JPH02245288A - Water purifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent offensive odor and offensive taste caused by anaerobes by charging filter medium at upper part of a cartridge for purification as possible to attach/ detach to side face of a water purifier body, arranging air intake hole and providing the ordinary returning passage at lower part of the cartridge between the cartridge and the body. CONSTITUTION:The cartridge 3 for purification covered with a cover 6 and including the filter medium composed of hollow yarn film, is connected to the side face of the water purifier body 1 fitted to a faucet 10. By operating a handle 2 to control position of a rotary valve in inner part, the valve is turned to water stopping condition, direct water discharge 4 condition or water purifying condition. In the water purifying condition, the water is purified through a flowing-in pipe 33 and the filter medium and drained 4 from the flowing-out pipe 34. The air intake hole 39 is arranged at the upper part of the cartridge 3, and when the water purification is not executed, water pressure is not loaded on the cartridge 3 and a valve in the intake hole 39 is opened and the air freely flows in and out. By this method, when the water purification is not executed, the water drainage in the cartridge 3 is quickly executed and propagation of the anaerobe is prevented by coming the filter medium into contact with the air, and the development of the offensive odor and taste is prevented.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a water purifier that uses a hollow fiber membrane as a furnace material to remove unpleasant odors and tastes caused by residual chlorine in tap water, as well as colloidal iron, fine dust, bacteria, etc. that have precipitated in water. It is.

[Conventional technology]

Water purifiers that use hollow fiber membranes as filter media have been attracting attention in recent years, as they have extremely high purification capabilities that can even remove bacteria. However, products that use hollow fiber membranes as filter media have the problem that they tend to produce unpleasant odors and tastes caused by anaerobic bacteria when residual chlorine and dissolved oxygen are low. It has been proposed to provide an intake port and a valve at the drain hole to prevent water from flowing out from the drain hole during purified water.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, with this configuration, the valve does not open due to water head pressure even when water is not being purified, making it impossible to reliably drain water, thus preventing the occurrence of off-flavors caused by anaerobic bacteria. I can't. The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its purpose is to provide a water purifier that can reliably drain water from a cartridge and that does not generate unpleasant odors and tastes caused by anaerobic bacteria. There is something to do.

[Means to solve the problem]

Therefore, the present invention consists of a purification cartridge containing a hollow fiber membrane as a filter medium, and a main body to which this cartridge is detachably attached to the side. In a water purifier, a water purifier is provided with a supply path for sending water and a return path for returning water from the cartridge side to the main body, and the water purified by the purifying member is discharged from the water discharge part on the main body side. It houses a filter medium, and is characterized by having an air intake hole in the upper part of the mounting surface to the main body, and a purified water return path that is always open and connected to the water discharge part on the main body side in the lower part. have. [Function] According to the present invention, when water is not being fed into the cartridge, air flows in through the air intake hole in the upper part and water flows out from the purified water return path which is always open. , the water is drained quickly and the filter medium in the upper part of the cartridge is reliably exposed to air. [Example] The present invention will be described in detail below based on the illustrated example. This water purifier includes a main body 1 made of synthetic resin and formed into a cylindrical shape with vertical openings, and a mounting nut attached to the upper part of the main body 1. 60, lever 2 attached to the side of main body 1;
A cartridge 3 that accommodates filter media 7a and 7b and is attached to the rear surface of the main body 1, a cover 6 that covers the cartridge 3, a water discharge plate 4 that is attached to the lower surface of the main body 1, and a cylindrical rotary that is housed within the main body 1. It is composed of a valve 5. The upper end of the main body 1 is used as an attachment part for attachment to a water faucet 10. The main body 1, which has a cover 12 attached to its lower part, is provided with an inlet 11 on its upper surface that communicates with the faucet 10, and has a tube 61 standing upright surrounding this inlet 11. Inside of 61 is a gasket 63 for attaching a faucet.
and a water-stop gasket 64 are arranged, and a male thread is cut on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder 61 to screw into the mounting nut 60.8 The mounting nut 60 removed from the main body 1 is once inserted into the water faucet 10. After that, the auxiliary fitting 62 is locked to the tip of the faucet 10, and in this state, the tip of the faucet 10 is inserted into the cylinder 61, and the mounting nut 60 is screwed into the cylinder 61 and tightened. The distal end surface of the faucet 10 is pressed against the gasket 63 via the fitting 62, and the main body 1 is attached to the faucet 10. The mounting nut 60 has a non-slip surface on its outer circumferential surface so that it can be turned directly by hand. The center of the main body 1, from which the cylindrical portion 19 for attaching the cartridge 3 protrudes rearward from the rear side, is formed as a valve chamber 13 having a circular longitudinal section and opening to the -side. This valve chamber 13
is a portion in which the rotary valve 5 is housed, and is open upward through the inflow port 11.
As shown in Figure (a), a first outlet 14 is formed below, a second outlet 15 is formed obliquely downward, and a cylindrical portion 18 surrounding the first outlet 14 is formed to hang down. As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5(b), on the back side of the main body 1, a communication hole 16 is provided, one end of which opens into the valve chamber 13, and the other end of which opens at the back surface. and
Further, the two-speed communication holes 16 and 17 are provided with a communication hole 17 whose one end is opened in the cylindrical portion 18 and the other end is opened on the back side, where the communication hole 17 is shifted downward from the communication hole 16. In addition to being located at the axial direction of the valve chamber 13, it is also located at a position shifted in the axial direction of the valve chamber 13. The water discharge plate 4 attached to the lower surface of the main body 1 has a water discharge port 41 in the center and a large number of small holes 42 around the periphery for discharging water in the form of a shower. It is attached to the main body 1 by screwing into a male thread formed on a partition member 45 that is fixed by means such as sonic welding. The ring-shaped partition member 45 located between the cylindrical portion 18 and the water discharge plate 4 is provided with a buffer piece 46 and a rectifying rib 43 at its center via a plurality of ribs. In addition, the flow path from the first outlet 14 to the water outlet 41 is separated from the external space of the valve chamber 13 and the cylindrical portion 18 in the main body 1, and the water outlet 41 is provided with a rectifying wire mesh 44. It is arranged. The cover 12 is attached at the same time as the water discharge plate 4 is attached to the main body 1, and is provided to make the front shape of the main body 1 approximately spherical. The rotary valve 5 housed in the valve chamber 13 is composed of a shaft 51 and a cylindrical portion 52 integrally formed with the shaft 51, and is suspended along the inlet 11 from the water stop gasket 64. A large first inlet 53, a small second inlet 54, and an outlet 55 are formed on the circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 52, with which the lower end of the thin cylindrical hanging piece 65 elastically contacts. . Although the first inlet port 53 and the outlet port 55 are connected inside the cylindrical portion 52, the second inlet port 54 is connected to the partition wall as shown in FIG. 5(b). 56 and communicates with the end face of the rotary valve 5. A second inlet port 54 is provided on the end face of the rotary valve 5.
Rotating bodies 8a, 8b and a sealing member 9 shown in FIG. 9 are connected to form a flow path connecting the valve chamber 13 and the communicating hole 16 which is opened at the lower end of the inner part of the valve chamber 13. As shown in FIG. 5(b), a plurality of recesses 59 provided on the outer circumferential surface of the end of the cylindrical portion 5 of the rotary valve 5 are formed into balls that are biased by a spring 68 and protrude into the valve chamber 13. When 69 is engaged, a click is applied to the rotation of the rotary valve 5, and the rotary valve 5 is positioned in each of the four states described later. The rotary valve 5 is attached to the main body 1 using a holding plate 70. The holding plate 70 through which the shaft 51 of the rotary valve 5 passes is attached to the main body 1 by screwing into a female thread formed on the inner circumferential surface of the opening of the valve chamber 13 that opens on the side surface of the main body 1. Valve chamber 13
Prevents overflow. The lever 2 has a fitting part with the non-circular tip of the shaft 51 of the rotary valve 5 that penetrates the holding plate 70 and projects to the outside. 72 in the figure is a cap that hides the screw 71, 74 is an operation position indicating ring that rotates together with the lever 2, and 75 is a reinforcing ring. The rotation range of the lever 2 is regulated by a projection 73 shown in FIG. 4 engaging with the inner surface of the cylindrical portion at the base end of the lever 2. Further, a spherical body 21 is attached to the tip of the lever 2. As shown in FIG. 5(b), this attachment is carried out by inserting the locking protrusion 20 at the tip of the lever 2 through one of the spherical bodies 21 formed in the other by a combination of a pair of members. This is done by engaging the portion 22. Now, the cartridge 3 that houses the members 7a and 7b consists of a cylindrical case 30 that opens at the front and rear,
A front plate 31 that closes the front opening of the case 30 and the case 30
A container is formed by a back plate 32 that closes the rear end opening, and the inside of the case 30, in which the front plate 31 and the back plate 32 are fixed by means such as ultrasonic welding, is
The upper P
It is divided into a stroke capacity section and a return path 37 on the lower side, and the component storage section is further divided into a front chamber 3a and two P-sweet acid chambers 3b, 3c by mesh frames 35, 95. The chamber 3b accommodates a filter medium 7a made of a granular or powdery active substance impregnated with silver for preventing the proliferation of germs, and the r stroke chamber 3c accommodates a filter medium 7b as a hollow fiber membrane module. still,
The mesh frame 35 is for preventing leakage of the filter medium 7a, and is made of polyester, rayon, etc. and is welded to the front plate 31. The front plate 31 fixed to the front surface of the case 30 has a first plug 33 and a twenty-first lug 34 protruding forward, and when the cartridge 3 is connected to the main body 1,
The eleventh lug 33 that communicates with the front chamber 3a is connected to the communication hole 1.
The 21st lug 34, which is inserted into the opening on the back side of the main body 1 of No. 6 and communicates with the return path 37, is inserted into the opening on the back side of the main body 1 of the connection hole 17. Water flowing into the cartridge 3 from the communication hole 16 via the first plug 33 first enters the front chamber 3a and passes through the filter medium 7a. After reaching the rear end of the cartridge 3 through the storage chambers 7b in order, it turns back and passes through the return path 37, returning to the main body 1 through the second plug 34 and the communication hole 17. A backflow prevention ball 38 made of soft rubber is accommodated within the first plug 33. Also, cartridge 3
At the upper end of the front plate 31, as shown in FIG. 5(a),
Three air intake holes connected to the front chamber 3a are provided, and an air intake port 38 is provided on the lower surface of the rear end of the main body 1. A ball 77 made of soft rubber arranged at the air intake hole 39 closes the three air intake holes when pressure is applied inside the cartridge 3 to prevent water from leaking from the air intake hole 39. . To attach the cartridge 3 to the main body 1, as described above, connect the 11th lug 34 and the 21st lug 35 to the communication hole 16.
, 17, cover the cartridge 32 with a bottomed cylindrical cover 6, and screw the cover 6, which has a female thread 65 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tip, into the cylindrical portion 19 on the back of the main body 1, This is done by pressing the cartridge 3 toward the main body 1 side. Note that 81 to 86.90 in the figure are all O-rings. However, in this water purifier, the cartridge 3 is attached to the faucet 10 in such a way that it is located under the horizontal pipe section of the faucet 10, and after it is installed, when the faucet 10 is turned each time, the lever does not move. 2 can switch between water stop and water discharge, and when the lever 2 is turned almost upward as shown in Fig. 6, the lever 2
The outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 52 of the rotary valve 5, which rotates together with the rotary valve 5, comes into close contact with the lower end opening edge of the cylindrical hanging piece 65 of the water-stopping packing 64 to shut off water. When the lever 2 is tilted backward from the water stop position to the position shown in FIG. The valve chamber 1 passes through the flow path formed by the bodies 8a and 8b.
3 and enters the cartridge 3 through a communication hole 16 that opens at the back of the cartridge 3. Residual chlorine is removed from the water that has entered the cartridge 3 by the adsorption action of the filter medium 7a, and then microorganisms such as bacteria, mold, algae, iron chains, turbidity, etc. contained in the tap water 4 are removed by the precision filtration action of the filter medium 7b. Fine particles (larger than 0.1μ) are removed. Note that minerals contained in water pass through as is. The purified water that has passed through the filter medium 7b returns from the return path 37 through the communication hole 17 into the cylindrical portion 18 of the main body 1, and is discharged from the water outlet 41. At this point, the air intake hole 39 is closed due to the movement of the ball 77 due to the water pressure inside the cartridge 3. In addition, if the tap water pressure is extremely high, or if the filter medium 7b consisting of a hollow fiber membrane module becomes clogged,
When the internal pressure inside the cartridge 3 becomes high, a second
The pressure regulating valve 91 facing the flow path connecting the inlet 54 and the communication hole 16 retreats against the pressure regulating spring 92, causing water to leak from the small hole 42 of the water discharge plate 4. This prompts the user to close the faucet or replace the cartridge 3. When the lever 2 is moved forward one step from the water stop state to the state shown in FIG. 7, the first inlet 53 of the rotary valve 5 faces the inlet 11 and the outlet 55
communicates with the second outlet 15, and the inlet 11
The water passes through the first inlet 53, the outlet 55, and the second outlet 15, hits the top surface of the ring-shaped partition member 45, and is scattered, and then flows out of the small hole 42 of the water discharge plate 4 in a shower shape. and is released. When the lever 2 is further pushed forward from the shower-like water discharging state, as shown in FIG. Since the outlet 55 is in communication with the first outlet 14, water from the inlet 11 flows to the first outlet 14, and the M section 46 of the partition member 45
After the water hits the water and the flow velocity is weakened, the flow is rectified by the rectifying ribs 43 and the rectifying wire mesh 44 and is discharged from the water outlet 41. In this way, the illustrated water purifier can stop water, discharge purified water,
4. Shower-like discharge of raw water and direct discharge of raw water
It is possible to switch between stages, and various water discharge states and water stop states can be obtained by simply operating the lever 2, depending on the purpose of the water. In addition to preventing the O-ring 85 from flowing toward the communication hole 16, not only when the water is stopped, but also when raw water is directly discharged, that is, during the shower-like water discharge and direct water discharge, the seal Since the member 9 closes the communication hole 16 itself, water does not flow into the cartridge 3 side. Furthermore, the communication hole 17 that returns the water flowing to the cartridge 3 side to the main body 1 side opens into a cylindrical portion 18 that is downstream of the valve chamber 13 in which the rotary valve 5 is disposed and is connected to the water discharge port 41. Therefore, the communication hole 17 is always open, and therefore, when water is not being sent to the cartridge 3 side, no internal pressure is applied to the cartridge 3, and the air intake hole 39 is open to the cartridge 3 side. Since the ball 77 that closes the air intake hole 39 is located above the air intake hole 39, there is almost no water head pressure, and the ball 77 easily moves and closes the air intake hole 39.
be sure to open it. Therefore, the residual water in the cartridge 3 is discharged from the second plug 34, which also serves as a drain hole, located in the lower part of the cartridge 3, through the communication hole 17 and the water discharge port 41, and is discharged from the second plug 34, which is located in the lower part of the cartridge 3 and also serves as a water drain hole. The filter medium 7b will definitely be exposed to air. Moreover, when the water is directly discharged, negative pressure is applied to the communication hole 17 due to the powerful water flow discharged from the water discharge port 41 through the cylindrical portion 18, so that the water stagnant in the cartridge 3 is absorbed. It is something that will be released,
It can be said that the 21st lug 34 is located above the lower end position of the filter medium 7b, so that water can be reliably drained from the P sweet and sour chambers 3b and 3c. In this way, when the cartridge 3 is not performing water purification, the accumulated water has been removed and air is in the cartridge 3, so that no strange odor or taste is generated due to anaerobic bacteria. Therefore, a good water purification effect can always be expected from the filter medium 7b formed by the hollow fiber membrane module.

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, in the present invention, when water is not being fed into the cartridge, air flows in from the air intake hole in the upper part and is connected to the water discharge part on the main body side and is kept open at all times. The water inside the cartridge is quickly drained by water flowing out from a certain purified water return path, and the F material placed in the upper part of the cartridge is definitely exposed to the air, so it is anaerobic. There is no generation of unusual odor or taste caused by bacteria.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the same, FIG. 3 is a cutaway plan view of the same, and FIG. 4 is a rear view of the main body with the lever removed. Figure 5(a)
(b) is a vertical cross-sectional view and a cross-sectional view when the same purified water is being discharged, Figure 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view when the same water is stopped, Figure 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view when the same shower water is being discharged, and Figure 8 is FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the rotary valve and rotating body of the same as above, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge of the same as above,
] is the main body, 3 is the cartridge, 5 is the rotary valve, 7b
16 and 17 are communicating holes, and 39 is an air intake hole. Agent Patent Attorney Ishi 1) Chief Figure 7 5 (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Consisting of a purification cartridge containing a hollow fiber membrane as a filter medium and a main body to which this cartridge is removably attached to the side, supplying water between the main body and the cartridge from the main body side into the cartridge. In the water purifier, the water purifier is provided with a return path for returning water from the cartridge side to the main body, and the water purified by the purification member is discharged from the water discharge part on the main body side, and the cartridge houses the above-mentioned filter medium in its upper part. A water purifier characterized by having an air intake hole in the upper part of the mounting surface to the main body, and a purified water return path that is always open and connected to the water discharge part on the main body side in the lower part. .