JPH04156905A - Circulating and purifying device for bathtub - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the propagation of bacteria on the filter medium and bed and to obtain the sanitary device without generating slime, etc., by sterilizing the inside of a filter by silver ion even after the water in the bathtub is drawn off. CONSTITUTION:A pump 2 for circulating and filtering water and backwashing the filter mediums 6 and 7 of a filter 5, the filter 5 for purifying hot water, a detector 10 for the water level of a bathtub 1, three-way valves 3a and 3b for switching the circulating and filtering operation to the backwashing operation or vice versa and a part 20 for controlling the action of the three-way valve based on the signal from the detector 10 are provided. A U-shaped water pipe 19 is provided to the filter 5 and used as a trap. The fall of water in the bathtub is detected by the detector 10, and then the three-way valves are switched to the backwashing side by the switching means of the control part 20 after the specified time based on the timer means of the control part 20. Consequently, bacteria are not propagated on the filter medium and bed, slime, etc., are not generated, and the sanitary device is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bathtub circulation purification device for circulating bathwater filtration and sterilization.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, in order to improve the life of bathtubs, sanitary circulating purification devices for bathtubs have been developed that keep hot water in bathtubs clean at all times.

Hereinafter, a conventional circulating purification device for a bathtub will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional circulation purifying device for a bathtub equipped with a bubble jet device.

■ is a bathtub, 2 is a pump, 3 is a three-way valve, 4 is a cleaning branch pipe through which hot water flows during backwashing, 5 is a filter, 6 is a second filter material made of granular filter material, 7 is silver chloride which has a bactericidal effect 8 is a filter bed made of a resin filter, 9 is a control unit, 10 is a water level detector that detects the water level in the bathtub, 11 is a port that also serves as a bubble switch, 12 is a cleaning switch, 13 is a hot water inlet, 14 is an outlet for spouting out a stream of bubble water, 15
16 is a fixture for the first filter medium 7; 17 is a drain pipe through which hot water and dirt are discharged during backwashing;
I8 is the upper water pipe that discharges washing water and waste during backwashing, and during Iv over-operation (secondary water flow, during backflow washing, it becomes hot water or washing water and flows to the filter 5. This is a U-shaped lower water pipe.

The operation of the conventional circulation purifying device for bathtubs equipped with the bubble jet device configured as described above will be explained below.

When the pump start switch 1j is turned on, a pump operation signal is output from the control section 9, and the pump 2 is started. pump 2
When the water is started, as shown by arrow A, the hot water in the bathtub l is sucked in through the suction port 13 and a bubbly water stream is jetted out from the discharge port 14. At the same time, the hot water in the bathtub l is supplied to the filter 5 from the upper water pipe 17 via the three-way valve 3a, and is supplied to the filter 5 from the upper water pipe 17. The filter medium 7 captures large particles, dissolves silver chloride into the hot water, sterilizes the water, uniformly supplies the hot water to the second filter medium 6, and removes small particles from the second filter medium 6.
is captured, purified, and passed through the lower water pipe 18 and the pump 2.
A part of the water is discharged into the bathtub and flows into the filtration pipe, where a circulating filtration operation is performed.

The filter media 6 and 7 gradually become dirty as filtration is performed, so it is necessary to periodically clean them. When the cleaning switch 12 is turned on, the control unit 9 outputs a pump operation signal and a three-way valve switching signal, and at the same time as the pump 2 starts, the three-way valves 3a and 3b are switched, and the inside of the bathtub 1 is turned on as shown by the arrow. Hot water is supplied through the suction port 13, pump 2, and cleaning branch pipe 4.
, enters the filter 5 through the lower water pipe 18, cleans the filter bed 8, turns the granular second filter medium 6 into a fluid state to remove scales and small debris, and is made of a porous ceramic plate 7. Hair and large debris accumulated on the upper surface of the material 1a 7 are released and drained from the drain pipe 15 via the upper water pipe 17 and the three-way valve 3a, and cleaning is continued for a predetermined period of time. Bathtub I
When water is drained by falling water or washing, and when the water level falls below a predetermined level, the water level detector IO detects this and the power to the pump 2 is turned off to prevent dry running. Normally, hot water is drained by a mechanism that stores enough washing water to immerse the second filter medium in order to prevent damage to the filter 5 due to freezing and to sterilize the second filter medium.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when water falls into the bathtub or drains water, if the filtration operation time is too short, silver chloride is not eluted into the hot water to the extent that it can be sterilized, and silver chloride is not sterilized. 1st a
Because the wood was not immersed in hot water and was exposed to the air, there was a problem that bacteria could grow in the lower water pipe from the bottom of the 2771 wood part or the filter, causing slime, etc., and making it unsanitary. .

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides an upper water pipe of a filter with a trap structure such as a U-shaped tube, and when bath water falls over or is drained below a predetermined water level, hot water flows up to at least the first filter medium in the filter. At the same time, when the water level detector detects a decrease in water in the bathtub, the timer in the control unit starts, and after a predetermined period of time has passed, the three-way valve is switched to the backwash side, and the second fI in the filter is activated. The water level is reduced to the top of the wood.

Effect With the above structure, the first filter medium carrying silver chloride is immersed for a predetermined time when it falls into water, and the water in the filter has silver ions dissolved in it to the extent that it can be sterilized, so that it can be filtered for a long time after falling into water. Even if you do not use a container, there will be no bacteria or slime. Moreover, since the water level is reduced to the upper part of the second filter medium after a predetermined period of time, the filter will not be damaged by freezing.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a circulation device for a bathtub according to the present invention which is also equipped with a bubble jet device, FIG. The figure is an operation flowchart of the three-way valve.

1 is a bathtub, 2 is a pump, 3 is a three-way valve, 4 is a branch pipe for washing, 5 is a filter, 6 is a second filter medium, 7 is the 1st material 1a, 8 is a filter bed, 10 is a water level detector, 11 is a Bubble switch double pump start switch, 12 is a cleaning switch, 13 is a suction port, 14
15 is a discharge port, 15 is a drain pipe, 16 is a fixture, and 18 is a lower water pipe. Since these are the same as in the conventional example, they are given the same numbers and their explanation will be omitted. 19 is U-shaped tubular, -
The end is connected to the upper part of the first filter medium 7 of the filter 5, and the other end is connected to the drain pipe 15.
The upper water pipe 20 has a trap mechanism connected to a three-way valve 3a that communicates with the upper water pipe, and 20 is a control unit that is equipped with a timer and has a function of starting the three-way valve in response to a signal from the water level detector 10.

The operation of the circulation purifying device for a bathtub according to this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below.

When the cleaning switch 12 is turned on, the three-way valve 3a is turned on.

3b or switch from filtration operation side to cleaning operation side Q, bathtub l
The hot water enters the filter 5 and washes the filter media 6, 7, and the washing water is drained from the drain pipe 15 before washing is performed.

When the hot water in the bathtub falls below a predetermined water level due to cleaning, or when the stopper inside the bathtub l is pulled out and water falls into the bathtub, the water level detector 10 is activated, and a signal from the control unit 9 causes the three-way valve 3b to go into cleaning operation. The operation is switched from the side to the filtration operation side, hot water is stored in the filter 5 and the upper water pipe 19 of the U-shaped pipe, and the timer of the control section 9 is activated. After a predetermined period of time when the silver chloride of the first filter medium has eluted into the stored water and reached a saturated state, the control unit 9
The three-way valves 3a and 3b are switched to the cleaning operation side in response to the signal, and the hot water in the filter 5 is reduced to the level above the second filter medium 6. Since the hot water remaining in the filter 5 is saturated with silver ions, the generation of bacteria on the second filter medium 6, the filter bed 8, and the lower inner wall of the filter 5 is prevented. Keep the inside of the container 5 sanitary. Furthermore, since the remaining water is reduced to the level above the second filter medium 6, it will not freeze in the winter. -Next, the silver ion concentration of the residual water in the filter 5 of the bath circulation system of the present invention was compared with that of the conventional example. The results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Silver ion concentration in the filter (unit: ppb) I in the table shows the silver ion concentration in the filter 5 after 10 minutes of filtration operation. ■
represents the silver ion concentration in the filter 5 when water is dropped after storing hot water for 2 hours after 10 minutes of filtration operation. All conditions are bathtubs! 2001 of hot water with a temperature of 25°C was poured into the tank.

As can be seen from ■ in Table 1, compared to the conventional example, the residual water of this example had a large amount of dissolved silver ions of 330% or more, indicating that it had a high bactericidal effect.

Effects of the Invention The present invention uses silver ions to sterilize the inside of the filter even after the bathtub is submerged in water, so that the filter medium and filter bed are not contaminated with bacteria.
It is possible to provide an extremely hygienic circulation purifying device for a bathtub that does not cause slime or the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a circulating purification device for a bathtub according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the main parts inside the filter after a predetermined time has elapsed after falling into the water, and Fig. 3 is an operation flowchart of the three-way valve. , FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional circulation purifying device for a bathtub. ! ...Bathtub 2...Pump 3...Three-way valve 4...Washing branch pipe 5...Filter
6...Second filter medium 7...A second filter made of a porous ceramic plate! Filter medium 8...Filter bed, 9...Control unit lO...Water level detector 11...Bubble switch/pump start switch 12.
...Cleaning switch 13...Suction port 14...Discharge port 15...Drain pipe 16...Fixing tool 1
7... Upper water pipe 18... Lower water pipe 19...
・Upper water pipe 20... Name of control department agent: Patent attorney Akira Okaji Haga 2 people Figure 1Xl Figure 2!12' Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pump that performs a circulation filtration operation and a backflow cleaning operation of the filter medium of the filter, a filter that purifies hot water, a water level detector that detects the water level in the bathtub, and a three-way valve that switches between the circulation filtration operation and the backflow cleaning operation; A circulating purification device for a bathtub, comprising: a control unit that controls the operation of the three-way valve based on a signal from the water level detector; a switching means for switching the three-way valve to a backwash operation side after a predetermined period of time has elapsed by a timing means of a control unit after the water level detector detects a decrease in water.