JPH0810417Y2 - Water purifier - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial field of application The present invention relates to a water purifier that is widely used from home use to commercial use, and more particularly to a water purifier that purifies raw water such as tap water by a filter medium mainly composed of fiber activated carbon. .

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, activated carbon in various forms such as powder, granules, and fibrous that adsorbs and removes impurities has been widely used as a filter medium of a water purifier used for purification of tap water, etc. Activated carbon has a tendency to be widely used in recent years because it has a very high adsorption capacity and can form a filter form by itself.

Such a filter medium of fiber activated carbon is generally a sheet made of a nonwoven fabric of fiber activated carbon, which is wound alone or in a roll shape through an appropriate filter web. By permeating, impurities such as odors, bad tastes, coloring and other harmful substances contained in raw water are adsorbed and removed.

In addition, a hollow fiber membrane is used in combination with the above-mentioned various activated carbons, and filtration of the hollow fiber membrane prevents outflow of general bacteria contained in raw water or propagated inside the water purifier into the purified water due to some factors. Has also been done.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in a conventional water purifier using a fiber activated carbon roll as a filter medium, the surface layer portion of the roll is clogged early due to adhesion of rust, scale, or other solid substances contained in raw water. As a result, the roll becomes unusable despite having sufficient adsorption capacity for most of the fiber activated carbon inside, resulting in a short filter medium life and low filter medium utilization efficiency. There was a problem of being uneconomical. Further, in the case where the hollow fiber membrane is provided as a secondary filter inside the roll, in addition to the same problem as described above, the fine pores of the hollow fiber membrane are clogged by the fine solid substance that has permeated the fiber activated carbon roll, There is a drawback that the life of the hollow fiber membrane itself is shortened.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention prevents clogging of the filter medium using the fiber activated carbon roll, makes full use of the adsorption capacity of the entire fiber activated carbon forming the roll, and thus extends the filter medium life. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a water purifier in which the cost of water purification treatment is reduced, and the life of the hollow fiber membrane is expected to be extended.

Means for Solving the Problems With the above-mentioned object, the water purifier according to the present invention comprises a case having a raw water inlet and a purified water outlet, and a filter medium unit that is loaded inside the case away from the inner peripheral surface of the case, The filter medium unit comprises an inner main filter composed of a fiber activated carbon roll having a central hole closed with respect to the space inside the case, and an average void 20 to 50 folded back in a zigzag cross section.
An outer pre-filter, which is made of a fiber sheet of μm and has a fold-like cylindrical shape whose entire circumferential surface extends along the axial direction, and a water collecting member which is arranged in the central hole of the main filter and has one end communicating with the purified water outlet. It is equipped with and.

Further, in this invention, the water collecting member comprises a pipe having a plurality of water passage holes on its peripheral surface, and the water collecting member comprises a hollow fiber membrane assembly. Are the preferred embodiments.

Action Since the cylindrical prefilter is placed around the entire circumference of the main filter consisting of the fiber activated carbon roll inside, the raw water flowing from the raw water inlet of the case first passes through the prefilter and then the main filter. It flows out through the water collecting member as purified water from the purified water outlet. Therefore, rust, scale, and other solid substances in the raw water adhere to the prefilter and are mechanically removed, and the main filter has a function of physically adsorbing the dissolved impurities by the activated carbon.

Here, the pre-filter is made up of a zigzag-folded fiber sheet, and the entire peripheral surface is fold-shaped along the axial direction, so the surface area, that is, the filtration area is several times that of the flat filter. It is remarkably wide, up to several tens of times, and the amount of solid substances adhering to a unit area is small accordingly. In other words, since the admissible amount of adhering is large as a whole filter, clogging is less likely to occur. Therefore, the filter medium unit has a sufficient water permeability for a long period of time, and the fiber activated carbon roll can be used up without exhausting its adsorption capacity.

In addition, since the pre-filter is a folded fiber sheet, it has poor shape retention by itself, but the main filter located inside it serves as the core of the pre-filter and serves as a support for the pre-filter. Is prevented from being deformed.

As the fiber sheet used for the prefilter,
Non-woven fabrics or woven fabrics of synthetic resin fibers such as polypropylene are generally used, but non-woven fabrics of fiber activated carbon can also be used. However, a light-colored, especially white fiber material is desirable in order to know the degree of contamination of the pre-filter.

When the water collecting member is a pipe having a plurality of water passage holes on the peripheral surface, the purified water that has passed through the main filter is efficiently guided to the purified water outlet through the pipe.

On the other hand, when the water collecting member is a hollow fiber membrane assembly, since the hollow fiber membrane is generally a microporous membrane having a size of about 0.1 μm, general bacteria are also prevented from passing through. Therefore, even if bacteria are mixed in the raw water for some reason, or even if the water purifier is not used for a long time and bacteria propagate inside due to long-term water retention, the purified water can be sterilized and the spoilage odor caused by anaerobic bacteria can be prevented. it can. In this invention, however, the surface area of the prefilter is very large, and sufficient water permeability can be secured even if the voids are set to be relatively small. By setting it so that it can be excluded, it becomes possible to prevent clogging of the hollow fiber membrane.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Water purifier (A) of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Is a stainless steel case (1) in which a filter medium unit (2A) is loaded in a suspended state separated from the entire inner surface of the case (1). The case (1) is made of stainless steel with a ring-shaped packing (3) made of silicon rubber, at the upper opening edge of the bottomed cylindrical main body (1a), and a cap (1b) having an open U-shaped cross section. It is watertightly fitted with a steel clamp band (4), and the cap (1b) is made of a stainless steel pipe shaft (5) (6), respectively.
Clean water outlet (7) in the center, where each is fixed to the outside in a protruding manner.
And a raw water inlet (8) at an eccentric position are provided, and a cylindrical shaft (5) of the raw water inlet (8) is fitted with a silicon rubber check valve (9) from the inside of the case (1). Valve holding bracket (9
a) is screwed on.

The filter medium unit (2A) consists of a main filter (10) formed by rolling a non-woven sheet of fiber activated carbon into a thick roll, and a plurality of water passage holes on the peripheral surface concentrically arranged in the center hole (10a). Water collecting pipe (11) made of synthetic resin having (11a)
A cylindrical pre-filter (12) fitted on the main filter (10), and a substantially disk-shaped head plate (13) and bottom plate (14) made of a synthetic resin molding. Then, the pre-filter (12) is a synthetic resin ring-shaped end plate (12a) made by folding a zigzag-shaped fiber sheet having an average void of 20 to 50 μm made of polypropylene nonwoven fabric, etc. (1
2a), and the entire peripheral surface has a pleated shape along the axial direction due to the above-mentioned folding back and the main filter (1
0) and is formed in a cylindrical shape having substantially the same length.

The head plate (13) has a female screw cylinder part (13a) for screw-connecting the upper end of the water collecting pipe (11) to the center part of the lower surface.
And a unit mounting cylinder (13b) with a male screw engraved on the tip side at the center of the upper surface, and both cylinders (13a)
(13b) forms a water passage (13c) that penetrates vertically, and is provided with a twisting rib (13d) arranged in a cross shape around the root of the upper surface side unit mounting cylinder (13b). is there.
In addition, the bottom plate (14) has a female screw cylinder portion (14) for screwing and coupling the lower end of the water collecting pipe (11) at the center of the upper surface.
a) and has a cruciform twist rib (14
have b).

Then, the filter medium unit (2A) has a female screw cylinder part (13a) of the head plate (13) and the bottom plate (14).
(14a) is fitted in the central hole (10a) of the main filter (10), and is flat annular between the upper and lower end surfaces of both filters (10) (12) and both plates (13) (14). The plates (13) and (14) are screwed and connected to both ends of the water collection pipe (11) with the packing (15) interposed, and are assembled into an integrated unit by tightening the head plate (13). The unit mounting cylinder portion (13b) is screwed to the pipe connecting cylinder shaft (5) of the purified water outlet (7) from the inside of the case (1) through the O-ring (16), so that the case (1) It is connected to the cap (1b) in a suspended state.

According to the water purifier (A) having the above configuration, the raw water that has flowed in from the raw water inlet (8) fills the case (1), and then the prefilter (1) is first passed from the outer peripheral surface of the filter medium unit (2A).
The rust, scale, and other solid substances contained after passing through 2) are removed, and after passing through the main filter (10), the odor, bad taste, coloring, etc., which have been dissolved by the adsorption action of activated carbon in this process Impurities such as causative components and harmful components are removed to purify water, and through the central holes (10a) through the water holes (11a) (11a) ... From the inside of the water collection pipe (11) to the water passage (13c). ) And outflow from the clean water outlet (7). In the case (1) where the water flow is deteriorated due to long-term use or the derived water has an odor or bad taste
If the main body (1a) is removed, both filters (10) and (12) can be detached by simply removing the bottom plate (14) of the filter medium unit (2A) suspended from the cap (1b), which results in a longer service life. Replace one or both of the exhausted filters (10) (12) with a new one.

Water purifier (B) of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
In the case (1), which has the same structure as that of the first embodiment and each part is indicated by the same reference numeral, the filter medium unit (2B) is loaded in a suspended state separated from the entire inner surface of the case (1). It becomes.

This filter medium unit (2B) has a main filter (2
0), a hollow fiber membrane assembly (21) arranged in the large-diameter central hole (20a), and a fiber sheet folded back in a zigzag shape similar to the above, which is fitted onto the main filter (20). The pre-filter (22) and a unit mounting head member (23) made of a synthetic resin molded product, and the lower end side of the center hole (20a) is attached to the case ( 1) A disc-shaped blocking plate (20b) that blocks the internal space is fixed by adhesion.

The hollow fiber membrane assembly (21) is a bundle of a large number of hollow fiber membranes arranged in a U shape with both ends as upper layers, and the upper part of the hollow fiber membrane assembly is provided inside the holding tube (21a) with the resin (21).
It is integrally bonded and fixed by b). Then, the main filter (20) is externally fitted to the lower part of the holding cylinder (21a) with its upper end portion adhered and fixed, and the pre-filter (22) is attached to the ring-shaped end plates (22a) (22a) at both ends thereof. It is adhesively fixed to the main filter (20). Head member (23)
Is a filter medium holding part (23a) with an open U-shaped cross section with a female screw engraved on the inner peripheral surface, and a unit mounting tube part (23b) with an upper part integrally projecting in the center of the upper surface of which is a male screw. And a water passage (23c) which is vertically penetrated by the attaching cylinder portion (23b), and the holding cylinder (21) for the hollow fiber membrane assembly (21) is provided in the filter medium holding portion (23a). A filter medium unit (2B) is integrally formed by screwing the upper portion of 21a) through an O-ring (24a), and the tubular portion (23b) is inserted from the inside of the case (1) through the O-ring (24b). The filter medium unit (2B) is connected to the cap (1b) of the case (1) in a suspended state by screwing together.

In the water purifier (B) of the second embodiment, the raw water inlet (8)
The raw water flowing into the case (1) from the filter unit (2
In the process of sequentially passing through the pre-filter (22) and the main filter (20) of B), solid substances and dissolved impurities in the raw water are removed as in the water purifier (A) of the first embodiment. Furthermore, in the process of permeating through the microporous membrane of each thread of the hollow fiber membrane assembly (21) through the central hole (20a) of the main filter (20) and flowing into the hollow interior, general bacteria are also removed, and aseptic condition is obtained. The purified water will flow out from the purified water outlet (7) through the water passage (23c).

The main filter of the filter medium unit is not limited to one in which the fiber activated carbon sheet is independently wound into a roll, and the sheet is made of a thin non-woven fabric for the purpose of preventing a decrease in water permeability due to mutual non-adhesion of the layers of the fiber activated carbon sheet. The roll may be wound through a filter web, or a layer made of the same filter web as described above may be provided on the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the roll for the purpose of improving the shape retention of the roll. Further, in order to impart sterilization property to the main filter itself, a fiber activated carbon sheet forming a roll, which carries a silver component, may be used. On the other hand, also in the filter medium unit using the hollow fiber membrane assembly as the water collecting member as in the second embodiment, the hollow fiber membrane assembly, the main filter and the prefilter may be individually replaceable.

Further, in this invention, various connecting or holding structures can be adopted as means for fixing the filter medium unit in the case, and the filter medium unit does not necessarily have to be in the suspended state as illustrated, and the outer peripheral surface of the pre-filter is not necessarily required. It is only necessary to secure a water passage space that communicates with the raw water inlet between the case and the inner surface of the case. Besides, the detailed structure of the water purifier of the present invention can be modified in various ways other than the example.

Effect of the Invention According to the present invention, as a water purifier using a filter medium whose main material is a fiber activated carbon roll, clogging of the filter medium is less likely to occur due to the use of a prefilter of a specific form, and the adsorption ability of the fiber activated carbon is improved. It can be used without exhaustion, has a long life of filter media, can significantly reduce the cost of water purification treatment, is economical, and is structurally simple, and the filter media are unitized and easy to assemble and manufacture and replace the filter media. Can be provided.

Further, according to the configuration of claim (2) of this invention, there is an advantage that the purified water after filtration is efficiently guided to the purified water outlet by the extremely simple water collecting portion structure.

Further, according to the constitution of claim (3) of the present invention, there is an advantage that aseptic odorless water purification by the hollow fiber membrane is possible and the hollow fiber membrane itself is not clogged and has a long life. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a water purifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a water purifier according to the second embodiment. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of Fig.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV. (A) (B) …… Water purifier, (1) …… Case, (2A)
(2B) …… Filter media unit, (7) …… Clean water outlet, (8)
…… Raw water inlet, (10) (20) …… Main filter, (10
a) (20a) …… central hole, (11) …… water collection pipe, (11
a) …… Water passage hole, (12) (22) …… Pre-filter, (2
1) ... Hollow fiber membrane assembly.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location C02F 1/44 B 9538-4D

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A case having a raw water inlet and a purified water outlet,
A filter medium unit that is loaded inside the case away from the inner peripheral surface of the case, and the filter medium unit is an inner main filter made of a fiber activated carbon roll having a central hole that is closed to the space inside the case; An outer pre-filter, which is made of a fibrous sheet having an average void of 20 to 50 μm folded back in a zigzag cross section and has a pleated shape along the entire axial direction, and one end which is arranged in the central hole of the main filter. A water purifier comprising: a water collecting member communicating with the water purification outlet. 2. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the water collecting member is a pipe having a plurality of water passage holes on its peripheral surface. 3. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the water collecting member comprises a hollow fiber membrane assembly.