JPH02207884A - Water cleaner of low-voltage impression type - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prolong the life of batteries and to decrease the frequency of battery exchanges by using the batteries as a power source and providing a switching means which switches the energization and non-energization of a positive electrode and a negative electrode. CONSTITUTION:A positive electrode 16 and a negative electrode 17 are electrically connected to a 1st battery 7 and a 2nd battery 8 for a prescribed period of time (for example, 1 second) by the operation of a switching means 44 when the cock of a faucet connected to the water cleaner is operated. The energization of the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17 is stopped by the operation of the switching means 44 after about one second. A counter electromotive force is then generated between the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17. The propagation of the microorganism in a filter 4 is, therefore, suppressed by the counter electromotive force even if the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17 are not energized while the water cleaner is not in use as a user closes the cock of the faucet. The 1st battery 7 and the 2nd battery 9 are consumed only for the first one second when the water cleaner is used in such a manner and, therefore, the life of the batteries is prolonged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an apparatus for purifying water, and more particularly to a low voltage application type water purifier that suppresses the generation of microorganisms in a filtration filter using a low voltage.

[Prior Art] Water in tap water contains inorganic substances such as fine iron and sand, fine organic substances that cause odor, and sterilizing chlorine that suppresses the generation of microorganisms in the water.

A water purifier is used as a means to remove these inorganic substances, organic substances, chlorine, etc. from tap water.

The water purifier includes an activated carbon layer filter in the water passageway as a means for purifying water. By allowing water to pass through this filter, fine dust contained in the water is captured by the filter, and organic substances and chlorine that cause odor are adsorbed by the activated carbon. As a result, inorganic matter, organic matter, chlorine, etc. contained in the water that has passed through the filtration filter are removed.

However, the captured and adsorbed organic substances remain in the filter as they are. Therefore, organic matter and inorganic matter such as activated carbon coexist inside the filter. In other words, the inside of the filter is in a state suitable for the propagation of microorganisms.

On the other hand, if the flow of water through the filter is stopped, microorganisms will breed within the filter and the water will be contaminated. especially,
- If water is not passed through the filter for several days, microorganisms will multiply all at once, and the number of microorganisms after passing through the filter reaches tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of microorganisms per 11 parts of water.

As a means to solve this problem, a technique is known in which a low voltage is applied to a conductive filter.

This technique suppresses the growth of microorganisms in a filtration filter using an applied voltage.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] When a low voltage is applied to a filtration filter, when the applied voltage drops below a predetermined voltage, the effect of suppressing the proliferation of microorganisms decreases. If it decreases, microorganisms will grow inside the filter.

On the other hand, it has been proposed to use a battery as a power source for applying voltage to the filter.

However, when batteries are used for a long period of time, the voltage drops, so it is necessary to replace them at an appropriate time. Replacing the battery is troublesome for the user, and therefore there is a desire to extend the life of the battery and reduce the number of battery replacements.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a low voltage application type water purifier that can extend the life of the battery and reduce the number of battery replacements.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the low voltage application type water purifier of the present invention includes a water passage for flowing water toward a discharge port, and a water passage disposed within the water passage, a conductive filtration filter that purifies water passing through the water passage by filtration; a positive electrode electrically connected to the filtration filter; a negative electrode electrically connected to the positive electrode, and a positive electrode connected to the positive electrode;
A technical means is adopted that includes a battery in which a negative electrode is connected to the negative electrode, and a switching means that uses the battery as a power source and switches between energization and de-energization of the positive electrode and the negative electrode.

Note that the switching means switches between energization and de-energization of the positive electrode and the negative electrode depending on the time.
Various types of means can be applied, such as a time limiter for turning off the water purifier, a means for turning off the water purifier every time the water purifier is used, and a manual operation means for turning off the water purifier manually.

[Function] In the low voltage application type water purifier configured as described above, when the positive electrode and the negative electrode are energized by the switching means, the voltage of the battery is applied to the filtration filter. Then, the voltage applied to the filter suppresses the growth of microorganisms on the filter.

Furthermore, when the switching means stops energizing the positive electrode and the negative electrode, a back electromotive force is generated between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. Therefore, even if the battery is no longer energized, a voltage due to the back electromotive force is applied to the filter. As a result, the counter electromotive force generated between the positive electrode and the negative electrode suppresses the growth of microorganisms on the filter.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the present invention, even if the power supply to the battery is stopped, the voltage due to the back electromotive force is applied to the filtration filter. , it is possible to suppress the growth of microorganisms in the filtration filter.

As a result, the life of the battery can be extended and the number of battery replacements can be reduced.

[Example] Next, a low voltage application type water purifier of the present invention will be described based on an example shown in the drawings.

The water purifier 1 of this embodiment is comprised of a filtration unit 2 shown in FIG. 2 and a base 3 shown in FIG. 3.

The filtration unit 2 includes a first housing 6 that houses a filter 4 and forms a water passage, and a first housing 6 that houses an electric circuit 10 such as a battery 7.8 and a board 9 between the first housing 6 and the like. 2 housing 11.

First, the first housing 6 and the configuration inside the first housing 6 will be described.

The first housing 6 is a three-part body made of resin, and includes a cylindrical part 12 that covers the periphery of the filter 4, a lower lid 13 that is attached to the lower part of the cylindrical part 12, and a lower lid 13 that is attached to the upper part of the cylindrical part 12. It consists of soil v114 that can be attached. The lower part 1113 is a cylindrical boss part 15 that is fitted into the base 3.
Equipped with The upper lid 14 has a positive electrode 4i116, a negative electrode 17,
positive electrode holding holes 16a for holding the water level electrodes 18, respectively;
A negative electrode holding hole 11a and a water level electrode holding hole 18a are formed.

Filtration filter 4 housed and held in first housing 6
is an activated carbon fiber layer with a through hole 21 in the center, and resin mesh filters 22 and 23 are arranged on the upper and lower surfaces. An upper partition wall 24 and a lower partition wall 25 made of resin are arranged above and below the mesh filters 22 and 23. In other words, the filtration filter 4 with the mesh filters 22 and 23 sandwiched between the upper partition wall 24 and the lower partition wall 25
It is held between.

Note that the activated carbon fiber layer has the property of conducting electricity. Furthermore, the filter 4 may be made of activated carbon.

The upper partition wall 24 is disc-shaped and has several holes 26 around it to allow water to pass through. Note that one hole 2 among the holes 26
The positive electrode 16 is inserted into the hole 6, and the negative electrode 11 is inserted into one of the other holes 26. In addition, a through hole 2 for the filter 4 is provided in the central portion of the upper partition wall 24.
1 and is provided with a cylindrical portion 27 disposed within the boss portion 15 of the lower lid 13.

The lower partition wall 25 is disc-shaped and has several holes 28 around it for letting water pass through. The center of the lower partition wall 25 is
An insertion hole 29 is provided through which the cylindrical portion 27 of the upper partition wall 24 is inserted. Further, the lower partition wall 25 is arranged so that the negative electrode 17 is insulated from the filtration filter 4. 213 and the lower partition wall 25.

Next, the water passage 5 within the filtration unit 2 will be explained.

The waterway 5 in this embodiment includes a first space 32 formed between the boss portion 15 and the cylindrical portion 21, a second space 30 surrounded by the lower lid 13 and the lower partition wall 25, and a lower partition wall. 25
The hole 28 in the upper partition wall 24 and the lower partition wall 25, the third space 33 (the space in which the filtration filter 4 is arranged), the hole 26 in the upper partition wall 24, the hole 26 in the upper partition wall 24, the lid 14 and the upper side. It is constituted by a fourth space 34 surrounded by the partition wall 24 and a fifth space 35 within the cylindrical portion 21 . That is, when water flows into the first space 32, water flows out from the fifth space 35 on the inner periphery of the first space 32 (see arrows in FIG. 2).

Note that a check valve 36 that allows water to flow only from the first space 32 to the second space 30 is provided at an upstream portion of the second space 30. As a result, even if the water supply to the first space ff132 is stopped, the first space 32, the second space 30, and the third space 133
is always filled with water. That is, the negative electrode 17 is always electrically connected to the filtration filter 4 via water.

Next, the positive electrode 16, negative electrode 17, and water level electrode 18 will be explained. .

The positive electrode 16 is made of carbon or other material that does not cause food hygiene problems, and is held by the positive electrode holding hole 16a of the upper N14 and inserted into the filtration filter 4 through the mesh filter 22.

The negative electrode 17 is made of a material such as carbon or aluminum that not only does not cause food hygiene problems, but also generates a back electromotive force when the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17 are de-energized. The negative electrode 17 is held by the negative electrode holding hole 17a of the upper lid 14, and is insulated from the filtration filter 4 through the guide tube 31 of the lower lid 13 in the second space 30 as described above. It is arranged.

The water level electrode 18 is an electrode made of carbonaceous material, and is held above the fourth space 34 by the water level electrode holding hole 18a of the upper M14. The water level electrode 18 is arranged so that its resistance value decreases when it gets wet with water.

Here, the back electromotive force when the positive electrode 1G is made of carbonaceous material and the negative electrode 17 is made of carbonaceous material or aluminum will be explained using FIG. 4. The back electromotive force attempts to reduce the current itself by generating an induced electromotive force in the opposite direction to the supply voltage, and in this embodiment, the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17
This method utilizes the back electromotive force generated between the electrodes after a voltage is applied to the electrodes.

Note that FIG. 4 shows the back electromotive force after applying a certain voltage to the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17 for a certain period of time, where the horizontal axis shows the applied voltage and the vertical axis shows the generated back electromotive force. .

A solid line A shown in the figure shows the back electromotive force when the negative electrode 17 is made of carbonaceous material and the density of the activated carbon fiber layer is 0.13o/cs+'.

A solid line B shown in the figure shows the back electromotive force when the negative electrode 11 is made of carbonaceous material and the density of the activated carbon fiber layer is 0.17 g/cm'.

A solid line C shown in the figure shows the back electromotive force when the negative electrode 17 is made of aluminum and the density of the activated carbon fiber layer is 0.13 g/cm<3>.

The solid line shown in the figure indicates that the negative electrode 11 is made of aluminum and the density of the activated carbon fiber layer is 0.17 (1/CIJ
shows the back electromotive force of the

From this graph, quality and weight f! It can be seen that forming 17 with aluminum is more significant. Then, the density of the activated carbon fiber layer, the material of the negative electrode 11, the surface area of the negative electrode 17, the applied voltage, the voltage application time, etc. are set in consideration of these conditions.

Next, the base 3 will be explained.

The base 3 is made of resin and has an insertion hole 37 at the top into which the boss portion 15 of the r-pass unit 2 is inserted. The inside of the insertion hole 37 has a double pipe structure.

Then, when the boss portion 15 is inserted into the insertion hole 37, the tube 38 on the outer circumference of the base 3 communicates with the first space 32, and the tube 38 on the inner circumference communicates with the first space 32.
9 communicates with the fifth space m3s. Note that the outer circumferential tube 38 is
It communicates with a water guide passage 40 that is connected to a faucet of a water faucet (not shown) that is operated by a user.

Further, the lower end of the inner circumferential pipe 39 serves as a discharge port 41 for supplying purified water to the user. In other words, the water guide passage 40, the outer circumferential pipe 38, and the inner circumferential pipe 39 form a part of the water passage of the present invention, and when the user operates the tap of the faucet to discharge water from the faucet. The water discharged from the faucet passes through the water guide passage 40, the water passage 5 in the filtration unit 2, and is supplied to the user through the discharge port 41.

Note that O-rings 42 and 43 are attached around the lower end of the boss portion 15 and around the lower end of the cylindrical portion 27, respectively. As a result, when the boss portion 15 is inserted into the insertion hole 37, the connection portion between the tube 38 on the outer circumference of the base 3 and the first space 32 is sealed, and the connection between the tube 39 on the inner circumference of the base 3 and the fifth space 35 is sealed. The seal of the connection part is ensured.

Next, the electric circuit 10 housed in the second housing 11
will be explained using FIG.

The electric circuit 10 of this embodiment is broadly divided into a switching means 44 for switching the energization state of the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17, and a notification means 45 for notifying the user of the time to replace the battery. The notification means 45 includes a display means 46 and a voltage detection means 47.

The switching means 44 of this embodiment switches the first battery 7, the second battery The voltage of the battery 8 is applied to the filter 4. In addition, the switching means 44 of this embodiment is configured to control the display means 46 of the notification means 45 for the first predetermined time when the user uses the water purifier 1.
It operates.

The switching means 44 includes a transistor 48 and three resistors 49.
．． 50.51. Consists of one timer capacitor 52 and water level electrode 18. When the water level electrode 18 gets wet, the resistance value of the water level electrode 18 decreases, and the transistor 48 is turned off until the capacitor 52 is completely charged.
NL, a voltage obtained by connecting the first battery 7 and the second battery 8 in series is applied between the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17 and to the display means 46.

When charging of the capacitor 52 is completed, the transistor 48 becomes 0 [F] between the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17.
And the power supply to the display means 46 is stopped.

The display means 46 consists of a first light emitting diode 53 that informs the user that the time has come to replace the r battery, and a second light emitting diode 54 that informs the user that the time has come to replace the r battery. The first light emitting diode 53 emits, for example, green light when energized, and the second light emitting diode 54 emits, for example, red light when energized. As shown in the second factor, the second housing 11 includes two lenses 53a and 54a for displaying the light emitted by the first light emitting diode 53 and the second light emitting diode 54 in the second housing 11 to the user. is provided.

The voltage detection means 47 switches the energization state of the two light emitting diodes 53 and 54 according to the voltage of the first battery 7, and energizes the first light emitting diode 53 when the voltage of the first battery 7 is higher than a predetermined voltage. state, and the second light emitting diode 54 is energized when the voltage of the first battery 7 is less than a predetermined voltage. And the voltage detection means 47 of this embodiment
consists of first to fourth transistors 55 to 58 and two resistors 59.6G that supply a partial voltage corresponding to the voltage of the first battery 7 to the base of the first transistor 55. Then, when the first transistor 55 is turned on, the second transistor 56 is turned on, and the first light emitting diode 53 is enabled to conduct electricity. Further, the first transistor 55 is
F) Then, the third and fourth transistors 57 and 58 become OH.
L, the second light emitting diode 54 is enabled to be energized.

Note that the symbols 61 and 62 in the figure indicate two light emitting diodes 5.
3.54 is a resistor that limits the current applied to it.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

When the user operates the tap on the faucet connected to the water purifier 1, the water discharged from the faucet passes through the water passage 5 in the r-filtration unit 2 and is discharged from the outlet 41 provided in the base 2. supplied to the user. When the water discharged from the discharge port 41 passes through the water passage 5, it passes through the two mesh filters 22 and 23 and the filtration filter 4, so that inorganic substances, organic substances, chlorine, etc. contained in the tap water are removed. has been removed.

When the user closes the faucet, the outlet 41
Discharge of more purified water stops.

When the user operates the tap of the water faucet connected to the water purifier 1, the switching means 44 operates to switch the positive electrode 8J4ie and the negative electrode 17 to the first
It is electrically connected to the battery 7 and the second battery 8. After about one second, the switching means 44 is operated to stop energizing the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 11. Then, positive electrode 1
A back electromotive force is generated between the negative electrode 17 and the negative electrode 17 . Therefore, when the user closes the faucet and is not using the water purifier 1, the back electromotive force prevents the growth of microorganisms in the filter 4 even if the positive electrode 16 and the negative electrode 17 are not energized. It can be suppressed.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the first battery 7 and the second battery 8 are consumed only for the first second when the water purifier 1 is used. This can dramatically extend battery life.

As a result, the user can reduce the number of troublesome battery replacements and extend the battery life, thereby reducing battery costs.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the user uses the water purifier 1,
The display means 46 is energized for a predetermined period of time (for example, 1 second).
In the display means 46, the first light emitting diode 53 emits light when the voltage of the first battery 7 is higher than a predetermined voltage, and the second light emitting diode 54 emits light when the voltage of the first battery 7 is less than the predetermined voltage. Therefore, the user can accurately and easily know when to replace the battery. As a result, it is possible to prevent microorganisms from propagating within the filtration filter 4 due to a voltage drop in the battery. This display means 46 is
Since it operates only during the first predetermined time (1 second) when the water purifier 1 is used, the power consumption of the display means 46 can be kept very low. Therefore, even if the water purifier 1 is provided with a circuit for detecting battery replacement, the battery life can be extended.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the battery and the V filter 4 can be replaced at the same time, the hassle of battery replacement can be reduced. Furthermore, the battery and filter 4 can be easily replaced by simply removing the filter unit 2 from the base 3 and inserting a new filter unit 2 into the base 3.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an electrical circuit diagram used in a low-voltage water purifier, Figure 2 is a sectional view of the filtration unit, Figure 3 is a sectional view of the base, and Figure 4 is a graph to explain back electromotive force. It is. In the diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) (a) a water passageway through which water flows toward the discharge port; (b)
(c) a positive electrode electrically connected to the filtration filter; (d) a conductive filtration filter disposed within the water passage and purifying water passing through the water passage; a negative electrode disposed in the water of the water passage and electrically connected to the filtration filter via water; (e) a positive electrode is connected to the positive electrode, and a negative electrode is connected to the negative electrode; A low voltage application type water purifier comprising: a battery; and (f) a switching means that uses the battery as a power source and switches between energization and de-energization of the positive electrode and the negative electrode.