JPH11277079A - Water treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide mineral adjusted water kept constant in the concn. of minerals and having magnesium added thereto other than calcium in a water treatment apparatus equipped with a mineral adding means for obtaining mineral adjusted water. SOLUTION: A water treatment apparatus has a double structure wherein an adding material housing container 17 is provided in a mineral adding means 6. A pressing cover 18 pressing the added mineral adding material is arranged in the adding material housing container 17 to be connected to the upper lid 20 of the adding material housing container 17 by a spring 19. The upper lid 20 is formed to the upper part of the main body of the water treatment apparatus as a screw type openable and closable member and, by detaching the upper lid 20, the mineral adding material can be supplied. Herein, water to be treated is supplied to the adding material housing container 17 from the lower part thereof and enters the mineral adding material from a plurality of holes 21 provided to the middle part of the adding material housing container 17 and is discharged from the lower part of the mineral adding means 6 in the contact state with the mineral adding material to be taken out as mineral adjusted water.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water treatment apparatus mainly used for general household use and business use, and more particularly to a water treatment apparatus provided with a mineral addition means for making it possible to obtain mineral water by using a mineral additive. The present invention relates to a water treatment device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mineral water purifiers for obtaining mineral water by adding a mineral material have been widely used.

[0003] The addition of minerals involves the formation of electrolyzed water (acidic water and alkaline water) in the electrolytic cell section in an electrolytic water generator having an electrolytic cell section composed of a diaphragm, an anode plate and a cathode plate. It is performed as a means for promoting electrolysis or as a mineral replenishing means for ingestion from cooking water including drinking of mineral components suitable for living things.

A conventional water treatment apparatus of this type, for example, a general mineral water conditioner is constructed as shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a main part showing a conventional general mineral water conditioner. It is.

[0005] The mineral water conditioner shown in FIG. 8 includes a container 30 for storing water and a circulation path 31 for circulating water in the container.
A water discharge path 32 for allowing water in the container to flow out, and a mineral addition means 3 provided in the middle of the circulation path 31.
3 and a water purification means 34 provided in the middle of the water discharge path.

The mineral addition means 33 contains natural active minerals such as barley stone, Ioite and coral stone, and the water purification means 34 contains harmful substance removing substances such as activated carbon and hollow fiber membranes. Have been.

The tap water contained in the container 30 is stored in the container 30 while flowing so as to circulate through the circulation path 31 by driving the circulation pump. Then, when tap water passes through the mineral addition means 33, a mineral component is added to the water via the active mineral in the mineral addition means.

Further, when the mineral water in the container passes through the water discharge path 32 by driving of the water discharge pump and passes through the water purification means 34, impurities and residual chlorine chlorine odor and the like contained in the water due to the activated carbon in the water purification means. The turbid components and various germs are collected by being absorbed and passing through the hollow fiber membrane.
As a result, mineral water containing a mineral component and free from impurities and residual chlorine chlorine odor is supplied from the water outlet path.

[0009]

However, in the above mineral water purifier, since tap water is only brought into contact with natural stone, the mineral components contained in the natural stone cannot be sufficiently eluted, resulting in a high water content. It was difficult to obtain mineral water at a concentration.

As a method for solving this problem, many methods have been proposed in which an artificial mineral-eluting substance such as calcium lactate is formed into granules, plates, or granules instead of active minerals.

However, in the above case, the filled mineral additive has a composition or structure in which the mineral components are easily eluted to some extent. The eluted mineral components also decreased, making it difficult to control the mineral component concentration.

As a method for solving this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-3 is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 23286/1995 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-222981 propose a method of detecting the accumulated amount of flow rate or the conductivity of generated water to notify a user or a decrease in a mineral additive.

However, in these water conditioners, the presence or absence of the mineral additive in the mineral additive cylinder is detected, and if the mineral additive is replenished after the mineral concentration is reduced, a stable mineral additive is obtained. It was hard to say to supply water.

The mineral components that can be taken from a number of mineral water purifiers are mostly calcium, and even if they are filled with a magnesium material, the elution amount is very small.

[0015]

The water treatment apparatus of the present invention comprises:
Means for Solving the Problems The invention according to Claims 1 and 2 has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has a mineral addition means for obtaining mineral-adjusted water by a mineral addition cylinder containing a mineral additive, and further comprises activated carbon. And water purifying means consisting of a hollow fiber membrane, etc., or an electrolytic cell generating acidic and alkaline ionized water by electrolysis, or water softening means filled with ion exchange resin, etc., or in combination with mineral addition means In the water treatment apparatus, the shape of the mineral addition cylinder in the mineral addition means is doubled, and a plurality of holes are formed in the inner cylinder so that water supplied from the lower part of the mineral addition cylinder flows out from the center of the inner cylinder. It is provided.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 or 4 is
As a mineral additive to be filled in the mineral addition means, it is composed of both mineral components of calcium material and magnesium material, and a filter having good water permeability for partitioning each additive into a plurality of layers is provided in the mineral addition cylinder. It is made.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a water level detecting unit is provided in the mineral adding unit, and a control unit is provided for performing control to automatically stop water according to the volume or height of the lowermost layer. It becomes.

Further, according to the present invention, calcium (Ca) can be obtained by changing the component ratio of the mineral additive to the weight ratio.
/ Magnesium (Mg) = 4 or less.

Further, in the invention according to claim 7, an ion sensor for detecting the concentration of a mineral component is provided in the mineral-adjusting water intake section of the mineral addition means, and tap water is supplied from an external path which does not pass through the mineral addition cylinder. A supply path is provided.

Further, in the invention according to claim 8, the mineral additive is formed by a nonwoven fabric having good water permeability.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of a water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a box-shaped water treatment apparatus main body, and a water supply port 2 connected to a water tap is formed on one side thereof so as to open inside and outside. The water treatment device 1 is a water softening means 3 filled with a material having an ion exchange function for deionization such as an ion exchange resin or an adsorbent.
And a water purification means (not shown) filled with the activated carbon tank 4 and the hollow fiber membrane tank 5, a mineral addition means 6 for storing a mineral additive for the purpose of increasing mineral components in water, and a plurality of partition walls. An electrolytic cell having a plurality of electrode plates disposed to face each other with an interposed therebetween, and applying a direct current to the electrode plates to generate acidic water on the anode chamber side and alkaline water on the cathode chamber side partitioned by partition walls. 7 is formed.

Next, the flow of water in the water treatment apparatus of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

First, tap water 40 supplied from a tap is used.
Is supplied to the water softening means 3 through a three-way valve 10 provided between the water supply pipes 8 and 9. Here, when the deionized water is not selected by the user's intention, the water is supplied directly to the activated carbon tank 4 and the hollow fiber membrane tank 5 without passing through the water softening means 3 by controlling the three-way valve 10. From the tap water 40 supplied to the water purification means, impurities, residual chlorine, chlorine smell and the like contained in the tap water 40 are removed in the activated carbon tank 4. Also,
By passing through the hollow fiber membrane 5, turbid components and various germs are collected and purified.

Next, when the user selects the mineral adjustment water, the purified water flows into the mineral addition means 6 by controlling the three-way valve 11 provided in the communication pipe connecting the hollow fiber membrane tank 5 and the mineral addition means 6. You. Here, the flow rate detected by the flow meter 12 disposed at the inlet of the mineral addition means 6 is calculated by the control unit 14, and flows into the mineral addition means by adjusting the flow rate adjustment valve 15 according to the calculated value. Control the amount of purified water and adjust the amount of minerals eluted per unit volume. The purified water thus supplied to the mineral adding means 6 becomes mineral-conditioned water containing a large amount of mineral components eluted from the additive. The structure of the mineral addition means 6 will be described later.

When no mineral component is required,
Under the control of the three-way valve 11, the purified water flows from the hollow fiber membrane tank 5 directly into a communication pipe connected to the electrolytic tank 7 in the next step.

Next, the mineral adjusted water whose optimal mineral concentration has been adjusted continues to flow into the electrolytic cell 7. The electrolytic cell 7 is provided with a diaphragm and an electrode plate. When a DC voltage of several to several tens of volts is applied between the electrode plates by the operation of the DC power supply 16, the mineral adjusted water supplied into the electrolytic cell 7, or The purified water can be separated into acidic water and alkaline water by electrolysis. When the electrolyzed water is not required, the mineral adjusted water obtained in the mineral adding means 6 can be taken as it is by not supplying an electric current.

The water treatment apparatus of the present invention does not need to include all of the above water treatment means. If the water treatment apparatus includes the mineral addition means, there is no other means, and the water treatment apparatus can be used alone. It may be provided together with the adding means.

FIG. 2 et seq. Show a further embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention. The same reference numerals are used for the same parts as those of the water treatment apparatus, and the components other than the mineral addition means according to the present invention are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description of the parts is omitted.

Here, in the water treatment apparatus of the present invention, an additive storage container 17 is provided inside the mineral addition means 6, and the additive storage container 17 has an additive storage for detecting the filling amount of the mineral additive. Material amount detecting means (not shown) is provided. The additive material amount detecting means detects a change in the volume of the additive material over time, and the detected value is converted into a display such as blinking of a lamp by a control circuit or converted into a sound to be notified.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the mineral addition means of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

The water treatment apparatus shown in FIG.
The inside has an additive storage container 17 inside, and has a double structure. A holding cover 18 for holding the added mineral additive is disposed in the inside thereof, and is connected to an upper lid 20 of the additive storage container 17 by a spring 19. The upper lid 20 is formed at the upper part of the main body of the water treatment apparatus 1 as a screw type that can be opened and closed. By removing the upper lid 20, the mineral additive can be replenished. When the upper lid 20 is opened, the spring 19 is relaxed, and the holding cover 18 is raised. Therefore, the stored mineral additive is always the spring 1
9, the pressing cover 18 is pressed down via the pressing cover 18, and accordingly, the pressing cover 18 is also lowered as the volume of the additive decreases.

Here, the water to be treated is supplied from the lower part of the additive storage container 17 and enters the mineral additive through a plurality of holes 21 arranged in the middle part of the additive storage container 17 while contacting the mineral additive. The water is discharged from the lower part of the mineral addition means 6 and is taken as mineral water. The water to be treated supplied to the additive storage container 17 comes into contact only with the mineral additive filled below the hole 21, and the mineral additive above the hole 21 is successively filled as the volume of the mineral additive decreases. You.

The mineral adding means 6 has a cartridge type structure to be inserted into the flow path, and can be removed together with the mineral adding means 6.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of a method of filling the mineral additive into the mineral additive means 6.

In FIG. 3, a filter-like material 22 such as a non-woven fabric having good water permeability is arranged in the additive storage container 17 in order to store the mineral additives having different mineral components in a plurality of layers. ing. This filter-like material 22
The upper layer is filled with a calcium material 23 having a high mineral elution rate, and the lower layer is filled with a magnesium material 24 having a low elution rate. In this case, the calcium material is mainly dissolved by passing water, so that the mineral additive only needs to be replenished with the calcium material alone.

The purpose of separating and filling the mineral additive into a plurality of layers is to prevent the mineral additive having different components from being mixed. For example, as shown in FIG. The structure which can be removed by the screw type 25 etc. so that 6 may be isolate | separated into two parts may be sufficient. The removed cross section has a filter shape of a mesh smaller than the particle diameter of the mineral additive as shown in the figure. In this case, it is desirable that the magnesium material stored in the lower layer has little change in volume.

However, if the composition has a large change in volume, it is possible to replenish the magnesium material by removing the screw-type portion 25. Since the mineral adding means 6 itself has a removable structure as described above, the operation can be performed after removing the mineral adding means 6 and the handling is easy.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention, and shows a state in which the lowermost layer is filled with a magnesium material.

In FIG. 5, when the magnesium material 25 is stored in the lowermost portion of the additive storage container 17, not all of the water is taken out (drained) after the mineral water is taken, but the mineral material is taken out. Water is retained by a water level detecting means 26 arranged in the adding means 6 to a position (position where the magnesium material is filled) partitioned by the filter 22. Thereby, even if the stored magnesium material has a composition with a low elution rate, it can be eluted into the retained water slowly over time.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show the magnesium concentration and the total hardness depending on the weight ratio between the calcium material and the magnesium material.

The higher the proportion of calcium, the higher the total hardness, but the amount of magnesium is small and the solubility of magnesium is small, so that the ion concentration as magnesium is low. Conversely, although the magnesium ion concentration increases as the amount of magnesium increases, the amount of calcium having good solubility decreases, so that it is difficult to obtain a material having a high total hardness. It is said that the ratio of calcium (Ca) / magnesium (Mg) that is optimal for the living body is 2: 1. However, considering the solubility, dissolution rate, and dissolution amount of each material, C
a / Mg = 4 or less is desirable.

When the mineral-conditioned water has a concentration higher than the ion concentration (total hardness) desired by the user, the tap water passes through a faucet or a communication pipe (not shown) of another path from the water purification means. Alternatively, the mineral adjusted water is diluted by mixing purified water, and the mineral adjusted water having an appropriate hardness is taken out. The ion concentration of the mineral adjustment water is detected by an ion sensor 27 provided in the water intake section of the mineral addition means 6, and the amount of tap water or purified water to be mixed is determined according to the ion concentration value sent to the control section.

The mineral additive filled in the conventional mineral adding means is in the form of granules, granules or powder in order to increase the surface area, but it is not necessary to fill the granules as it is. FIG. 7 shows a bag-like material made of a porous and water-permeable material such as cloth or nonwoven fabric.
May be installed in the mineral addition means.

By adopting such a shape, attachment and detachment are easy, and replacement at the time of replenishment of the mineral additive is facilitated. In addition, if these non-woven fabrics also have the effect of a filter, even if the mineral additive disintegrates due to long-term water flow and powder mixes into the water, causing white turbidity, the additive is stored. There is no need to provide a filter 28 having filterability at the bottom of the container 17.

[0047]

Since the water treatment apparatus of the present invention has the above-described structure, the invention according to claims 1 and 2 supplies water from the middle part of the mineral addition cylinder in the mineral addition means. Since all of the filled mineral additives are not flooded and new mineral additives are constantly supplied from the top, there is no decrease in hardness due to the decrease in mineral additives, and a stable concentration of mineral-modified water is sustained. Can be obtained.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned effects, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that one of the other mineral additive material is filled with a magnesium material by filling it separately without being mixed with a calcium material. Without disturbing mineral elution, magnesium and calcium can be efficiently eluted, and mineral-conditioned water to which high-concentration magnesium is always added can be obtained. Moreover, it is possible to provide a compact one-addition cylinder without adding a mineral addition cylinder for each component.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, of the plurality of layers, a magnesium material is disposed in a lower layer portion and a calcium material is disposed in an upper layer portion. A fast calcium material may be replenished every certain period (monthly), and a magnesium material with a low elution rate may be replenished yearly, thereby saving the trouble of replenishing the mineral additive.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that when the lowermost layer of the plurality of layers is filled with a magnesium material, tap water is controlled to stay in the lowermost layer so that the magnesium material having a low elution rate can be used. Even if it does, it will elute over time, and it is possible to obtain mineral-conditioned water containing high concentration of magnesium.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, by setting the weight ratio of calcium to magnesium to Ca / Mg = 4 or less, an appropriate amount of magnesium can be replenished to a living body and used as cooking water. In such a case, it is possible to obtain necessary high hard water.

Further, according to the invention of claim 7, by providing an ion sensor, the concentration of ions eluted from the calcium material and the magnesium material is detected and mixed with tap water or purified water according to the ion concentration in the intake water. This makes it possible to adjust the water to the hardness desired by the user.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, a granular or powdered mineral additive is filled in a material having good water permeability such as a non-woven fabric, and the material is set in a mineral addition cylinder so that it can be treated as a solid. It can save time when replenishing or replacing mineral additives. In addition, the nonwoven fabric filled with mineral additives also has the effect of a filter,
Even if the mineral additive is disintegrated into a powder state, the water can be smoothly passed without causing a filter clogging at the lower portion of the mineral additive cylinder.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of a water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a mineral addition means showing an embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a first other example of the mineral addition means showing the embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing a second other example of the mineral addition means showing the embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a third other example of the mineral addition means showing the embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the change over time of the magnesium ion concentration and the total hardness depending on the mixing ratio of calcium and magnesium according to the embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part showing a fourth other example of the mineral addition means showing the embodiment of the water treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of a conventional water treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water treatment apparatus main body 6 Mineral addition means 17 Additive storage container 21 Hole 22 Filter 23 Calcium material 24 Magnesium material 26 Water level detection means 27 Ion sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI C02F 1/68 540 C02F 1/68 540C 540D 540E 1/28 1/28 R 1/42 1/42 A 1/46 1/46 A (72) Inventor Takeo Abe No. 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A mineral adding means for obtaining a mineral adjusted water by a mineral adding cylinder or the like, a water purifying means comprising activated carbon and a hollow fiber membrane, or an electrolytic cell for generating acidic and alkaline ionized water by electrolysis or the like. A water softening means filled with exchange resin etc. is also installed,
Alternatively, in a water treatment apparatus comprising a combination with a mineral adding means, or a mineral water dispenser provided with a mineral adding means, the mineral adding means removes water such as tap water from a central portion of the filled mineral additive. A water treatment apparatus characterized by obtaining mineral-conditioned water supplied. 2. The water treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mineral addition means is of a removable cartridge type. 3. The water treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a calcium material and a magnesium material are separated and filled in a plurality of layers as the mineral additive. 4. The water according to claim 1, wherein the mineral additive material is filled in a plurality of layers separated from a magnesium material in a lower layer portion and a calcium material in an upper layer portion. Processing equipment. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the filling of the mineral additive material is such that when the layer filled with the magnesium material is the lowermost layer, water such as tap water is constantly retained in the lowermost layer. The water treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The water treatment according to claim 1, wherein the mineral additive is filled in a weight ratio of calcium (Ca) / magnesium (Mg) = 4 or less. apparatus. 7. The water treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an ion sensor for detecting an ion concentration of a mineral component such as calcium or magnesium is provided in a water intake section of the mineral addition means. 8. The water treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a granular or powdered mineral additive of calcium and magnesium is filled in a material having good water permeability such as a nonwoven fabric as the mineral additive.