JPH08238486A - Mineral water maker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the inflow of air to a pump or a water purifier and to supply mineral water excellent in safety and reliability and stable in concn. CONSTITUTION: A mineral water maker is equipped with a cooling tank storing raw water, the flow valve 16 provided to the bottom part of the cooling tank and closed when the water level in the cooling tank lowers, the pump 9 provided on the downstream side of the flow valve 16, a mineral supply part 6 supplying mineral components to the raw water sent from the pump 9 and a control means 28 stopping the pump 9 on the basis of the signal from a sensor detecting the load of the pump 9 and displaying the lowering of the water level in the cooling tank on a display means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mineral water generator which can be used for domestic and commercial purposes, can add a mineral component to raw water, and can be cooled to a temperature suitable for drinking. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In Japan, rivers and groundwater are used as a water source for purification by each local government, and after purification, this is supplied to households, factories, etc. as tap water.

However, in recent years, the water quality of rivers and groundwater, which are the sources of tap water, has deteriorated, and the amount of hypochlorite added during the purification treatment has increased, which causes a odor of chlorine in tap water. There is. In addition to this, the generation of red water due to the deterioration of tap water pipes, the offensive taste caused by the algae in the lake, which is the water source, and the concentration that does not significantly affect the human body Various problems related to tap water have been pointed out, such as the problem of carcinogenic substances such as trihalomethane that are secondary generated by the reaction of humic substances that are organic substances.

[0004] As these problems have become clearer, there is an increasing need among consumers to obtain safe drinking water, and household water purifiers have begun to spread in response to these needs, and in recent years hollow fiber membranes have become popular. Water purifiers, which combine an adsorbent such as activated carbon and the like, are becoming mainstream.

[0005] This interest in water goes beyond a passive water purifier that simply removes substances in supplied tap water to ensure safety. As in response to growing interest in water safety, there is a growing need to drink delicious and healthy water, and the ingredients in tap water should be modified to obtain tap water with excellent taste and health. The movement to say is active. The representative of the former is mineral water, and the representative of the latter is alkaline ionized water. In particular, the demand for mineral water is eel climbing, and the mineral water piled up at stores is expensive and bottled so that it is inconvenient to carry. The need for is increasing.

A conventional water storage type mineral water generator will be described below. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional mineral water generator. 1 is a water tank that stores and cools raw water, 2
Is a Peltier element unit which is a cooling means for cooling the raw water in the water tank 1, 3 is the water tank 1 and the Peltier element unit 2
Insulating sheet that electrically insulates and effectively transfers heat
Is a fin for releasing the heat absorbed by the Peltier element unit 2 from the raw water in the water tank 1, 5 is a fan for cooling the fin 4, 6 is a natural barley stone or coral that elutes calcium, potassium, etc. into the raw water A mineral supply unit equipped with stones, etc. inside, and 7 is a purified water containing a residual fiber in the mineral water generated in the mineral supply unit 6, activated carbon that adsorbs musty odor, and a hollow fiber membrane that removes general bacteria and impurities A vessel, 8 is a discharge pipe connected to the water purifier 7, 9 is a pump for circulating the raw water in the water tank 1, or 10 is a pump for supplying the raw water to the mineral supply section 6, 10 is the raw water supplied from the pump 9. A three-way valve for switching whether to send to the water tank 1 or the mineral supply unit 6, 11 is a control means using a microcomputer for controlling the operation of the mineral water generator, and 12 is an operation of the mineral water generator. The operation display section for displaying the state and setting operation conditions, 13 is a power-on plug, 14 is a power-source section for changing the AC power from the power-on plug 13 into a DC power source, and 15 is in the water tank 1. It is a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of raw water.

The operation of the conventional mineral water generator configured as described above will be described. AC 100V is supplied by the power-on plug 13, and the power supply unit 14
Then, a DC power supply necessary for the control means 11 and the like and a DC voltage and current necessary for the operation of the pump 9 and the Peltier element unit 2 are generated and supplied to each. When a DC voltage current is supplied to the Peltier element unit 2 which is the cooling means, a heat absorbing action occurs on the surface of the Peltier element that is in contact with the insulating sheet 3, and heat is taken from the water tank 1 through the insulating sheet 3. On the surface of the Peltier element in contact with the fins 4, the amount of heat taken from the water storage tank 1 is released into the air through the fins 4. At this time, since the fan 5 is operated at the same time, the heat radiation effect is enhanced without retaining high temperature air inside the mineral water generator.

Next, the cooling start and end processing by the control means 11 will be described in detail. First, for example, the temperature sensor 15 measures the temperature of the raw water poured into the water tank 1 with a jug or the like.
To detect. The control means 11 continues to operate the Peltier element unit 2 until the detected water temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, and removes heat from the raw water in the water tank 1 to cool it.
At this time, if the Wesco type or turbo type other pumps 9 are simultaneously operated to stir the raw water in the water storage tank 1, the cooling efficiency can be increased and the overall water temperature can be kept constant. At this time, the pipe of the three-way valve 10 is switched to the circulation side by the control means 11. When the temperature sensor 15 detects that the water temperature has reached a predetermined temperature, the control means 11 stops the Peltier element unit 2 and the pump 9, and the operation display unit 1
Notify the user of the mineral water generator that it became cold water in 2. Then, in this state, when the user desires the sprinkling of mineral water and presses the switch of the operation display unit 12, the control means 11 switches the water passage from the circulation side of the three-way valve 10 to the mineral supply unit 6 side. At the same time, the pump 9 is operated,
The raw water in the water storage tank 1 is supplied to the mineral supply unit 6. The supplied raw water becomes mineral water containing a large amount of mineral components such as calcium and potassium while passing through the barley stone, the coral stone, etc. in the mineral supply unit 6, and is sent to the water purifier 7. In the water purifier 7, residual carbon, mold odor, general bacteria, etc. in mineral-containing water are removed by a hollow fiber membrane with activated carbon. The cold water that has been cleansed with the mineral component in this manner is discharged from the discharge pipe 8.

[0009]

However, in such a conventional mineral water generator, when the mineral water is discharged, the water level in the water tank is lowered, and when the pump is out of order, the pump immediately becomes the water tank in addition to the raw water. The air inside might be inhaled. This inhaled air causes the performance of the pump to deteriorate, and the air mixed in the raw water reaches the water purifier and clogs the fine pores of the hollow fiber membrane inside the water purifier, reducing the water purification capacity of the water purifier. Had a point.

Further, if the water purifier is clogged with air, the flow rate of the raw water passing through the mineral supply unit will change, the amount of mineral elution will change, and the mineral concentration in the mineral water will become unstable. Had.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and can prevent inflow and retention of air into a pump or a water purifier, which is excellent in safety and reliability,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mineral water generator capable of supplying a stable concentration of mineral water.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the mineral water generator of the present invention is provided with a water tank for storing raw water, and is provided at the bottom of the water tank and is clogged when the water level of the water tank drops. A signal detected by a sensor that detects the load of the pump, which is equipped with a flow valve, a pump provided on the downstream side of the flow valve, and a mineral supply unit that gives a mineral component to the raw water sent from the water tank by the pump. The pump is stopped by the control means, and a control means for displaying on the display unit that the water level of the raw water in the water tank has dropped is provided.

It is suitable to provide cooling means in the water tank. The flow valve preferably includes a valve body that moves up and down with the water surface and a valve chamber that movably accommodates the valve body.

It is suitable to provide a water purifier for purifying the mineral water sent from the mineral supply section.

It is desirable that a three-way valve be provided between the pump and the mineral supply section so that the raw water sent from the pump can be switched between being sent to the mineral supply section and being circulated in the water tank.

It is suitable that a motor valve is provided on the downstream side of the three-way valve, and the control means controls the motor valve by a signal detected by the filtration capacity detection sensor so that the flow rate supplied from the pump to the mineral supply unit is constant. Is.

[0017]

The mineral water generator of the present invention is equipped with a flow valve to stop the pump by the signal detected by the sensor for detecting the load of the pump and to display that the water level of the raw water in the water tank has dropped. Since it is provided with the control means for displaying, the pump can be stopped and the display unit can notify when the water level goes down and the air starts to be sucked.

Since the cooling means is provided, cooling mineral water can be supplied. Since the flow valve has a structure including a valve body and a valve chamber, it is possible to prevent deterioration of pump performance and air inclusion with a simple structure together with a sensor for detecting a load.

Since the water purifier is provided, purified water can be provided. Since the three-way valve is provided between the pump and the mineral supply unit, it is possible to select whether to feed raw water to the mineral supply unit or to circulate and stir the raw water.

Since the motor valve is provided and the control means controls the motor valve by the signal detected by the filtration capacity detection sensor, the flow rate supplied from the pump to the mineral supply unit can be made constant.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A mineral water generator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a mineral water generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of a main part of the mineral water generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a water tank,
2 is a Peltier element unit, 3 is an insulating sheet, 4 is a fin, 5 is a fan, 6 is a mineral supply unit, 7 is a water purifier, 8
Is a discharge pipe, 9 is a Wesco type or axial flow type pump, 10 is a three-way valve, 13 is a power-on plug, 14 is a power supply section, 15
Is a temperature sensor. Since these are basically the same as those of the conventional mineral water generator, the same reference numerals as the conventional ones are attached and the description thereof will be omitted. Reference numeral 16 is a flow valve for closing the water passage connecting the pump 9 and the water storage tank 1 when the water level of the raw water in the water storage tank 1 is lowered. The flow valve 16 includes a valve body 18, a biasing body 17, and a chassis 31 that is a valve chamber. The valve body 18 is made of a material such as resin having a specific gravity smaller than that of water, and has a shape capable of closing the water passage when the valve body 18 covers the water passage. In this embodiment, the shape of the inlet of the water passage, the chassis 31, the valve body 18
The front shape of each is circular. Since the specific gravity of this valve body 18 is lighter than that of water, buoyancy acts. The urging body 17 is a spring having a small spring constant, and both ends thereof are attached to the back surface of the valve body 18 and the chassis 31, respectively. Since the urging body 17 is provided, the degree of freedom in design is increased as compared with the case of designing only by the specific gravity. The resultant force of the urging force of the urging body 17 and the buoyancy of the valve body 18 exerts a force in the direction of separating the valve body 18 from the water passage.

During operation of the pump 9, the pump 9 provided on the downstream side of the flow valve 16, that is, in the vicinity of the lower portion of the flow valve 16 in this case forms a negative pressure state as suction pressure, so that both sides of the valve body 18 are provided. The valve body 18 receives a force attracted to the pump 9 side due to the acting pressure difference. While the water level in the water tank 1 is not so low, the valve body 18 is located at a position where the resultant force and the negative pressure of the pump 9 are balanced, and a stable flow rate of raw water controlled by the valve body 18 is supplied to the mineral supply unit. Can be sent to 6. When the water level is lowered to near the bottom of the water tank 1, the position of the valve body 18 is lowered along with this water level, and the suction flow rate of the pump 9 is throttled. Finally, the valve body 18 closes the water passage and the pump 9 Will be heavily loaded.

By the way, in the pump 9, the structure of the equal flow valve 16 having a small valve body 18 also affects the pump 9,
Suction of air into the valve body 18 may occur near the valve body 18, and in this case, the pump 9 maintains the suction pressure to maintain the valve body 1
It becomes difficult to attract the valve 8, and the valve element 18 is separated from the water passage by the action of the urging force of the urging element 17 and the buoyancy of the valve element 18. Therefore, in such a case, the pump 9
Then, it is necessary to stop the pump 9 immediately before air suction starts. FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram when the pump of the mineral water generator in the embodiment of the present invention is mixed with air. As shown in FIG. 4, the drive current of the pump 9 decreases when the water level decreases.
It gradually rises as 6 is closed. However, in the case of FIG. 4, when air is sucked in and the load on the pump 9 decreases, the drive current decreases from QMIN. When air is not mixed in, the drive current continues to rise as shown by the broken line in FIG. The drive current value IMAX at the time of QMIN is an air intake dangerous value for stopping the pump 9 when air is taken in, and QMIN is the pump stop flow rate. When the air is not sucked in, the shut-off operation may be stopped by the pump 9.

By the way, in this embodiment, the biasing member 17
However, the specific gravity of the valve element 18 may be made smaller than 1 to constitute the upward force only by the buoyancy, and in this case, the structure becomes that simple. Moreover, in this case, the water passage can be surely closed by lowering the water level. The chassis 31 movably accommodates the valve body 18 and has a cross-sectional shape that is substantially the same as the valve body 18, but a plurality of communication ports that communicate with the inside of the water storage tank 1 are formed around and around the valve body 18. Has been done.
The surrounding communication ports are water holes, and the upper communication ports are holes for providing a pressure difference to the valve body 18. Since the valve body 18 moves up and down with the water surface, a guide may be provided so that the valve body 18 does not tilt.

Reference numeral 28 denotes a sensor (current transducer 25 which will be described later) for detecting load fluctuation of the pump 9 when the flow valve 16 closes the water passage when the water level in the water tank 1 is lowered. Is a control means for stopping the pump 9 in response to the signal and displaying on the operation display unit 29 that the water level in the water tank 1 is at the dangerous position. The display means includes lighting of a lamp, blinking, or notification by a buzzer. Reference numeral 30 is a motor valve capable of controlling the flow rate by restricting the flow rate flowing out from the pump 9.

In FIG. 2, 19 is a transformer internally arranged in the power supply unit, 20 is a DC power supply for a pump which generates a DC voltage and current necessary for operating the pump 9 and the three-way valve 10, and 21 is a Peltier element unit. 2, a Peltier device DC power supply for generating a DC voltage current required to operate 2, a control DC power supply 22 for generating a DC voltage current for operating a microcomputer or the like required for control, 23
Is an output control circuit for controlling the voltage applied to the pump 9,
Reference numeral 24 is a three-way valve solenoid, 25 is a current transducer for monitoring an AC current flowing into the pump DC power supply 20 for driving the pump 9, and 26 is a control means 28 for converting a signal from the current transducer 25 into a DC level.
Input to the smoothing circuit, 27 is the Peltier device unit 2
It is a voltage application circuit for a Peltier device that applies a voltage to the.

The operation of the mineral water generator according to the embodiment of the present invention constructed as above will be described. First, the temperature of the raw water in the water storage tank 1 is detected by the temperature sensor 15. The control means 28 continues to operate the Peltier element unit 2 until the detected water temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, and removes heat from the raw water in the water tank 1 to cool it. At this time, the pump 9 is operated at the same time to stir the raw water in the water storage tank 1 to improve the cooling efficiency and keep the entire water temperature constant. At this time, the pipe of the three-way valve 10 is switched to the circulation side by the control means 28. When the temperature sensor 15 detects that the water temperature has reached a predetermined temperature, the control means 28 stops the Peltier element unit 2 and the pump 9 and informs the user on the operation display unit 29 that the water has become cold. When the user presses the switch of the operation display unit 12 in this state for desiring mineral water discharge, the control means 28 switches the water passage from the circulation side of the three-way valve 10 to the mineral supply unit 6 side. At the same time, the pump 9 is operated to supply the raw water in the water storage tank 1 to the mineral supply unit 6.

As a current value for driving the pump 9, an AC current flowing into the pump DC power source 20 is input to the control means 28 via the current transducer 25 and the smoothing circuit 26, and the load of the pump 9 is constantly applied by these. Being watched. The pump 9 is driven, and the raw water in the water storage tank 1 is sent to the mineral supply unit 6, purified by the water purifier 7, and then discharged from the discharge pipe 8. If mineral water is continuously supplied as it is, the water level of the raw water in the water storage tank 1 is lowered. At the same time, the flow valve 16 which is attached to the chassis 31 via the urging body 17 or which only uses buoyancy is lowered according to the water level.

When the water level goes down and the flow valve 16 goes down, the gap between the valve body 18 and the bottom surface of the water tank 1 becomes small, and the flow rate to the pump 9 is throttled. At this time, the load of the pump 9 increases as shown in FIG. When the water level becomes about 5 mm, the pump 9 may suck air depending on the structure of the flow valve 16 such as the size as described above. QMIN shown in FIG. 4 shows this point. The operation of the pump 9 is normally performed by the maximum flow rate Q determined by the water tank 1, the flow valve 16, the resistance of the water passage, etc.
Used in the region between MAX and pump 9 stop flow QMIN. Further, the control means 28 is arranged so that the flow rate becomes a constant value QT.
Is suitable to maintain the drive current IT.

When the flow rate reaches QMIN and the drive current reaches IMAX, the current transducer 25, which is a sensor,
Detects this, and a signal is sent to the control means 28 informing that the pump 9 has reached the maximum load. Control means 28
Judges that the water level of the raw water in the water storage tank 1 has dropped due to this, causes the pump 9 to stop, and causes the operation display unit 29 to display that the water level has dropped. Notify that it is gone. When the pump 9 is stopped, the valve body 18 that has blocked the water passage due to the decrease in the water level in the water tank 1 is separated from the water passage by the restoring action of the urging body 17, and a slight amount of water remaining in the water tank 1 remains. Allow water to drain. The valve body 18 utilizing only buoyancy keeps the water passage closed until the raw water is supplied after the water flows out.

By the way, this current transducer 2
5 also functions as a filtration capacity detection sensor. That is, as the current value detected by the current transducer 25, the dangerous air intake value I for stopping the pump 9 described above is used.
In addition to the MAX, the micropores of the hollow fiber membrane in the water purifier can be used to detect the filtration capacity dangerous value IF which causes the air resistance to increase and the fluid resistance to increase, which puts a load on the discharge side of the pump. (See Figure 4). When the current transducer 25 detects this dangerous filtration capacity value IF, the control means 2
8 controls the motor valve 30 by judging that the filtration capacity has decreased, and controls the flow rate of the raw water discharged from the pump 9 and sent to the mineral supply unit 6 to be constant. As a result, the concentration of mineral water discharged from the mineral water generator becomes stable. At the same time, the operation display unit 29 is caused to display that fact.

The relationship between the discharge flow rate of the pump 9 of the mineral water generator configured as described above, the mineral concentration, and the filtering capacity of the water purifier will be described. As a comparative example, the mineral concentration of a conventional mineral water generator is shown. FIG.
(A) is a figure which shows the relationship between the filtration capacity of the water purifier of the mineral water generator in one Example of this invention, and the discharge flow volume of a pump,
FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the relationship between the discharge flow rate of the pump of the mineral water generator and the mineral concentration in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3C is the mineral water generator in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing changes over time in mineral concentration of Comparative Example.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the filtering capacity of the water purifier 7 tends to decrease as the discharge flow rate discharged from the pump 9 decreases. Both clogging due to impurities and retention of air in the filter medium similarly reduce the filtering ability. The filtration capacity here is to measure how much flow rate per unit time, regardless of impurities or air. See also FIG.
As shown in (b), the mineral concentration decreases as the discharge flow rate of the pump 9 increases. In this embodiment, the control means controls the opening of the motor valve so that the flow rate discharged from the pump 9 becomes a constant value QT.
As shown in (c), the mineral concentration of mineral water does not change much over time. However, in the comparative example, since the air is sucked in each time it is used, the filtering ability of the water purifier decreases with each use. In the comparative example, the mineral concentration tends to increase as the discharge flow rate of the pump 9 decreases.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the mineral concentration of the discharged mineral water can be made stable.

[0035]

According to the mineral water generator of the present invention, the load of the pump is changed by the flow valve, the load of the pump is detected by the sensor, and the pump is stopped. Since the control means for displaying is provided, the pump is stopped when the water level goes down and the air starts to be sucked in, and the user can be notified of it by the display means.

Since the flow valve has the valve body and the valve chamber, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the pump performance and the entry of air with a simple structure.

It is possible to provide purified water containing a mineral component with a water purifier, air is not retained in the water purifier, and the filtering ability of the water purifier is not deteriorated. Can provide mineral water.

Since a three-way valve is provided between the pump and the mineral supply unit, the raw water is sent to the mineral supply unit,
It can be selected whether to circulate and stir, and the pump can be used not only as a transfer means but also as a stirring means.

Since the motor valve is provided and the control means controls the motor valve by the signal detected by the filtration capacity detection sensor, the flow rate supplied from the pump to the mineral supply unit can be made constant, and the mineral concentration can be made constant. Can be

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a mineral water generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of a main part of a mineral water generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 (a) is a diagram showing the relationship between the filtration capacity of the water purifier of the mineral water generator and the discharge flow rate of the pump in one embodiment of the present invention. (B) The pump of the mineral water generator in one embodiment of the present invention. Showing the relationship between the discharge flow rate and the mineral concentration (c) is a graph showing the change over time of the mineral concentration of the mineral water generator in one example of the present invention and the comparative example

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram of a mineral water generator pump according to an embodiment of the present invention when air is mixed therein.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional mineral water generator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Water Tank 2 Peltier Element Unit 3 Insulation Sheet 4 Fins 5 Fan 6 Mineral Supply Part 7 Water Purifier 8 Discharge Pipe 9 Pump 10 Three-way Valve 11, 28 Control Means 12, 29 Operation Display Part 13 Power Supply Plug 14 Power Supply Part 15 Temperature Sensor 16 Flow valve 17 Energizer 18 Valve body 19 Transformer 20 DC power source for pump 21 DC power source for Peltier element 22 DC power source for control 23 Output control circuit 24 Three-way valve solenoid 25 Current transducer 26 Smoothing circuit 27 Voltage application for Peltier element Circuit 30 Motor valve 31 Chassis

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location C02F 1/68 530 C02F 1/68 530L 540 540A 540D

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A water tank for storing raw water, a flow valve provided at the bottom of the water tank and closed when the water level of the water tank drops, and a pump provided downstream of the flow valve. A mineral supply unit that gives a mineral component to the raw water sent from the water tank by the pump is provided, and the pump is stopped by a signal detected by a sensor that detects the load of the pump, and the raw water in the water tank is also provided. A mineral water generator comprising control means for displaying on a display unit that the water level has dropped. 2. The mineral water generator according to claim 1, wherein cooling means is provided in the water storage tank. 3. The mineral water generator according to claim 1, wherein the flow valve includes a valve body that moves up and down with a water surface, and a valve chamber that movably accommodates the valve body. 4. A water purifier for purifying the mineral water sent from the mineral supply section.
The mineral water generator according to any one of to 3. 5. A three-way valve is provided between the pump and the mineral supply unit to switch whether raw water sent from the pump is sent to the mineral supply unit or circulated to the water tank. Claim 1 characterized by being able to
The mineral water generator according to any one of to 4. 6. A motor valve is provided on the downstream side of the three-way valve, and the control means controls the motor valve by a signal detected by a filtration capacity detection sensor so that the flow rate supplied from the pump to the mineral supply section. Is constant, The mineral water generator in any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned.