JPH07116662A - Alkali ion water making device and detection of electrode abnormality thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an alkali ion water making device capable of detecting the abnormality of electrodes when abnormality is generated in the electrodes of the alkali ion making device and informing the abnormal state to a user to stop the operation of the alkali water making device. CONSTITUTION:In the detection of the electrode abnormality of an alkali ion water making device, a technical means gradually applying voltage across the cathode and anode in an electrolytic tank 7 and judging electrode abnormality when the value of the current flowing across the anode and the cathode rises with a bending part is adapted. The alkali ion water making device is equipped with a detection means 28 detecting the change of the current flowing across the cathode and the anode and a judge means 21 judging electrode abnormality from the bendable change of the detected current.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention produces alkaline ionized water for drinking or eating and acidic water for use as lotion or sterilizing wash water by electrolyzing raw water such as tap water and well water. The present invention relates to a method for detecting an abnormality in an electrode of an alkaline ionized water device and an alkaline ionized water device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For a modern person who has to survive a complicated society, the health problem is not personal. In particular, many people are keenly interested in the psychological aspect that mental stress erodes the body. There is an increasing interest in the fact that mental stability can be obtained by taking alkaline foods, and more and more people are thinking of using alkaline foods such as vegetables and wine for health. The tendency is especially remarkable in Westerners. However, it is quite difficult to keep taking alkaline foods for a long time. In addition, it is natural for a modern person who has a rich taste not to have a long-standing diet. Therefore, it has come to be considered that the water itself to be drunk in everyday life should be alkalized and continued to be drunk. It is an alkaline ionized water conditioner that performs this generation. This made it possible to easily use alkaline ionized water for a long period of time and use it for cooking. However, this alkaline ionized water purifier is not merely intended to produce alkaline ionized water. At the same time, acidic water that can be used as lotion, sterilizing wash water, etc. can also be produced and can be used for multiple purposes.

The structure and operation of this conventional alkaline ionized water conditioner will be described. FIG. 2 is a basic structural diagram of a conventional alkaline ionized water device. Reference numeral 1 is an alkaline ionized water purifier body, and 2 is a water source such as tap water. Faucet 3
When water is opened, water is taken in from a water source such as a tap, and the water purifier 5
Will be introduced to. Here, impurities, bacteria, etc. in the water are removed. Next, water passes through the calcium addition chamber 16 into which calcium glycerophosphate or the like is added, passes through the flow rate sensor, and then is poured into the electrolytic cell 7. The electrolytic cell 7 is provided with a diaphragm 9, which divides the electrolytic cell 7 to form two electrolytic chambers. Electrodes 8 and 10 are provided in the two electrolysis chambers, respectively. The electrodes 8 and 10 are obtained by applying a platinum film on the surface of a titanium plate and then firing it at a high temperature. The electrolytic chamber on the side of the electrode 8 is connected to the discharge pipe 4, and the electrolyzed water discharged from the electrolytic chamber is used according to the needs of the user. The electrolytic chamber on the side of the electrode 10 includes a throttle 11 for adjusting a discharge flow rate ratio and an unnecessary water pipe 1.
It is drained from the drainage hose via 3. The water pipe that leads from the calcium addition chamber 16 to the electrolytic cell 7 is simultaneously connected to the drain hose 14 through the drain solenoid valve 12. The alkali ion water purifier body 1 is provided with an operation display unit 23. By changing the setting of the operation display unit 23, it is possible to switch which of alkaline ionized water, acidic water and purified water is selected. This setting is transmitted to the programmable controller 21 that has been supplied with the DC voltage required for control from the power supply unit 22. The programmable controller 21 controls with what polarity the electrodes 8 and 10 are applied or not applied according to the setting. Further, the programmable controller 21 also controls the flow of water in the alkaline ionized water device. These controls will determine the operation of the alkaline ionized water device.

The circuit diagram of this conventional example is shown in FIG. 3 to explain the operation of the alkaline ionized water device in more detail. The AC voltage supplied from the commercial power source is dropped to an appropriate voltage via the transformer 25 in the power supply unit 22, converted into a DC voltage required for control in the control DC power supply circuit 26, and the electrolysis DC power supply circuit. At 27, it is converted into a DC voltage required for electrolysis. DC power supply circuit 27 for electrolysis
The direct current voltage output from is applied to the electrodes 8 and 10 via the output control circuit 30, the electrolytic cell-drainage solenoid valve switching relay 31 and the polarity switching relay 32 to cause electrolysis. Further, the DC voltage from the control DC power supply circuit 26 is supplied to the programmable controller 21.

For example, the case of setting to discharge alkaline ionized water will be described. The programmable controller 21 operates the electrolytic cell / drainage solenoid valve switching relay 31 and the polarity switching relay 32 according to this setting.
As a result, the drainage electromagnetic valve 12 is closed, the electrode 8 is applied to the cathode, and the electrode 10 is applied to the anode, and alkaline ionized water is generated at the cathode by electrolysis. At this time, acidic water is generated in the anode and is drained from the drain hose 14 as unnecessary water. Further, when it is selected to discharge the acidic water, the programmable controller 21 sets the drainage solenoid valve 1
While the electrode 2 is closed, the electrode 8 is applied to the anode and the electrode 10 is applied to the cathode to generate acidic water in the electrolytic chamber containing the electrode 8 and discharge the acidic water from the discharge pipe 4. At this time, the alkaline ionized water is discarded. Further, when the purified water is selected, the programmable controller 21 simply discharges the water without applying the voltage to the electrodes 8 and 10. Water purifier 5
Purified water is supplied.

By the way, if this alkaline ionized water conditioner is used for a long time, scale may be attached to the electrodes 8 and 10,
The platinum film on the surfaces of the electrodes 8 and 10 may deteriorate. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately regenerate the electrodes 8 and 10 in the alkaline ionized water device. When this electrode regeneration is selected on the operation display unit 23, the programmable controller 21
Is electrolyzed by applying a voltage to the polarity opposite to that of the electrodes 8 and 10 used before regeneration to dissolve the scale attached to the surfaces of the electrodes 8 and 10 in electrolyzed water. Then, the electrolyzer-drainage solenoid valve switching relay 31 is operated to open the drainage solenoid valve 12 to drain the wash water. Three
Reference numeral 3 is a light emitting diode for various displays, and 34 is a buzzer.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional alkaline ionized water conditioner, it was often delayed to notice the abnormality of the electrodes 8 and 10. That is, since the electrodes 8 and 10 are housed in the electrolytic cell 7, they cannot be seen directly unless they are disassembled, and even if the electrodes 8 and 10 are seen, it is difficult to judge them, and therefore scales and deterioration There were many things I noticed after the electrolysis stopped. As long as the electrodes 8 and 10 are melted and the electrolysis occurs despite the abnormal situation,
The user often continued to use it without realizing it.

In order to solve such a conventional problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrode abnormality detection method for detecting an abnormality of an electrode of an alkaline ionized water device. To do.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an alkaline ionized water conditioner capable of notifying the user when an abnormality occurs in the electrode and stopping the operation.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an electrode abnormality detecting method for an alkaline ionized water device according to the present invention comprises a step of gradually applying a voltage to a cathode and an anode in an electrolytic cell to form an anode. A technical measure is taken to judge that an abnormality occurs when the current value flowing between the cathodes rises at the bent portion.

Further, the alkaline ionized water device of the present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a detecting means for detecting a change in the current flowing through the cathode and the anode, and a judging means for judging an electrode abnormality from the bending change in the detected current. is doing.

[0012]

According to the electrode abnormality detecting method of the present invention, if the current is bent with a bent portion in response to a voltage rise, the electrode is judged to be abnormal and the abnormality is detected. It is possible to know the abnormality of the electrode accurately without looking at it.

Furthermore, the alkaline ionized water conditioner of the present invention is
Since the abnormality can be determined based on the current change detected by the detection means, it is possible to provide a compact device that does not require any troublesome disassembling work.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the alkaline ionized water conditioner of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the alkaline ionized water device of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a characteristic comparison diagram of a normal electrode and an abnormal electrode, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is an electrode abnormality determination procedure diagram of an embodiment of the alkaline ionized water device of the present invention. By the way, FIG. 2 shows a basic structure diagram of a conventional alkaline ionized water device, but from the structural side, the basic structure of the alkaline ionized water device of this embodiment is as shown in FIG. There is no difference from the conventional alkaline ionized water device. Therefore, the description of the basic structure of this embodiment is confined to the description of the conventional alkaline ionized water conditioner described in the section of the prior art, and the detailed description will be omitted. The feature of this embodiment is that a circuit for separately detecting an abnormal state of the electrodes 8 and 10 is provided to detect an electrode abnormality, and if the abnormality is being electrolyzed, the alkaline ionized water device can be operated by the abnormality detection. That is to stop it. Therefore, the circuit will be described first with reference to FIG. 21
Is a programmable controller. It is composed of a control calculation unit, a storage unit, an input unit, an output unit and the like. Reference numeral 22 denotes a power supply unit, which includes a transformer 25 and a control DC power supply circuit 2 inside.
6. A DC power supply circuit 27 for electrolysis is provided. Although these two DC power supply circuits 26 and 27 use bridge rectification circuits, any rectification circuits may be used. The output voltage from the control DC power supply circuit 26 is input to the programmable controller 21. Reference numeral 23 denotes an operation display section. Depending on the setting of a switch (not shown) on the operation panel, whether the alkaline ionized water or the acidic water is needed, the concentration is different. It is possible to input a setting signal such as whether or not to the input unit of the programmable controller 21.
30 is an output control circuit. In order to control the pH concentration of alkaline ionized water, it is necessary to change the voltage for electrolysis to be large or small, but the output control circuit 30 is a chopper that changes the average voltage by changing the duty ratio for this purpose. . The output control circuit 30 is controlled by a command from the programmable controller 21. 31 is an electrolytic cell
A drainage solenoid valve switching relay, 32 is a polarity switching relay. The electrolysis tank-drainage solenoid valve switching relay 31 and the polarity switching relay 32 are switched while switching the polarities of the electrodes 8 and 10 when execution of electrolysis is selected by a command from the programmable controller 21.
10 is energized. If you select washing again,
Electrolysis tank-drainage solenoid valve switching relay 31 is drainage solenoid valve 1
The second solenoid is excited to open the valve. 33
Is also used for various displays, and in this embodiment, a light emitting diode for reporting an abnormality, which is also used when an abnormality is detected, is a buzzer for reporting an abnormality. These are basically the same as the circuits of the conventional alkaline ionized water device, and their operation is not particularly changed. What is different from the conventional alkaline ionized water conditioner is that a current transducer 28 is provided in front of the electrolysis DC power supply circuit 27 in addition to the above circuit and is connected to a smoothing circuit 29. The current of electrolysis in the electrolytic cell 7 is detected by the current transducer 28, converted into direct current by the smoothing circuit 29, and the current value is input to the programmable controller 21. The input data of the current value is data regarding how the current value detected by the current transducer 28 changes when the output voltage of the electrolysis DC power supply circuit 27 is increased. The programmable controller 21 calculates this current value in the control calculation unit to determine whether it is abnormal. If it is determined to be abnormal, the light emitting diode 33 blinks and the buzzer 34 sounds. Also, if the vehicle is in operation, the operation is stopped.

Then, how the abnormality judgment is made will be described. FIG. 4 is a characteristic comparison diagram showing what characteristics the electrodes 8, 10 having a platinum film on the surface of a titanium plate show in a normal state and what characteristics they show in an abnormal state. . The horizontal axis represents the voltage between the electrodes 8 and 10 controlled by the output control circuit 30, and the vertical axis represents the current value detected by the current transducer 28. R represents the characteristics of new normal electrodes 8 and 10, and IR represents the characteristics of abnormal electrodes 8 and 10. In the characteristic R of the normal electrodes 8 and 10, the current and the voltage are linear and proportional, but in the abnormal characteristic IR, the inclination angle is smaller than that of the normal one at a low voltage, and the voltage increases. The characteristic is that the current reaches a peak in the constant current state, and the current suddenly rises again from a certain point. Examining the reason why such characteristics are exhibited, when the electrodes 8 and 10 are new and in a normal state, the current is large and the electrolysis is active, but when the scale or the like adheres, a large current locally flows and the electrode 8 on the counter electrode side Deterioration of 10 becomes severe and the platinum film becomes thin. It is considered that the abnormalities of the electrodes 8 and 10 are due to the thinning of the platinum film and the appearance of titanium on the surface. In this state, even if the voltage is raised, electrolysis is not activated and titanium is oxidized. Therefore, the current value does not rise. However, if the voltage is further increased, titanium will be eluted into the polar liquid, and the current value will again rise sharply. It is considered that the above is the reason for showing the abnormal characteristic IR.

Therefore, based on this characteristic comparison diagram, in this embodiment, the electrode abnormality judging method and judging means are constructed as follows. In other words, it is judged that an abnormal thing is one in which the current gradually rises with respect to the increase in voltage, then bends and once reaches a cap state, and then further bends in the opposite direction and rises. The procedure for determining this electrode abnormality is shown in FIG. The programmable controller 21 controls the output control circuit 30 to gradually apply the DC voltage for electrolysis to the electrodes 8 and 10 at the start of use of the alkaline ionized water device or at the time of cleaning for electrode regeneration. . This can be achieved by changing the duty ratio in 10 steps and increasing the voltage to the maximum voltage. First, the duty ratio of the first stage is 10%
The voltage v1 is applied at and the current value i1 at this time is detected. Then, this i1 is set to iref. Next, the voltage v2 of the second stage is applied to detect the current value i2. Then, these data are input to the control operation section of the programmable controller 21 to calculate i2-i1. If the value of i2-i1 is larger than iref, the electrodes 8 and 10 are judged to be abnormal, and the operation is stopped. If the value of i2-i1 is not larger than iref, i2-i1 is substituted for iref, and the detection and calculation are repeated so that i1 becomes i2 and i2 becomes i3. That is, in order to obtain i3, the voltage v3 of the third stage
Is applied and i3 at this time is detected. Calculate i3-i2 and compare this with iref. If i3−i2> iref is not satisfied, the detection and calculation are repeated. i3-i2> i
If it is ref, the electrodes 8 and 10 are judged to be abnormal, and the operation of the alkaline ionized water device is stopped.
Repeat the detection and calculation up to the 10th step, which is the maximum voltage,
If i10-i9> iref, it is judged that the electrodes 8 and 10 are normal, and the use of the alkaline ionized water device is continued. The number n of steps may be any number as long as it is possible to determine an abnormality. Although the duty ratio is changed in this embodiment, the voltage may be changed by any method. Further, in this embodiment, the electrodes 8 and 10 have a platinum film formed on the surface of a titanium plate, but similar effects can be expected with the electrodes 8 and 10 having tantalum and platinum films and niobium and platinum films.
That is, since the core plate is oxidized and the metal is eluted if the core plate and the film are made of different materials, there is basically no difference from the case of the present embodiment.

[0017]

According to the electrode abnormality detecting method of the present invention, it is determined that the electrode is abnormal when the current has a bent portion with respect to the voltage. Therefore, the electrolytic cell is not disassembled and the inside is not directly observed. It is possible to know the abnormality of the electrode accurately. Also, because the electrode can be detected before it is dissolved and consumed,
The electrode does not drink alkaline ionized water.

Further, the alkaline ionized water conditioner of the present invention is
Since it is possible to determine an abnormality based on the change in the current detected by the detection means, it is not necessary to perform a troublesome disassembling work, and the device can be made compact.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of an alkaline ionized water device and an electrode abnormality detection method of the alkaline ionized water device of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Basic structure diagram of a conventional alkaline ionized water device

[Fig. 3] Circuit diagram of a conventional alkaline ionized water device

[Figure 4] Characteristic comparison diagram of normal and abnormal electrodes

FIG. 5 is an electrode abnormality determination procedure diagram of an embodiment of an alkaline ionized water device and an electrode abnormality detection method of the alkaline ionized water device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Alkaline ion water purifier body 2 Water source 4 Discharge pipe 5 Water purifier 7 Electrolysis tank 8, 10 Electrode 9 Diaphragm 12 Drainage solenoid valve 16 Calcium addition chamber 21 Programmable controller 22 Power supply unit 23 Operation display unit 26 Control DC power supply circuit 27 Electrolysis DC power supply circuit 28 Current transducer 29 Smoothing circuit 30 Output control circuit 31 Electrolytic cell-drainage solenoid valve switching relay 32 Polarity switching relay

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electrode abnormality of an alkaline ionized water device which is judged to be abnormal when a current value flowing between the anode and the cathode rises at a bending portion by gradually applying a voltage to the cathode and the anode in the electrolytic cell. Detection method. 2. A cathode and an anode provided in an electrolytic cell, a detecting means for applying a DC voltage to the cathode and the anode to detect a change in current, and a judging means for judging an electrode abnormality from a bending change in the detected current. Alkaline ion water conditioner consisting of.