the raw water receiving port 5 of the main body 3 is provided with a rubber packing 24 as a sealant between the raw water receiving port 5 and the tap water faucet while being connected to the tap water tap 2. It has been. Further, a resin partition plate 25 having an opening (not shown) formed in the center portion is disposed below the rubber packing 24. The partition plate 25 is placed on a plurality of ribs (not shown) formed on the inner wall of the main body 3 along the vertical direction.

  Below the partition plate 25, a switching valve 23 linked to the operation lever 9 described above is housed so as to be swingable in the left-right direction (the up-down direction in FIG. 3). The switching valve 23 switches the communication state between the raw water inlet 5 and the raw water introduction passage 27 described above, and the communication state between the raw water reception port 5 and the raw water passage 28 that guides the raw water to the shower outlet 7.

  More specifically, a switching valve holder 29 is disposed inside the main body 3 on the operation lever 9 side, and the switching valve 23 has a rotating shaft 30 supported by the switching valve holder 29 so as to be rotatable. The rotating shaft 30 is fixed to the rotating shaft of the operation lever 9 described above while sharing the axis. An O-ring 33 is mounted as a seal material around the rotary shaft 30 accommodated in the switching valve holder 29.

  The switching valve 23 includes an arm 31 extending rearward from the upper portion of the rotary shaft 30, and a substantially bottomed cylindrical valve body holder 32 that opens downward is provided at an end of the arm 31. Is formed. The valve body holder 32 supports the valve body 35 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction. A coil spring 34 is accommodated in the valve body 32, and the valve body 35 is urged downward by the coil spring 34. Yes.

  An opening (not shown) of the raw water introduction passage 27 and the raw water passage 28 is disposed below the valve body 35, and the arm 31 swings between the opening and the valve body 35 along the swinging direction. A long rubber valve seat packing 36 is provided. In the valve seat packing 36, holes (not shown) corresponding to the shapes of the openings of the raw water introduction passage 27 and the raw water passage 28 are arranged side by side along the left-right width direction of the main body 3.

  That is, when the right end portion 9b of the operation lever 9 provided with the shower mark 10 is pushed rearward by the user, the rotation shaft of the operation lever 9 rotates counterclockwise, and the switching valve is associated with this rotation. The rotating shaft 30 of 23 rotates and the arm 31 swings leftward. Then, the valve seat packing 36 around the periphery of the opening of the raw water introduction passage 27 is pressed by the valve body 35 from above, and the opening of the raw water introduction passage 27 is closed. As a result, the opening of the raw water passage 28 is opened, and the raw water received from the raw water receiving port 5 is discharged downward from the shower outlet 7 through the raw water passage 28.

  On the other hand, when the left end portion 9a of the operation lever 9 provided with the water purification mark 11 is pushed rearward by the user, the rotation shaft of the operation lever 9 rotates clockwise, and the switching valve 23 is rotated with this rotation. The rotation shaft 30 rotates and the arm 31 swings in the right direction. Then, the valve seat packing 36 at the periphery of the opening of the raw water passage 28 is pressed from above by the valve body 35, and the opening of the raw water passage 28 is closed. Thus, the raw water received from the raw water receiving port 5 is introduced into the cartridge 4 through the raw water introduction passage 27, that is, the female connector 12b and the male connector 14b, and then the purified water filtered by the cartridge 4 is purified water passage 26, that is, the male connector. It returns to the main body 3 via 14a and the female connector 12a, and is discharged | emitted downward from the purified water exit 8. FIG.

Next, the cartridge 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the cartridge 4, the side into which raw water flows is referred to as an inlet 47, and the side from which purified water flows out is referred to as an outlet 48.
The case 13 of the cartridge 4 is fitted to the inside of the substantially bottomed cylindrical case body 13a having the male connectors 14a, 14b, and 14c described above, and the opening 40 of the case body 13a, and is ultrasonically welded. It is comprised with the lid | cover 13b fixed to the main body 13a. The inner wall 41 of the case main body 13a is formed with a reduced diameter portion 42 whose inner diameter gradually decreases toward the bottom wall 13c of the case main body 13a in a range between the male connector 14a and the male connector 14c.

  A filtration unit 43 is accommodated inside the case body 13a. The filtration unit 43 includes a substantially cylindrical tubular body 44, and a stepped portion 45 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tubular body 44 on the extension line of the raw water introduction passage 27 formed by the male connector 14 b described above. ing. Since the step 45 is arranged on the extension line of the raw water introduction passage 27 of the male connector 14b in this way, the raw water flowing into the case 13 of the cartridge 4 through the raw water introduction passage 27 hits the step 45 and is smooth. In the direction of the entrance 47.

  The filtration unit 43 is formed with a large-diameter portion 49 formed on the outlet 48 side of the step portion 45 and having a larger diameter than the inlet 47 side of the step portion 45. Further, a reduced diameter portion 50 that gradually decreases in diameter toward the outlet 48 side is formed on the outer peripheral surface in the vicinity of the outlet 48 of the cylindrical body 44. A ring-shaped groove 51 is formed in the vicinity of the reduced diameter portion 50 of the large diameter portion 49, and an O-ring 52 is attached to the groove 51.

  On the other hand, the lid 13b is formed with a plurality of protrusions 59 that press the end face on the inlet 47 side of the cylindrical body 44 on the inner surface, and the lid 13b and the filtration unit 43 have a height corresponding to the height of the protrusion 59. A gap as a flow path of raw water is formed between the cylindrical body 44 and the cylindrical body 44.

  Here, when the filtration unit 43 is slid into the case body 13a from the inlet 47 side and the lid 13b is attached to the opening 40 of the case body 13a, the cylindrical body 44 of the filtration unit 43 is pushed into the case body 13a. Thus, the O-ring 52 hits the inner peripheral surface of the reduced diameter portion 42 in the vicinity of the male connector 14a, and the displacement of the filtration unit 43 in the direction of the inlet 47 is restricted. The internal space of the case body 13 a is partitioned by an O-ring 52, a passage T <b> 1 is formed on the inlet 47 side of the raw water from the O-ring 52, and purified water is supplied to the outlet 48 side of the O-ring 52. A passage T2 for flowing toward the purified water passage 26 is formed.

  Inside the cylindrical body 44 of the filtration unit 43, activated carbon 56 that is an adsorbent and a hollow fiber membrane 57 that is a filtration membrane are arranged in series along the longitudinal direction of the cartridge 4. Here, the male connector 14b described above is disposed on the outer peripheral wall of the case body 13a on the side where the activated carbon 56 is accommodated relative to the O-ring 52 attached to the cylindrical body 44, and the male connector 14a is connected to the O-ring 52. It is arrange | positioned rather than the outer peripheral wall of the case main body 13a by the side in which the hollow fiber membrane 57 is accommodated.

  The internal configuration of the filtration unit 43 will be described more specifically. On the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 44 of the filtration unit 43, a step 53 is formed slightly closer to the inlet 47 than the stepped portion 45 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 44 described above. A straightening plate 54 having an outer diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter in the vicinity of the inlet 47 side of the step 53 and having a plurality of holes 54 a is inserted into the shape body 44. The hole 54a regulates the flow of water from the activated carbon 56 toward the hollow fiber membrane 57 while allowing the water to flow through the inside of the cylindrical body 44 from the inlet 47 side to the outlet 48 side. It has a function to prevent.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the rectifying plate 54 is disposed at the center of the rectifying plate 54 and the outer ring portion 54 b formed in an annular shape with an outer diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter in the vicinity of the step 53 of the cylindrical body 44. A substantially disc-shaped baffle plate portion 54c, and a plurality of arms arranged radially from the baffle plate portion 54c and connecting the baffle plate portion 54c and the outer ring portion 54b to define the plurality of holes 54a described above. 54d. In FIG. 8, four arm portions 54d are provided at the same angle from the center. However, if the rectifying plate 54 has a plurality of holes 54a, the number and shape of the arm portions 54d are particularly limited. The rectifying plate 54 may be formed integrally with the inner peripheral portion of the cylindrical body 44.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 44 closer to the inlet 47 than the step 53 is formed with a diameter larger than that of the outlet 48, and the diameter gradually decreases from the inlet 47 toward the step 53. Thus, a reduced diameter portion 53a that is tapered is formed. Here, the step 53 has a function of a stopper of the rectifying plate 54 and restricts displacement of the rectifying plate 54 in the direction of the outlet 48.

  An activated carbon 56 that is an adsorbent is disposed on the inlet 47 side of the rectifying plate 54. The activated carbon 56 is a so-called molded activated carbon in which activated carbon fibers are fixed with a binder such as a heat welding resin, and is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having an outer diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter on the inlet 47 side of the cylindrical body 44. ing. The activated carbon 56 configured in this manner is accommodated in the cylindrical body 44 by press-fitting from the inlet 47 side, and the outer peripheral surface of the activated carbon 56 presses the inner peripheral surface of the reduced diameter portion 53 a of the cylindrical body 44. That is, the side surface of the activated carbon 56 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 44. The activated carbon 56 may be formed in a substantially truncated cone shape.

  On the other hand, a hollow fiber membrane 57 as a filtration membrane is accommodated on the outlet 48 side of the rectifying plate 54 inside the cylindrical body 44. The hollow fiber membrane 57 is disposed at a position corresponding to the reduced diameter portion 50 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 44 by a potting material 58 such as urethane resin, epoxy resin, polyolefin resin, etc. Blocked. Further, a non-woven fabric 55 is attached as a pre-filter in contact with the inlet 47 side surface of the molded activated carbon on the most inlet 47 side in the cylindrical body 44.

  That is, the raw water discharged from the tap water faucet 2 flows into the water purifier 1 from the raw water receiving port 5, and the raw water introduction passage 27 or the raw water passage that is not blocked by the switching valve 23 according to the operation state of the operation lever 9. 28 flows in. When raw water flows into the raw water passage 28, the raw water is guided to the shower outlet 7 as it is and flows out from the shower outlet 7 to the outside of the water purifier 1 as shower-like raw water.

  On the other hand, when raw water flows into the raw water introduction passage 27, the raw water flows into the case 13 of the cartridge 4 through the female connector 12 b and the male connector 14 b constituting the raw water introduction passage 27. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, after the passage T1 formed between the inner peripheral surface of the case 13 and the outer peripheral surface of the filtration unit 43 flows toward the inlet 47 of the filtration unit 43, the raw water is covered. It collides with the inner surface of 13b and enters between the filtration unit 43 and the lid 13b and enters the inside of the cylindrical body 44 through the nonwoven fabric 55 from the inlet 47 side of the filtration unit 43.

  The raw water that has entered the inside of the cylindrical body 44 flows out from the outlet 48 side of the filtration unit 43 to the passage T2 as purified water through adsorption by the activated carbon 56 and filtration by the hollow fiber membrane 57. The purified water flowing out from the filtration unit 43 flows into the main body 3 via the male connector 14a and the female connector 12a constituting the purified water passage 26 and flows down from the purified water outlet facing the lower side of the main body 3.

Next, an embodiment of the activated carbon 56 which is the molded activated carbon described above with reference to FIG. 9 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a graph of the first example, the second example, the first comparative example, and the second comparative example of the molded activated carbon when the vertical axis is the removal rate (%) and the horizontal axis is the water flow rate (L). It is shown. The conditions of the first example, the second example, the first comparative example, and the second comparative example are shown in the following table. The removal rate is a value obtained by calculating the amount of chlorine on the inlet side of the cartridge 4 and the amount of chlorine on the outlet side of the cartridge 4 and becomes (inlet side−outlet side) / inlet side × 100 (%). Further, the water flow amount is an integrated value of the water flow amount passed from the start of use of the cartridge 4.

  In the first example, the ratio (%) of fibrous activated carbon: granular activated carbon: binder is 90: 5: 5, and the density after filling (hereinafter simply referred to as filling density) is 0.22 g / ml. The water flow rate from the start of water flow until the removal rate decreased to 80%, which is a standard for normal replacement, was 800 (L). This corresponds to the amount of water that can be used for about 2.5 months when used in a general household.

  Next, 2nd Example is a case where each compounding ratio (%) of fibrous activated carbon: granular activated carbon: binder is 95: 0: 5, and the packing density is 0.20 g / ml. The water flow rate until the removal rate decreased to 80%, which is a standard for normal replacement, was 800 (L). Similarly to the first embodiment, this corresponds to the amount of water that can be used for about 2.5 months when used in a general household.

  The first comparative example is a case where the blending ratio (%) of fibrous activated carbon: granular activated carbon: binder is 90: 5: 5, and the packing density is 0.12 g / ml. The amount of water passed until the removal rate was reduced to 80%, which was a guide for replacement, was about 400L. This corresponds to the amount of water that can be used for a little over a month when used in a general household.

  Furthermore, the second comparative example is a case where the blending ratio (%) of fibrous activated carbon: granular activated carbon: binder is 50: 45: 5, and the packing density is 0.40 g / ml. The amount of water flow until the removal rate was reduced to 80%, which is a guide for replacement, was about 300L. This corresponds to the amount of water that can be used for about one month when used in a general household.

  Further, when the blending ratio of the fibrous activated carbon of the first embodiment described above is 90% or less, the water flow rate until the removal rate is reduced to 80% is about 800 L until the blending ratio is 85%. When the blending ratio is less than 85%, it has been found that the decrease in the amount of water flow until the removal rate decreases to 80% as the blending ratio of the fibrous activated carbon decreases. Further, it has been found that when the blending ratio of the fibrous activated carbon is 95% or more, if it exceeds 99%, it becomes difficult to maintain the shape as the molded activated carbon.

  Furthermore, when the blending ratio of the fibrous activated carbon is set between 85 to 99% and the packing density is set to 0.20 g / ml or less, the removal rate is reduced to 80% until the packing density is 0.15 g / ml. It was found that the water flow rate until about 800L can be maintained, but when the water flow rate is less than 0.15 g / ml, the reduction of the water flow rate until the removal rate is reduced to 80% becomes remarkable. In addition, when the packing density is 0.2 g / ml or more, when the density exceeds 0.3 g / ml, the water flow resistance is remarkably increased, so that local drift occurs and the removal rate is reduced to 80%. It was found that the reduction of water flow became significant.

  That is, as in the first example and the second example, when the mixing ratio of the fibrous activated carbon is 85 to 99% and the packing density is 0.15 to 0.30 g / ml, it is used in a general household. Thus, it is possible to obtain excellent water purification performance.

  On the other hand, even if the activated carbon blending ratio is 90% as in the first comparative example, the packing density is less than 0.15 g / ml, or the blending ratio of the fibrous activated carbon is less than 85% as in the second comparative example. At the same time, if the packing density exceeds 0.3 g / ml, sufficient residual chlorine removal performance can be obtained only for about one month when used in a general household. In Table 1 and FIG. 9, only the first example, the second example, the first comparative example, and the second comparative example are shown.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, by providing the inner surface of the cylindrical body 44 with the inclined surface 53a, the activated carbon 56 press-fitted from the inlet 47 side of the cylindrical body 44 is displaced to the outlet 48 side due to the inflow of raw water. The side surface of the activated carbon 56 can be held by the cylindrical body 44 while preventing the molded activated carbon from being deformed due to impact or the like.

  In addition, by preventing the shape of the activated carbon 56 from collapsing, for example, the ratio of the binder contained in the activated carbon 56 is reduced to be smaller than the ratio of the binder contained in the conventional molded activated carbon, and the adsorption performance is maintained. Can be achieved.

  Furthermore, since the activated carbon 56 is press-fitted into the cylindrical body 44, it is possible to prevent the gap between the activated carbon 56 and the cylindrical body 44 and reliably flow raw water through the activated carbon 56. The adsorption performance of the activated carbon 56 can be sufficiently exhibited.

Moreover, since it is only necessary to press-fit the activated carbon 56 into the cylindrical body 44, the burden on the operator during assembly can be reduced.
Furthermore, by making the content of fibrous activated carbon in the range of 85 to 99% and the density after filling 0.15 to 0.30 g / ml, the content of fibrous activated carbon is less than 85% and the filling density is 0.00. The required water purification performance can be ensured as compared with the case of less than 15 g / ml or greater than 0.30 g / ml.

  And since the nonwoven fabric 55 becomes a pre-filter, while being able to prevent a comparatively big to-be-filtered object flowing in inside a case, it suppresses that the powdery activated carbon which comes out of a shaping | molding activated carbon flows out of a case. be able to.

  Moreover, since a water purification cartridge can be reduced in size, without reducing the adsorption | suction performance of activated carbon 56, size reduction of water purifier itself can be achieved and, therefore, commercial property can be improved.

  Further, since a plurality of arm portions 54d for rectifying the flow of water are provided on the rectifying plate 54, the water flow from the inlet 47 side to the outlet 48 side inside the cylindrical body 44 collides with the arm portion 54d. Therefore, the water flow can be evenly distributed in the cylindrical body 44 without locally biasing the water flow. As a result, the utilization efficiency of the activated carbon 56 that is an adsorbent and the hollow fiber membrane 57 that is a filtration membrane is improved. It can be raised further.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the main body 3 and the cartridge 4 are fixed using the locking piece 16 has been described. However, the locking piece 16 may be omitted.
Moreover, although the case where the case main body 13a and the cylindrical body 44 are formed in a cylindrical shape has been described, the cylindrical main body is not limited to a cylindrical shape as long as it is cylindrical.

It is a perspective view of the water purifier in embodiment of this invention. It is the arrow view seen from the A direction of FIG. It is a perspective view of the water purifier of the state which removed the cartridge from the main body in embodiment of this invention. It is a fragmentary sectional view around the locking piece of the cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the BB line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the CC line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the filtration unit in an embodiment of the invention. It is a front view of the baffle plate in embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the change of the removal rate with respect to the amount of water flow in a 1st example, a 2nd example, a 1st comparative example, and a 2nd comparative example.

Explanation of symbols

3 body (water purifier body)
4 Water purification cartridge 12a, 12b, 12c Female connector (female connector part)
14a, 14b, 14c Male connector (male connector part)
56 Activated carbon (adsorbent)
57 Hollow fiber membrane (filtration membrane)
44 Cylindrical body 47 Inlet 48 Outlet 54 Current plate 54d Arm

Claims (6)

A case is provided with a cylindrical body having both ends opened inside, and the case contains a molded activated carbon obtained by molding fibrous activated carbon into a fixed shape using a binder, a filtration membrane, and a current plate. A water purification cartridge for purifying raw water taken in by passing water from an inlet to an outlet of the cylindrical body,
The cylindrical body is provided with a taper that tapers from at least a part of its inner wall surface toward the outlet side from the inlet side,
A cross-sectional shape of the cylindrical body is formed in a substantially circular shape, and the molded activated carbon is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape or a substantially truncated cone shape,
The side surface of the molded activated carbon is in contact with the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body at the tapered portion.
The content of fibrous activated carbon is in the range of 85-99%, the density after filling is in the range of 0.15-0.30 g / ml,
The filtration membrane is fixed inside the cylindrical body,
The water purification cartridge, wherein the current plate is disposed between the filtration membrane and the molded activated carbon. The water purification cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the molded activated carbon is fixed to the cylindrical body by press-fitting from the inlet side of the cylindrical body. The water purification cartridge according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein a nonwoven fabric is provided on the inlet side of the cylindrical body with respect to the molded activated carbon. The water purification cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the rectifying plate is provided with a plurality of arms extending from a center thereof toward an outer peripheral portion. A water purifier comprising the water purification cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and a water purifier body having a water purification outlet.   For each of the outer wall of the case and the water purifier main body, a male connector part is provided on either side, and a female connector part inserted and fitted into the other is provided, and the male connector part and the female connector part are fitted. The water purifier according to claim 5, wherein a water passage is formed between the water purifier main body and the cartridge and the cartridge is supported by the water purifier main body.

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