JPH09168782A - Electrolytic water making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the cost of an apparatus as a whole, in an electrolytic water making apparatus electrolyzing dilute salt water, by using a valve requiring no salt resistance to a conc. salt water supply passage for forming dilute salt water. SOLUTION: A conc. salt water tank 10 is filled with conc. salt water and a dilute salt water tank 20 is filled with dilute salt water formed by mixing the conc. salt water from the conc. salt water tank 10 with water supplied from the outside and the dilute salt water in the tank is supplied to an electrolytic cell 30 by an electromotor 26 to be electrolyzed within the electrolytic cell 30. When conc. salt water is supplied to the dilute salt water tank 20 from the conc. salt water tank 10, the valve provided on the upstream side of the conc. salt water suction part 15a of a conc. salt water supply pipe 15 is opened to supply water to the dilute salt water tank 20 from the outside. At this time, the conc. salt water suction part 15a sucks the conc. salt water in the concn. salt water tank 10 by the flow of the water from the outside and the sucked conc. salt water is also supplied to the dilute salt tank 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention stores a predetermined low-concentration diluted salt water in a diluted salt water tank, which is prepared by mixing concentrated salt water stored in a concentrated salt water tank with water supplied from the outside. In addition, the present invention relates to an electrolyzed water production apparatus that supplies the stored diluted salt water to an electrolytic cell and electrolyzes it in the electrolytic cell to obtain electrolyzed water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of apparatus is disclosed in
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 75576, concentrated salt water is stored in a concentrated salt water tank, and the concentrated salt water is discharged from a bottom portion or a lower side portion of the concentrated salt water tank via a concentrated salt water supply pipe, A valve is installed in the concentrated salt water supply pipe, and the concentrated salt water is supplied to the diluted salt water tank which is selectively provided below the concentrated salt water tank by the opening / closing control of the valve and is supplied from the outside. The concentration of the dilute salt water is kept at a predetermined low concentration.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, since the valve interposed in the concentrated salt water supply pipe needs salt resistance, an expensive one must be used, and the valve of the entire apparatus must be used. There was a problem of high cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive electrolyzed water producing apparatus by using a valve which does not require salt resistance.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a structural feature of the present invention is that water pumped from the outside is introduced into a dilute salt water tank via a concentrated salt water tank, and A concentrated salt water supply pipe having a concentrated salt water suction part for sucking the concentrated salt water in the concentrated salt water tank when the water is introduced into the diluted salt water tank by opening in the salt water tank and upstream of the concentrated salt water suction part. A valve provided between the concentrated salt water supply pipe and selectively supplying water pressure-fed from the outside to the dilute salt water tank is provided.

[0006]

According to the present invention constructed as described above, the water pressure-fed from outside is selectively supplied to the dilute salt water tank by opening and closing the valve provided upstream of the concentrated salt water suction portion. . When water is supplied to the diluted salt water tank, the concentrated salt water suction unit sucks the concentrated salt water in the concentrated salt water tank by the flow of water pumped from the outside, and the concentrated salt water is supplied to the diluted salt water tank. Therefore, salt water does not pass through the valve, and a salt-resistant valve is not required for the valve, so that the cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows an electrolyzed water producing apparatus according to the embodiment. This electrolyzed water production apparatus includes a concentrated salt water tank 10 for storing concentrated salt water, a diluted salt water tank 20 for storing diluted salt water, and an electrolytic cell 30 for electrolyzing the diluted salt water supplied from the diluted salt water tank 20.

A large amount of salts such as sodium chloride and potassium chloride are put into the concentrated salt water tank 10, and a main salt formed from a resin having a high salt resistance such as vinyl chloride is supplied from an external water supply source (not shown) such as tap water. Water is supplied through the pipe 11 and the water supply pipe 12. The main pipe 11 is connected to an external water supply source and extends to the vicinity of the concentrated salt water tank 10 and the diluted salt water tank 20.
Water to which pressure is applied is constantly supplied to the inside of 1. The water supply pipe 12 is connected to the main pipe 11 at one end, and the other end is located above the concentrated salt water tank 10.
Further, the water supply pipe 12 is provided with a valve 13 which is electrically controlled and selectively opened and closed. Concentrated salt water tank 1
A water level sensor 14 is housed in the 0. The water level sensor 14 detects that the water level in the concentrated salt water tank 10 is equal to or higher than a predetermined upper limit water level, and also detects that the water level in the tank 10 is equal to or lower than a lower limit water level lower than the upper limit water level.

The concentrated salt water tank 10 includes a dilute salt water tank 20.
A concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 for supplying concentrated salt water is also incorporated therein. The concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 is formed by bending a U-shaped resin made of a resin having a high salt resistance such as vinyl chloride, is connected to the main pipe 11 at one end thereof, and has a U-shaped bottom portion at the concentrated salt water tank 10. The other end is extended to a position above the dilute salt water tank 20. The U-shaped bottom portion of the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 is provided with a concentrated salt water suction portion 15a for sucking the concentrated salt water, and an electric power is provided outside the concentrated salt water tank 10 and upstream of the concentrated salt water suction portion 15a. A valve 16 that is selectively opened and closed under the control of the valve is installed. The concentrated salt water inhaler 15a, as shown in FIG.
The small diameter portion 15a1 is formed to be thinner than the front and rear thicknesses, and the thin diameter portion 15a1 is connected to a thin pipe 15a2 that opens in the concentrated salt water tank 10. A mesh filter 15a3 for preventing the salt S from entering the thin tube 15a2 is provided at the open end of the thin tube 15a2.

A concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 is provided in the dilute salt water tank 20.
The water mixed with the concentrated salt water is supplied from the output section 15b of the water supply pipe, and the water supply pipe 2 is formed from an external water supply source by the main pipe 11 and a resin having high salt resistance such as vinyl chloride.
Water is pumped through 1. Water pipe 2
1 is connected to the main pipe 11 at one end, and the other end is positioned above the dilute salt water tank 20. Also,
The water supply pipe 21 is provided with a valve 22 that is electrically controlled and selectively opened and closed. A water level sensor 23 and a concentration sensor 24 are housed in the diluted salt water tank 20. The water level sensor 23 detects that the water level in the dilute salt water tank 20 is equal to or higher than a predetermined upper limit water level, and also detects that the water level in the tank 20 is equal to or lower than a lower limit water level lower than the upper limit water level. The concentration sensor 24 detects the concentration of the diluted salt water in the diluted salt water tank 20. Dilute salt water tank 2
An inlet of a supply pipe 25 for supplying the dilute salt water to the electrolytic cell 30 is connected to the bottom of 0. An electric pump 26 is interposed in the supply pipe 25, and the pump 26 supplies the diluted salt water in the diluted salt water tank 20 to the electrolytic cell 30 in an operating state.

The interior of the electrolytic cell 30 is divided into an anode chamber 32 and a cathode chamber 33 by a diaphragm 31, and each electrode chamber 3
2 and 33 are connected to the supply pipe 25 by the operation of the electric pump 26.
Dilute salt water is supplied through the. In each of the electrode chambers 32 and 33, a pair of electrodes 35 and 36 to which a positive and negative DC voltage is applied from a DC power supply device 34 are arranged facing each other. By applying this DC voltage, the diluted salt water tank 20
The diluted salt water supplied from is electrolyzed, and each electrode chamber 32,
Each of the acidic and alkaline ionized water generated in 33 is taken out to the outside as the electrolyzed water through the taking-out pipes 37 and 38.

The electrolyzed water producing apparatus also includes an electric control device 40 connected to the various sensors 14, 23, 24, valves 13, 16, 22, electric pump 26 and DC power supply device 34. The electric control device 40 is composed of a microcomputer, and various sensors 1
The valves 13, 1 based on the detection signals from 4, 23, 24
6, 22 opening and closing, electric pump 26 and DC power supply 34
Controls the operation of.

Next, the operation of the electrolyzed water producing apparatus according to the present invention constructed as above will be described. First, when using this electrolyzed water producing apparatus, the user turns on a large amount of salt S in the concentrated salt water tank 10 and turns on a power switch (not shown). In response to turning on this power switch,
The electric control device 40 controls the opening / closing of the valves 13, 16 and 22 in cooperation with the water level sensors 14 and 23 and the concentration sensor 24, thereby supplying water to both tanks 10 and 20 and from the concentrated salt water tank 10 to diluted salt water. Concentrated salt water is supplied to the tank 20, and the concentrated salt water tank 10 is filled with concentrated saturated salt water, and the diluted salt water tank 20 is filled with a predetermined low concentration diluted salt water. In addition, these water level sensors 14, 23
And each valve 13, 16, 21 based on the concentration sensor 24
Details of the control will be described later.

After this, the electric control unit 40 is operated by the electric pump 2.
6 is operated and the DC power supply device 34 is operated to apply positive and negative DC voltages to the electrodes 35 and 36. As a result, the electric pump 26 supplies the diluted salt water in the diluted salt water tank 20 to the anode chamber 32 and the cathode chamber 33 of the electrolytic cell 30, and in the electrolytic cell 30, the diluted salt water supplied to both the electrode chambers 32 and 33 is electrically converted. It is decomposed to generate electrolyzed water (acidic ion water and alkaline ionized water), and the electrolyzed water thus generated is output from the take-out pipes 37 and 38, respectively.

When the water level in the dilute salt water tank 20 drops to the lower limit water level due to the supply of dilute salt water to the electrolytic cell 30, the water level sensor 23 detects this and the electric control unit 40 opens the valve 22. As a result, the water pumped from the external water supply source is supplied to the dilute salt water tank 20 through the main pipe 11, the water supply pipe 21, the valve 22 and the water supply pipe 21, and the water level in the tank 20 rises. When the water level in the tank 20 reaches the upper limit water level due to this rise in the water level, the electric control device 40 closes the valve 22. Therefore, the water level of the dilute salt water tank 20 is always kept between the lower limit water level and the upper limit water level.

On the other hand, when the concentration of the diluted salt water in the tank 20 decreases due to the water supply to the tank 20, the concentration sensor 24 detects this and the electric control unit 40 opens the valve 16. As a result, the water pumped from the external water supply source is supplied to the dilute salt water tank 20 through the main pipe 11, the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15, the valve 16 and the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15.
At this time, the pressure-fed water flows through the concentrated salt water suction portion 15a, and the flow velocity becomes faster in the small diameter portion 15a1 of the suction portion 15a. Therefore, the water pressure in the small diameter portion 15a1 decreases, and the concentrated salt water in the concentrated salt water tank 10 is sucked into the small diameter portion 15a1 through the filter 15a3 and the thin tube 15a2.
In this case, even if the open end of the thin tube 15a is buried in the salt S that has settled at the bottom of the concentrated salt water tank 10, the filter 1
Only concentrated salt water is inhaled by 5a3. Then, the inhaled concentrated salt water is also guided to the diluted salt water tank 20 via the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15, so that the concentration of the diluted salt water in the tank 20 increases. Dilute salt water tank 2 due to this increase in concentration
When the concentration of the diluted salt water in 0 reaches a predetermined low concentration, the concentration sensor 24 detects this and the electric control unit 40 causes the valve 1
6 is closed and the dilute salt water tank 2 via the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15
Stop the water and concentrated salt water supply to 0. Therefore, the concentration of the dilute salt water in the dilute salt water tank 20 is always kept at a predetermined low concentration.

On the other hand, when the concentrated salt water supplied from the concentrated salt water tank 10 to the diluted salt water tank 20 lowers the water level in the concentrated salt water tank 10 to the lower limit water level, the water level sensor 14 detects this and the electric control unit. 40 opens valve 13.
As a result, the water pumped from the external water supply source
It is supplied to the concentrated salt water tank 10 via the water supply pipe 12, the valve 13 and the water supply pipe 12, and the water level in the tank 10 rises. When the water level in the tank 10 reaches the upper limit water level due to this rise in the water level, the electric control device 40 closes the valve 13. Therefore, the water level of the concentrated salt water tank 10 is always kept between the lower limit water level and the upper limit water level. Also, the same tank 1
The salt S is replenished to 0 at any time so that the remaining salt S which is not completely dissolved in water is always deposited on the bottom of the tank 10.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, the concentration of the diluted salt water in the diluted salt water tank 20 decreases,
When supplying the concentrated salt water in the concentrated salt water tank 10 to the same tank 20, the valve 16 provided upstream of the concentrated salt water suction portion 15a of the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 is opened to allow the water pumped from the outside to flow into the diluted salt water tank 20. Supply to. At this time, the concentrated salt water is sucked into the concentrated salt water tank 10 by the flow of water pumped from the outside in the concentrated salt water suction unit 15 a, and the concentrated salt water is supplied to the dilute salt water tank 20. Therefore, since salt water does not pass through the valve 16 and the valve 16 does not need to be salt-resistant, the cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

Next, a modified example of the above-described embodiment will be described. In this modified example, the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 is replaced with the concentrated salt water intake part 15a shown in FIG. 2 and the concentrated salt water intake part 15b shown in FIG. Is provided. This concentrated salt water inhaler 15
In b, the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 is cut into an upstream portion and a downstream portion, and an end portion of the upstream portion is provided with a small-diameter portion 15b1 formed to be narrower than an intermediate portion thereof, and an end portion of the downstream portion. Is provided with a small-diameter portion 15b2 which is formed thinner than the middle portion thereof and larger than the small-diameter portion 15b1.
The small-diameter portion 15b1 enters the 5b2, and the small-diameter portions 15b1 and 15b2 are fixed at an appropriate position.
A mesh filter 15b3 is provided on the end surface of the small diameter portion 15b2 and outside the small diameter portion 15b1.

Also in the modified example configured as described above,
When the valve 16 provided upstream of the concentrated salt water suction portion 15b of the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 is opened to supply the water pressure-fed from the outside to the dilute salt water tank 20, the pressure-fed water flows through the concentrated salt water suction portion 15b. The small-diameter portion 15b1 flows to the small-diameter portion 15b2, and the flow velocity of the small-diameter portions 15b1 and 15b2 is increased. Therefore, the water pressure in the small diameter portions 15b1 and 15b2 is reduced, and the concentrated salt water in the concentrated salt water tank 10 is filtered by the filter 15b.
3 is sucked into the small diameter portion 15b2. In this case, even if the open end of the small diameter portion 15b2 is buried in the salt S that has settled at the bottom of the concentrated salt water tank 10, only the concentrated salt water is sucked by the filter 15b3. Then, the sucked concentrated salt water is guided to the diluted salt water tank 20 through the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 together with the water. Therefore, in this case as well,
Since salt water does not pass through the valve 16, the valve 16
Since no salt-resistant material is required, the cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment and modification, the electrolytic cell 30 is of a type in which the electrode chambers 32 and 33 are separated by the diaphragm 31, but the electrolytic cell is not provided with the diaphragm. May be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of an electrolyzed water generation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end view showing a portion surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end view showing a modified example of a portion surrounded by a chain line A in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... concentrated salt water tank, 11 ... main piping, 12,21 ... water supply pipe, 13,16,22 ... valve, 15 ... concentrated salt water supply pipe,
15a, 15b ... Concentrated salt water suction part, 15a1, 15b1,
15b2 ... narrow diameter part, 15a2 ... narrow tube, 15a3,15b
3 ... Filter, 20 ... Dilute salt water tank, 30 ... Electrolyzer, 4
0 ... Electric control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A concentrated salt water tank in which salt is dissolved in water supplied from the outside to store concentrated salt water, and a concentrated salt water supplied from the concentrated salt water tank and water supplied from the outside are mixed to a predetermined low level. A diluted salt water tank for storing a concentration of diluted salt water, and an electrolyzed water production apparatus including an electrolytic cell for electrolyzing the diluted salt water supplied from the diluted salt water tank, wherein water pumped from the outside is stored in the concentrated salt water tank. It has a concentrated salt water inhalation part for guiding the water into the diluted salt water tank via it and for inhaling the concentrated salt water in the concentrated salt water tank when opening the inside of the concentrated salt water tank and guiding the water into the diluted salt water tank. A concentrated salt water supply pipe and a valve, which is interposed in the concentrated salt water supply pipe upstream of the concentrated salt water suction part and selectively supplies water pressure-fed from the outside to the diluted salt water tank, are provided. Electrolyzed water generator.