JPH08243561A - Ionic water producer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an ionic water producer, having an electrolytic bath, capable of electrolyzing with high efficiency without retaining of generating gas and accumulation of it. CONSTITUTION: In the inside of the cylindrical electrolytic bath 30 arranged sideways so as to allow to flow introduced city water in the horizontal direction, a pair of cylindrical electrodes 33, 34 for electrolyzing the city water are arranged. An alkaline ionic water take-out port 30a for taking out the produced alkaline ionic water and an acidic ionic water take-out port for taking out the produced ionic water are formed to be approached mutually in the vicinity of a circular-arcuate top of a front side face of the electrolysis bath 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ionized water producing apparatus for producing alkaline ionized water and acidic ionized water by electrolyzing water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of ionized water generator, for example, one having a structure as shown in FIG. 6 is known. In the main body 1 of this ionized water generator, a water purification cartridge 2 as a water purification member and an electrolytic cell 5 having a pair of electrodes 3 and 4 are arranged in parallel. Then, a branch plug 7 is attached to the water outlet 6a at the tip of the tap water 6, and the tap water is switched to the ion water side by switching the switch lever 7a of the tap plug 7 to the tap water via the first hose 8a. Is configured to supply to. After the water supplied to the water purification cartridge 2 is purified by passing through the activated carbon filter 2a and the hollow fiber membrane filter 2b,
It is sent into the electrolytic bath 5. The water sent into the electrolytic cell 5 is electrolyzed by the pair of electrodes 3 and 4, so that alkaline ionized water is generated on the negative electrode 3 side and acidic ionized water is generated on the positive electrode 4 side. Has become.

The alkaline ionized water is sent to the branch plug 7 side through the second hose 8b and discharged from the water outlet 7b of the branch plug 7. On the other hand, acidic ionized water is the third
The water is discharged to the outside of the main body 1 via the hose 8c. In addition, in the electrolytic bath 5, the electrode 3
A diaphragm 9 is disposed between the electrode 4 and the electrode 4. Also,
When the switching lever 7a of the branch tap 7 is switched to the raw water side, tap water is discharged from the water outlet 7b of the branch tap 7 as raw water without being sent to the first hose 8a side.

However, in such a structure, since the water purification cartridge 2 and the electrolytic cell 5 are arranged side by side in the main body 1, there is a problem that the main body 1 becomes large in size. For this reason, the installation space required for installing the main body 1 becomes large, and the installation is difficult. Further, two hoses 8a and 8b need to be installed between the branch plug 7 attached to the tip of the water supply 6 and the main body 1, and further, one hose 8c for acidic ionized water from the main body 1 is required. Since it is necessary to lead out, the piping of the hose is troublesome and the piping configuration is complicated, so that there is a drawback that the installation is also poor.

On the other hand, as an ionized water generator capable of downsizing the configuration of the ionized water generator and greatly improving the installation property thereof, an electrolytic cell section incorporating a detachably mounted water purification cartridge. A faucet-installed ionized water generation device has been proposed in which a water passage, a flow path switching valve, a flow meter, and a faucet mounting portion that stores a calcium addition cylinder are configured as one unit. As a result, the configuration of the ionized water generator can be made compact and its installability is improved.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional ion water generator, particularly when the electrolytic cell is installed horizontally, oxygen gas or hydrogen gas is generated by electrolysis of water, and these are generated. There is a problem that the particles are not properly discharged to the outside of the electrolytic cell and remain or accumulate.

Therefore, there is a drawback that the electrode portion which does not contribute to the electrolysis of water is widened and the overall efficiency of the electrolytic cell is lowered. For example, in the case of an electrolysis cell driven by a constant current, when the effective electrode area becomes smaller due to the accumulation or retention of gas, the electrolysis voltage becomes higher and the input power increases. At this time, the power supply load becomes high, and at the same time,
The strength of the generated ionized water becomes unnecessarily high.
On the other hand, in the case of an electrolyzer driven by a constant voltage, the amount of water passing through the electrolyzer does not change, but the electrolysis current decreases, so that the strength of the generated ionic water becomes low. for that reason,
In order to obtain ionized water having a desired strength in this state, it is necessary to increase the applied voltage, which also increases the load on the power source.

As described above, there is a problem that the performance of the electrolytic cell is deteriorated due to the retention and accumulation of gas in the electrolytic cell.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ionized water producing apparatus having an electrolytic cell capable of highly efficiently electrolyzing water without retaining or accumulating generated gas.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the ion water generator of the present invention introduces water supplied from a water source into an electrolytic cell, and a pair of electrodes provided in the electrolytic cell. By applying a voltage to the electrolyzed water to produce alkaline ionized water or acidic ionized water, in the ionized water generator, the electrolyzer is placed sideways so that the introduced water flows horizontally. The alkaline ionized water outlet for taking out the generated alkaline ionized water in the lateral direction and the acidic ionized water outlet for taking out the similarly generated acidic ion water in the lateral direction are arranged in a lateral direction of the electrolytic cell. It is provided on the side surface above the upper and lower intermediate portions.

Further, both the alkali ion water outlet and the acidic ion water outlet may be arranged above a water inlet for introducing water into the electrolytic cell.

Further, the electrolytic cell is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the alkali ion water outlet and the acidic ion water outlet are arranged close to each other in the vicinity of an arc-shaped top on one lateral surface of the electrolytic cell. Good to do.

[0013]

According to the ionized water producing apparatus having the above-described structure, the alkaline ionized water outlet and the acidic ionized water outlet for discharging the ionized water produced in the electrolytic cell installed sideways are installed in the lateral direction of the electrolytic cell. Since the configuration is provided above the upper and lower intermediate portions on one side, even if oxygen gas or hydrogen gas generated by electrolysis of water stays or accumulates in the upper part of the electrolytic cell, the alkaline ionized water is taken out. The oxygen gas and hydrogen gas can be easily and appropriately discharged to the outside of the electrolytic cell through the port and the acidic ionized water extraction port. This makes it possible to generate a desired amount of ionized water having a desired strength without reducing the efficiency of electrolysis of water in the electrolytic cell.

If both the alkaline ionized water outlet and the acidic ionized water outlet are arranged above the water inlet for introducing water into the electrolytic cell, the flow of water flowing from below to above The oxygen gas and the hydrogen gas can be more smoothly discharged out of the electrolytic cell through the alkali ion water outlet and the acidic ion water outlet.

Further, the electrolytic cell is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the alkaline ionized water outlet and the acidic ionized water outlet are arranged close to each other in the vicinity of an arc-shaped top on one lateral surface of the electrolytic cell. By doing so, the oxygen gas and hydrogen gas accumulated and accumulated in the vicinity of the arc-shaped top of the electrolytic cell can be made smoother, easier, and surely from the alkali ion water outlet and the acidic ion water outlet. Can be discharged outside.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, in FIG. 5 showing a mode in which the ionized water generator is installed in the kitchen, the ionized water generator 11 is a device body 12 and a power supply device for supplying electric power to the device body 12 via a connection cable 13. And part 14. The power supply unit 14 is installed above the sink 16 in the wall 15 of the kitchen. The power supply unit 1
The plug 17a at the tip of the power line 17 derived from
It is plugged into the power outlet 18 and connected. Also,
The apparatus main body 12 is attached to the tip of a water discharge pipe 21 of a water tap (so-called faucet) 20 provided at the tip of a water supply 19, which is a water source.

The apparatus main body 12 will be described below with reference to FIG.
It will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the apparatus main body 12
The case 22 includes a case base portion 23 having a substantially rectangular shape as a whole, and a case protrusion portion 24 having a substantially cylindrical shape which is provided on a rear surface portion on the left end side of the case base portion 23 so as to project rearward. . A rear end portion of the case projecting portion 24 is open, and the opening portion is closed by a lid 25.

A branch plug 26 is provided at the right end of the case base 23. As shown in FIG. 2, this branch plug 26 has a water inflow passage 26a for receiving tap water from the water discharge pipe 21 of the tap 20 and the tap water horizontally (left).
And a water discharge path 26 for discharging the tap water or the alkaline ionized water in a downward direction.
c and tap water from the water inflow path 26a
A switching valve portion 26d for switching between flowing to the b side or the water discharge path 26c side, and the switching valve portion 26d rotatably provided.
And a switching lever 27 for switching. In the case of this configuration, as shown in FIG.
When 7 is rotated to the raw water position A (horizontal position), tap water (raw water) entering from the water inflow passage 26a is discharged into the water discharge passage 26c.
It is washed away to the side. Further, when the switching lever 27 is rotated to the purified water position B (diagonal position) or the ionized water position C (vertical position), tap water (raw water) entered from the water inflow passage 26a is made to flow to the water outflow passage 26b side. Is configured.

Here, the upper part (the water inflow path 26a portion) of the branch plug 26 is fastened and fixed to the tip of the water discharge pipe 21 of the water tap 20 via a connecting member 28 and a fastening ring 29. As a result, the case 22, that is, the device body 12 is attached and fixed to the tip of the water discharge pipe 21.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, inside the case projecting portion 24, an electrolytic cell 30 having a double cylindrical shape as a whole is provided. The electrolytic cell 30 is arranged with an outer cylindrical wall portion 31 fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the case protruding portion 24 and a predetermined required space inside the outer cylindrical wall portion 31. Inner tubular wall portion 32 and outer tubular wall portion 31
The cylindrical electrode 33 is arranged along the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical wall portion 32, and the cylindrical electrode 34 is arranged along the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical wall portion 32. The two cylindrical electrodes 33 and 34 form a pair of electrodes. Then, the cylindrical electrode 33
A diaphragm 35 made of, for example, a nonwoven fabric made of polyester is disposed between the diaphragm 3 and the tubular electrode 34.
According to 5, the inside of the electrolytic cell 30 is two rooms, specifically,
Outer alkaline ion chamber 36 and inner acidic ion chamber 37
It is divided into

A cartridge chamber 38 is formed inside the inner cylindrical wall portion 32 of the electrolytic cell 30, and a water purification cartridge 39 as a water purification member is accommodated in the cartridge chamber 38. In this case, the water purification cartridge 39 is configured to be able to be taken in and out of the cartridge chamber 38 with the lid 25 of the case projecting portion 24 opened. As a result, one unit (specifically, the apparatus main body 12) is obtained by housing the electrolytic bath 30, the water purification cartridge 39, and the branch plug 26 in the case 22.
Is configured. In addition, the water purification cartridge 39
The cartridge case 39a contains, for example, an activated carbon filter 39b and a hollow fiber membrane filter 39c. The lid 25 is configured to be fastened and fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the outer cylindrical wall portion 31 of the electrolytic cell 30 by screwing.

The water outlet 26a of the branch plug 26
The tap water introduced from the above is introduced from the water introduction port 39d opened at the front surface portion of the water purification cartridge 39 at a position corresponding to the center of the arc on the front side surface of the electrolysis tank 30 through the electrolysis accelerator addition passage 40. The water is supplied to the water purification cartridge 39 in the cartridge chamber 38. An electrolysis accelerator addition cylinder 41 is provided in the electrolysis accelerator addition passage 40.
Is housed in and out. In this case, for example, granular calcium glycerophosphate is contained in the electrolysis accelerator addition cylinder 41 as the electrolysis accelerator.

The purified water that has passed through the purified water cartridge 39 and is purified flows into the electrolytic cell 30 as indicated by the arrow in FIG. That is, the space between the lid 25 and the outer peripheral portion of the upper portion of the water purification cartridge 39 serves as the water passage 42, and the water passage 42 connects the water purification cartridge 39 and the electrolytic cell 30. The purified water supplied into the electrolytic bath 30 is electrolyzed by applying a DC voltage with the outer cylindrical electrode 33 as a negative electrode and the inner cylindrical electrode 34 as a positive electrode. In this case,
As shown in FIG. 1, two lead wires 13a and 13b are accommodated in the connection cable 13, and the respective tip portions of these two lead wires 13a and 13b are connected to the connection terminal 43 shown in FIG. And 44 to be connected to the outer cylindrical electrode 33 and the inner cylindrical electrode 34, respectively, so that a necessary DC voltage can be applied to both the cylindrical electrodes 33 and 34.

By the electrolysis, alkaline ionized water is generated on the alkaline ion chamber 36 side, and
Acid ion water is generated on the side of the acid ion chamber 37. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the alkaline ionized water in the alkaline ion chamber 36 is discharged from an alkaline ionized water outlet 30a opened in the vicinity of the arc-shaped top on the front surface of the electrolytic cell 30, and then alkalinized. It is configured to be supplied to the water discharge passage 26c of the branch plug 26 through the ion water passage 45 and to be discharged downward from the water discharge passage 26c. On the other hand, the acidic ionized water in the acidic ionization chamber 37 is shown in FIG.
Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the alkali ion water outlet 30 is provided near the arc-shaped top on the front surface of the electrolytic cell 30.
Acidic ion water outlet 30 opened close to a
After being discharged from b and passing through the acidic ionized water passage 46, the acidic ionized water is discharged downward from an acidic ionized water discharge port 47 provided in the lower surface of the left end of the case base 23.

In this embodiment, the alkaline ionized water outlet 30a and the acidic ionized water outlet 30b for discharging each ionized water produced by electrolysis from the electrolytic cell 30 are as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. , And open and communicate with the alkali ion chamber 36 and the acidic ion chamber 37, respectively. Then, the respective water outlets 30a,
30b are arranged on the front side surface of the electrolytic cell 30 above the water inlet 39d at a position corresponding to the center of the arc and close to each other near the arc-shaped top.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

First, when tap water is used as it is, as shown in FIG. 3, the switching lever 27 of the branch plug 26 is set to the raw water position A shown by the solid line. In this state,
When the water tap 20 is opened, tap water enters the water inflow path 26a of the branch tap 26 from the water discharge pipe 21 of the water tap 20, and then flows through the switching valve portion 26d to the water discharge path 26c side.
The water is discharged downward from the lower end of the water discharge passage 26c.

When it is desired to use the alkaline ionized water, the switching lever 27 is rotated to the ionized water position C (see the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3). By this operation, the branch plug 26
The switching valve section 26d is switched so that the tap water that has entered from the water inflow path 26a flows toward the water outflow path 26b. Also,
At the same time, the energizing switch for applying a DC voltage to the cylindrical electrodes 33, 34 of the electrolytic cell 30 is turned on. When the tap 20 is opened in this state, tap water enters the water inflow path 26a of the branch tap 26 and then flows through the switching valve portion 26d toward the water outflow path 26b, as shown in FIG. , After calcium is added through the electrolysis accelerator addition passage 40,
The water is supplied from the water inlet 39d into the water purification cartridge 39.

Subsequently, the tap water supplied into the water purification cartridge 39 passes through the water purification cartridge 39, whereby the activated carbon filter 39b and the hollow fiber membrane filter 39 are supplied.
Purified by c. And the purified water purified is shown in Figure 1.
It flows as shown by the middle arrow and is supplied into the electrolytic cell 30.
The purified water supplied into the electrolytic bath 30 is electrolyzed by applying a DC voltage with the outer cylindrical electrode 33 as a negative electrode and the inner cylindrical electrode 34 as a positive electrode.
By this electrolysis, alkaline ionized water is generated on the alkaline ion chamber 36 side and acidic ionized water is generated on the acidic ion chamber 37 side.

Then, the alkaline ionized water in the alkaline ionized chamber 36 is discharged from the alkaline ionized water outlet 30a, and then passes through the alkaline ionized water passage 45 shown in FIG. 2 to the water discharge passage 26c of the branch plug 26. It is supplied and discharged downward from the water discharge passage 26c. Further, hydrogen gas generated in the alkaline ion chamber 36 due to electrolysis of water is generated by the alkaline ion water passage 45 in the electrolytic cell 30.
Since it is installed in the upper half of the upper end portion of the outlet side end portion of the above, it is discharged without staying in the alkali ion chamber 36. On the other hand, acidic ion chamber 3
The acidic ionized water in 7 is the acidic ionized water outlet 30b.
After passing through the acidic ion water passage 46, it is discharged downward from the acidic ion water discharge port 47 of the case base 23. The oxygen gas generated in the acidic ion chamber 37 is also installed in the upper half of the outlet side end portion of the electrolytic cell 30 in the upper half of the arc-shaped apex, similarly to the alkaline ion water passage 45, in the acidic ion water passage 46. Therefore, it is discharged without staying in the acidic ion chamber 37.

A water flow sensor (not shown) for detecting the amount of water flowing into the electrolytic cell 30 is provided in the apparatus main body 12, and a predetermined amount (for example, a water flow sensor) is detected based on the detection result of the water flow sensor. (90 liters) The cylindrical electrodes 33 and 34 are automatically cleaned every time water is passed.
In this case, when cleaning the cylindrical electrodes 33 and 34,
This is performed by applying a DC voltage with the energization direction reversed from the normal direction (specifically, the outer cylindrical electrode 33 serves as a positive electrode and the inner cylindrical electrode 34 serves as a negative electrode).

Next, when it is desired to use purified water, the switching lever 27 is rotated to the purified water position B (see the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3). By this operation, the water inflow passage 26a of the branch plug 26
The switching valve portion 26d is switched so that the tap water (raw water) that has entered from the side flows to the water outflow passage 26b side. In this case, the energizing switch for applying the DC voltage to the tubular electrodes 33, 34 of the electrolytic cell 30 remains off. When the tap 20 is opened in this state, tap water (raw water) becomes
After entering the water inflow passage 26a of the branch plug 26, the switching valve unit 2
After flowing through 6d to the water outflow passage 26b side and adding calcium through the electrolysis accelerator addition passage 40, as shown in FIG.
Is supplied in.

Subsequently, the tap water supplied into the water purification cartridge 39 passes through the water purification cartridge 39, whereby the activated carbon filter 39b and the hollow fiber membrane filter 39 are supplied.
Purified by c. And the purified water purified is shown in Figure 1.
It flows as shown by the middle arrow and is supplied into the electrolytic cell 30.
In this case, the purified water supplied into the electrolytic bath 30 is not electrolyzed because no DC voltage is applied to the cylindrical electrodes 33 and 34. After this, the purified water supplied into the electrolytic bath 30 is discharged from the alkaline ion water outlet 30a on the alkaline ion chamber 36 side, passes through the alkaline ion water passage 45 shown in FIGS. It is supplied to the water discharge passage 26c and discharged downward from the water discharge passage 26c. In this case, a normally-open electromagnetic valve (not shown) is provided in the acidic ion water passage 46 on the acidic ion chamber 37 side, and the electromagnetic valve is closed by being energized. Therefore, the purified water supplied into the electrolytic bath 30 is not discharged through the acidic ion water passage 46 on the acidic ion chamber 37 side. The solenoid valve is configured to be energized and closed when the switching lever 27 is rotated to the water purification position B.

According to this embodiment having such a structure, the electrolytic cell 30 includes the outer cylindrical wall portion 31 and the outer cylindrical wall portion 31.
The inner cylindrical wall portion 32 disposed inside the wall with a required space.
And a pair of cylindrical electrodes 33, 34 disposed between the cylindrical wall portions 31, 32, and a water purification cartridge 39 is arranged inside the inner cylindrical wall portion 32 of the electrolytic cell 30. Since it is configured to be installed, the water purification cartridge 39 is housed inside the tubular (double-cylindrical) electrolytic cell 30 as a whole. As a result, the configuration of the apparatus main body 12 can be significantly downsized as compared with the conventional configuration (see FIG. 10), and
Since the installation space required for installing the apparatus main body 12 becomes small, the installation is greatly facilitated.

Further, in the case of this embodiment, the electrolytic cell 30, the water purification cartridge 39, and the branch plug 26 are housed in the case 22 to form one unit, that is, the apparatus main body 12, and the apparatus main body 12 Since the branch plug 26 is configured to be attached to the tip of the water discharge pipe 21 of the water source plug 20, the device body 12 of the ion water generator is a so-called faucet direct connection type,
The hose 8a required in the conventional configuration (see FIG. 6),
8b (hose connecting the main body and the branch plug) and hose 8c (for discharging acidic ionized water) can be dispensed with. Therefore, the installability can be further improved.

Further, the alkaline ionized water outlet 30a and the acidic ionized water outlet 30b are connected so as to face the outlet side openings of the alkaline ion chamber 36 and the acidic ion chamber 37, respectively, and the electrolytic cell 30 Even in the upper half of the front side surface, because it is arranged near the upper part of the arcuate shape, it remains in the electrolytic cell 30 or the water purification cartridge 39 at the initial stage of water flow regardless of the amount of water flow. The discharged air is easily discharged, and oxygen gas or hydrogen gas generated in the electrolytic cell 30 is easily discharged even when the water is electrolyzed. Therefore, high utilization efficiency of the water purification cartridge 39 for purifying water can be maintained regardless of whether the purified water or the alkaline ionized water is used. Furthermore, even when using alkaline ionized water, there is no reduction in the electrode area that contributes to the electrolysis of water, and stable electrolytic characteristics can always be maintained.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention is characterized in that the electrolytic cell is disposed laterally so that the introduced water is horizontally circulated, and the generated alkaline ionized water is laterally taken out. Since the ionized water outlet and the acidic ionized water outlet for extracting the generated acidic ionized water in the lateral direction are provided above the upper and lower intermediate portions on one lateral surface of the electrolyzer, the water flow rate is Regardless of the amount of water, the gas in the electrolytic cell can be easily discharged, and the excellent effect that the utilization efficiency of the water purification means stored in the electrolytic cell is significantly improved, and the electrolysis during electrolysis can be performed. The stability of the characteristics can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view of an apparatus main body showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional front view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which an ionized water generator is installed in a kitchen.

FIG. 6 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of an ionized water generator having a conventional configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Ionized water generator 12 Device body 30 Electrolyzer 30a Alkaline ion water outlet 30b Acidic ion water outlet 36 Alkaline ion chamber 37 Acidic ion chamber 39d Water inlet 45 Alkaline ion water passage 46 Acid ion water passage

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Alkaline ionized water or acidic water is introduced by introducing water supplied from a water source into an electrolytic cell and applying a voltage to a pair of electrodes provided in the electrolytic cell to electrolyze the water. In an ionized water producing apparatus for producing ionized water, the electrolytic cell is arranged laterally so that the introduced water is circulated in a horizontal direction, and an alkaline ionized water outlet for taking out the generated alkaline ionized water in the lateral direction. An ionized water producing device, wherein an acidic ionized water outlet for extracting the generated acidic ionized water in a lateral direction is provided in a portion above one of the lateral side surfaces of the electrolytic cell above a vertically intermediate portion. . 2. The alkaline ionized water outlet and the acidic ionized water outlet are both arranged above a water inlet for introducing water into the electrolytic cell. Ion water generator. 3. The electrolytic cell is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the alkaline ionized water outlet and the acidic ionized water outlet are arranged close to each other in the vicinity of an arc-shaped top on one lateral surface of the electrolytic cell. The ionized water generator according to claim 1, wherein