JPH04322783A - Water purifying cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a high-density bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fiber. CONSTITUTION:A bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 which transmits water but no air is housed in a cartridge cylinder 4, while the end of a bundle is embedded and fixed to a potting material 3 to manufacture a water purifying cartridge. A hydrophobic porous material fiber 5 which transmits air but no water is wound around the bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 and is embedded and fixed at its end part to the potting material 3. Thereby, the bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 is formed with using the hydrophobic material fiber 5 to discharge air, which prevents outward expansion of the bundle 2 of the fiber 1.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water purification cartridge that is replaceably attached to a water purifier used for filtering and purifying aqueous liquids such as tap water.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art When a water purifier purifies aqueous liquid such as tap water, water is filtered by passing through a water purification cartridge installed in the water purifier. Various types of water purification cartridges have been provided, and those using porous hollow fibers as filter media have been provided conventionally.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) each show an example, and as shown in FIG. 4(a), a porous hollow fiber A is
The porous hollow fibers A are bent in a letter shape and both ends are embedded and fixed in the potting material 3, and both open ends of the porous hollow fibers A are exposed on one surface of the potting material 3, or as shown in FIG. One end of the hollow fiber A is embedded and fixed in the potting material 3, and the opening of this end of the porous hollow fiber A is exposed on one surface of the potting material 3, and the other end of the porous hollow fiber A is exposed. Then, the porous hollow fibers A are placed in the cartridge cylinder 4, and the potting material 3 is attached to the end of the cartridge cylinder 4, thereby forming a water purification cartridge. In this water purification cartridge, water flowing into the cartridge cylinder 4 passes through the porous membrane of the porous hollow fibers A and enters the porous hollow fibers A, as shown in FIG. and is discharged from the open end of the porous hollow fiber A.

[0004] In this way, water can be purified by the filtration action when passing through the porous hollow fibers A, and the porous hollow fibers A are formed to be hydrophilic in order to allow water to pass therethrough. However, if the porous hollow fibers A are formed to be hydrophilic in this way, when air is mixed into the water in the cartridge cylinder 4, this air will not be able to pass through the membrane of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers A. Therefore, there is a problem in that air accumulates in the cartridge cylinder 4 and the contact area between the porous hollow fibers A and water becomes smaller, resulting in a reduction in the amount of purified water. Therefore, as shown in Figures 4(a) and (b), in addition to the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers A, we used hydrophobic porous hollow fibers B (in Figure 4, the hydrophobic porous hollow fibers B are black). The air is discharged by passing air through the hydrophobic porous hollow fibers B (shown in black).

On the other hand, in order to increase the water filtration ability and downsize the water purification cartridge, it is necessary to bundle the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers A with high density as shown in FIG. A bundle of quality hollow fibers A is housed in a cartridge cylinder 4 to create a cartridge cylinder 4.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers A with a high bundling density are housed in the cartridge cylinder 4 as shown in FIG. Since the bundle swells and spreads outward, it becomes difficult to insert the bundle into the cartridge cylinder 4. If you try to forcefully insert the bundle, the swollen hydrophilic porous hollow fibers A will be stuck to the inner periphery of the cartridge cylinder 4. There is a problem in that the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers A, which are easily damaged by friction, may buckle or break and break, and there is a risk that the water purifying effect may no longer be achieved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a water purification cartridge in which hydrophilic porous hollow fibers can be used in a highly densely bundled manner without fear of breakage. It is something.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a potting material in which the ends of a bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1, which allow water to pass through but do not allow air to pass through, are exposed at one surface with their open ends exposed. 3, a potting material 3 is provided in the cartridge tube 4, and a bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 is housed in the cartridge tube 4. The porous fibers 5 are wound around the outer periphery of the bundle 2 of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1, and one end of the hydrophobic porous fibers 5 is exposed to the one surface of the potting material. It is characterized in that it is embedded and fixed in 3.

Furthermore, both ends of the hydrophobic porous thread 5 may be embedded and fixed in the potting material 3.

0010

[Operation] Hydrophobic porous body thread 5 is wound around the outer periphery of bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1, and the end of this hydrophobic porous body thread 5 is embedded and fixed in potting material 3. To,
A bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 can be bundled using a hydrophobic porous body fiber 5 for discharging air, and the bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 swells and spreads outward. This can be prevented.

[0011]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be explained in detail by way of examples. The hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 is formed of a hydrophilic resin hollow fiber having a communicating porous membrane. Therefore, water can easily pass through the membrane of the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1, but air cannot pass through it. It is becoming difficult to pass. Further, the hydrophobic porous fiber 5 is formed of a hollow fiber or solid fiber having a communicating porous membrane, and is made of a hydrophobic resin. Therefore, the hydrophobic porous thread 5 allows air to pass through easily, but water does not easily pass through it.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which a bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 bent into a U-shape is housed in a cylindrical cartridge tube 4, and the cartridge tube 4 is Both ends of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 are embedded and fixed in a potting material 3 which is molded by injecting and hardening a potting resin into one end of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1. The openings at both ends are exposed on one surface of the potting material 3. Further, one end of the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 is embedded and fixed in the potting material 3, and the opening of this end is exposed on one surface of the potting material 3, and the other end of the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 is exposed. It may be installed in the cartridge cylinder 4 by sealing the opening at the end thereof. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a bottom plate 16 in which a water passage hole 15 is formed is provided at the end opposite to the end where the potting material 3 is provided, and the outer periphery of the cartridge barrel 4 is provided with a bottom plate 16. A sealing material 17 such as a ring is attached over the entire circumference.

[0013] In this way, the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1
When fixing the bundle 2 of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 to the potting material 3, the hydrophobic porous fibers 5 are attached to the outer periphery of the bundle 2 of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1.
The bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 is inserted into the cartridge tube 4 in a bundled state, and in this state, potting resin is injected and hardened to form a bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 on the potting material 3. The end of 2 is embedded and fixed,
At this time, the ends of the hydrophobic porous threads 5 are also embedded and fixed in the potting material 3 at the same time. The hydrophobic porous fiber 5 is embedded and fixed in such a way that the end face of the end thereof is exposed on one surface of the potting material 3, similarly to the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the hydrophobic porous thread 5 is bent into a U-shape as a whole and its both ends are embedded and fixed in the potting material 3, but as shown in FIG. Only one end of the mass fiber 5 may be embedded and fixed in the potting material 3, while the other end may be left free within the cartridge cylinder 4. In this case, even when hollow fibers are used as the hydrophobic porous fibers 5, water does not penetrate into the hydrophobic fibers 5, so there is no need to particularly seal the open ends of the free ends. In this way, since the bundle 2 of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 is bundled with the hydrophobic porous fibers 5, even if the number of bundled hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 is increased, the bundle 2 will not swell. The hydrophobic porous fibers 5 can prevent the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 from spreading in the cartridge cylinder 4 even when the bundle 2 has a large number of bundled hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1.
In addition, the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 can be easily inserted into the cartridge cylinder 4, and the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1, which are easily damaged due to rubbing against the inner periphery of the cartridge cylinder 4, can be easily damaged and buckled or bent. It is also possible to prevent such things from occurring. For this reason, it is possible to increase the convergence density of the bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1, thereby increasing the water filtration ability, and making it possible to downsize the water purification cartridge.

In addition, as described above, the potting resin is injected and cured to form the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 and the hydrophobic porous body fibers 5.
In order to embed and fix the ends of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 in the potting material 3 in the cartridge tube 4, as shown in FIG. After inserting the bundle 2, a potting cap 30 is placed over the opening of the cartridge 4, and a potting resin 32 is poured through an injection port 31 of the potting cap 30 and hardened. At this time, the cartridge cylinder 4 may be rotated around the outer circumference to apply centrifugal force to prevent the potting resin 32 from flowing downward in FIG. 3, or the potting resin 32 may be poured in the upside down state as shown in FIG. It is something to do. After the potting resin 32 is cured with the end portions of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 and the hydrophobic porous fibers 5 including the end faces embedded in the potting resin 32, as shown in FIG. By cutting the potting resin 32 along the line L shown along with the ends of the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 and the hydrophobic porous body fibers 5, the water purification cartridge according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 1 can be manufactured. It is something. On the other hand, FIG. 6 shows a conventional method for manufacturing a water purification cartridge, in which a center tube 33 and a The connecting tube 34 is inserted, and the potting resin 32 is poured into the cartridge cylinder 4 from the center tube 33 and hardened. Similarly, the cartridge cylinder 4 can be rotated around the outer periphery to apply centrifugal force to prevent the potting resin 32 from flowing downward as shown in FIG. 6(a), or it can be rotated upside down as shown in FIG. 6(a). The potting resin 32 is poured in this state. However, in this case, the tip of the center tube 33 is cut off after the potting resin 32 is cured, but the base of the center tube 33 remains inside the cartridge barrel 4 as shown in FIG. 6(b), and as a result, the center The volume for storing the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 is reduced by the volume of the tube 33, and the number of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 1 to be mounted is reduced.
If manufacturing is performed as shown in FIG. 3, this problem will disappear.

The total filtration type water purification cartridge according to the present invention produced as described above is used by being installed in a cartridge case 19 and assembled into a cartridge block, as shown in FIG. 2, for example. That is,
The cartridge case 19 is formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape with one end open. An outlet 20 is provided in the center of the bottomed part, and a cylindrical part is formed in the cartridge case 19 so as to surround the outlet 20. The receiver tube 21 is made to protrude so that an outflow chamber 22 is formed in the receiver tube 21, and the receiver tube 21
The inflow chamber 23 is formed on the outer periphery of the inflow chamber 23.
An inlet 24 is provided at the inlet 24 . Then, the end of the cartridge cylinder 4 of the water purification cartridge according to the present invention is inserted into the inner circumference of the receiving cylinder 21 and fixed, and at the same time, the net 2
The filter 25 with 5a is attached by sandwiching it between the locking piece 4a of the cartridge cylinder 4 and the receiving cylinder 21 to close the inflow chamber 23, and is formed between the outer periphery of the cartridge cylinder 4 and the inner periphery of the cartridge case 19. The adsorption chamber 26 is filled with activated carbon 27, and the adsorption chamber 26 is closed with a filter 28 with a net 28a. Cartridge case 19
When the opening of the filter 28 is closed with a lid 29 and ultrasonic welding is performed, the filter 28 is fixed by being sandwiched between it and the edge of the opening of the cartridge case 19.

The cartridge block formed as described above is used for purifying aqueous liquids such as tap water by being set in a replaceable manner in a water purifier attached to a tap or the like. In this device, when water flows into the inflow chamber 23 from the inlet 24 as shown by the solid line arrow in FIG.
The activated carbon removes odors, etc. The water that has passed through the filter 28 and flowed into the cartridge cylinder 4 from the water passage hole 15 passes through the micropores of the membrane of the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 and enters the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1. At this time, the water is filtered to remove turbidity, etc., and the water purified by separating dirt, etc. passes through the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 and flows out from its open end into the outflow chamber 22. is discharged from. At this time, air mixes with the flow of water, as shown in Figure 2.
As shown by the broken line arrow, when air enters the cartridge cylinder 4 together with the water to be treated, or if air accumulates inside the cartridge cylinder 4 due to a water outage, etc., the air enters the hydrophobic porous body thread 5 due to water pressure and becomes hydrophobic. It passes through the porous body thread 5 and is discharged into the outflow chamber 22. Therefore, even if air enters the cartridge cylinder 4, the air is gradually removed, preventing air from accumulating in the cartridge cylinder 4 and reducing the contact area between the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 and water. Water can be purified with a stable amount of water purification ability by preventing the water purification ability of the hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 1 from being reduced by filtration and separation.

As described above, when air is passed through the hydrophobic porous thread 5 and discharged, the air tends to collect around the inner circumference of the cartridge cylinder 4, but the hydrophobic porous thread 5 is disposed of along this inner circumference. Due to its presence, air can be efficiently discharged by the hydrophobic porous threads 5. In addition, when the device shown in FIG. 2 is used horizontally, air will accumulate in the inner circumference above the cartridge cylinder 4, but the hydrophobic porous thread 5 will cover the entire circumference of the inner circumference of the cartridge cylinder 4. Since the air is present along the hydrophobic porous body thread 5, it is sure to come into contact with the hydrophobic porous body thread 5 and be discharged. Further, as the hydrophobic porous body fiber 5, a solid fiber or a hollow fiber having a communicating porous membrane can be used, but a solid fiber passes air at a slower speed than a hollow fiber and discharges air. Although it is inferior in terms of performance, it is superior in water purification cartridges with high internal pressure because it does not have the problem of being crushed by the water pressure inside the cartridge cylinder 4. In other words, since hollow fibers are plastic tubes, they are easily crushed by external pressure, and if the hollow fibers are crushed and blocked by increased water pressure, there is a risk that air will not be able to be discharged. Air can be discharged stably without such problems.

[0018]

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention involves winding a hydrophobic porous body thread that allows air to pass through but does not allow water to pass through around the outer periphery of a bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers. Since it is embedded and fixed in the potting material with the end exposed to the surface, the air inside the cartridge cylinder can be exhausted by the hydrophobic porous thread, and
A bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers can be bundled with hydrophobic porous fibers, and the bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers swells outward by using the hydrophobic porous fibers to expel air. It is possible to prevent the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers from spreading, and it is possible to use the hydrophilic porous hollow fibers in a high density bundle without fear of cutting.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention in use.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a manufacturing state of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional example, (a), (b)
is a sectional view of each aspect.

FIG. 5 shows another conventional example, in which (a) is a front sectional view and (b) is a plan view.

FIG. 6 shows the manufacturing state of a conventional example, (a),
(b) is a sectional view, respectively.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Hydrophilic porous hollow fiber 2. Bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers 3 Potting material 4 Cartridge cylinder 5 Hydrophobic porous yarn

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: The ends of a bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers that allow water to pass through but do not allow air to pass through are embedded and fixed in a potting material with the open end thereof exposed on one surface, and the potting material is assembled into a cartridge. In a water purification cartridge in which a bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers is installed in a cylinder and is housed in the cartridge cylinder, the hydrophobic porous body fibers that allow air to pass through but do not allow water to pass are placed around the outer periphery of the bundle of hydrophilic porous hollow fibers. A water purification cartridge characterized in that the hydrophobic porous thread is embedded and fixed in the potting material with one end thereof exposed on the one surface. [Claim 2] Claim 1, characterized in that both ends of the hydrophobic porous thread are embedded and fixed in a potting material.
The water purification cartridge described in .