JPH11333469A - Mineral water maker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a meneral concn. adjusting device stably eluting mineral components of high hardness such as calcium, magnesium or the like into water in constant concn. SOLUTION: A mineral water maker consists of a first flow divider 3 dividing supplied raw water into the route to a magnesium adding cylinder 2 and other route, a second flow divider 5 dividing the raw water passed through the magnesium adding cylinder 2 into the route to a calcium adding cylinder 4 and other route, the changeover valve 6 selecting the water of the first flow divider 3 and that of the second flow divider 5 to form thinning water, a flow rate adjusting valve 7 for mixing the thinning water from a calcium adding cylinder 4 and that from the changeover valve 6, a hardness sensor 8 for measuring the concn. of the mixed soln. and a control means 9 changing the mixing ratio corresponding to the measured result by the flow adjusting valve 7 to control concn.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mineral water regulator for adding mineral components to tap water, which is used for ordinary households and businesses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As interest in health has increased, water purifiers, alkali ion water purifiers, mineral water purifiers, and the like that improve the quality of raw water such as tap water and well water have become widespread.

[0003] Water purifiers are mainly composed of activated carbon and hollow fiber membranes. The activated carbon removes defective components such as free chlorine dissolved in water, and the hollow fiber membranes are suspended in water such as dust and various germs. It acts to remove turbid components.

[0004] In addition to the functions of the water purifier, the alkali ion water purifier also has a function of adding minerals and a function of electrolyzing water. That is, calcium lactate, calcium glycerophosphate, or the like is added to water that has passed through the mineral layer. The water to which the mineral component has been added is further electrolyzed to process it into acidic water and alkaline water. The acidic water has an astringent effect, and the alkaline water has chronic diarrhea, indigestion,
Efficacy has been recognized against abnormal gastrointestinal fermentation, antacid, gastric acid excess, etc.

[0005] A mineral water conditioner is provided with activated carbon and a mineral-containing substance such as calcium carbonate to remove defective components dissolved in water and to further add a mineral component.

[0006] In recent years, with the increase in mineral water and sales, a water purifier having an improved calcium dissolving function has been invented in this alkali ion water purifier. Vessels have been marketed. In terms of health, in the era of overnutrition, it has been pointed out that mineral deficiency has been pointed out.In this context, not only calcium deficiency but also magnesium deficiency have been pointed out. Other drugs such as magnesium have come to be sold.

[0007]

However, the conventional alkali ion water dispenser and mineral water dispenser usually perform mineral addition using calcium lactate, calcium glycerophosphate, or the like, which is easily dissolved as a calcium additive material. . This is a material in which the added material is easily dissolved immediately after the material is added, so it is possible to add minerals with a very high concentration, but the concentration gradually decreases with the passage of time, and finally minerals cannot be added .

That is, there is a problem that the mineral concentration changes greatly in a short time during use of the device. In addition, since the amount of dissolution is large, the added material is consumed in a short time, and it is necessary to immediately add it again.

[0009] Although calcium is used as an additive material, it has begun to be said that taking magnesium at the same time is effective not only for osteoporosis but also for lifestyle-related diseases.

That is, it is necessary to add not only calcium but also magnesium as an additional material. It is said that the ratio of the added amount is preferably Ca: Mg = 2: 1.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mineral concentration adjusting device which stably elutes mineral components such as calcium and magnesium having high hardness into water at a constant concentration.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a magnesium-added cylinder filled with magnesium, a calcium-added cylinder filled with calcium, and a path for supplying supplied raw water to the magnesium-added cylinder. A first shunt for diverting to other routes, a second shunt for diverting raw water passing through the magnesium addition cylinder to a route to the calcium addition cylinder and other routes, the first shunt and the second shunt A switching valve that selects one of the water in the vessel and makes it thinner,
A flow rate adjusting valve for mixing the diluted water from the calcium addition cylinder and the switching valve, a hardness sensor for measuring the concentration of the mixed solution,
According to the measurement result, a mineral water regulator comprising control means for controlling the concentration by changing the mixing ratio by the flow control valve.

[0013] With the above configuration, a mineral water conditioner that can achieve a calcium to magnesium ratio of 2: 1 at high hardness and can add calcium even at low hardness is realized.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention described in claim 1 is characterized in that a magnesium-added cylinder filled with magnesium, a calcium-added cylinder filled with calcium, a route of supplied raw water to the magnesium-added cylinder, and other routes. And a second divider for dividing the raw water passing through the magnesium addition cylinder into a path to the calcium addition cylinder and another path.
A flow divider, a switching valve that selects one of the water of the first flow divider and the second flow divider and makes the water thin, a flow control valve that mixes the diluted water from the calcium addition cylinder and the switching valve, A mineral water dispenser comprising a hardness sensor for measuring the concentration of the mixture and control means for controlling the concentration by changing the mixing ratio by the flow rate adjusting valve according to the measurement result.

[0015] With the above configuration, a mineral water conditioner that can achieve a calcium to magnesium ratio of 2: 1 at high hardness and can add calcium even at low hardness is realized.

[0016]

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment. The mineral water purifier 1 of the present embodiment divides raw water such as well water or tap water into two paths: a magnesium addition cylinder 2 granulated and filled with basic magnesium carbonate, and another switching valve 6 side. A first flow divider 3, a second flow divider 5 for dividing raw water passing through the magnesium addition cylinder 2 into two paths, that is, a calcium addition cylinder 4 side granulated and filled with calcium sulfate and a switching valve 6 side, First shunt 3 and second shunt 5
The switching valve 6 for selecting and supplying one of the water from the container, the flow control valve 7 for mixing the water from the calcium addition cylinder 4 and the switching valve 6, and the hardness sensor 8 for measuring the concentration of the mixed solution. And control means 9 for controlling the concentration by changing the mixing ratio of the flow control valve 7 according to the measurement result.

The flow control valve 7 has a configuration as shown in FIG. That is, it is composed of the case 14 and the drum 13 housed in the case 14. Case 14
The first water supply port 10 into which the mineral water that has passed through the calcium addition cylinder 4 flows, the second water supply port 11 into which the thin water that has passed through the switching valve 6 flows, and the water supplied from each of the water supply ports. A water outlet 12 for sending the mineral water generated by mixing to the hardness sensor 8;

The flow dividing valve 7 has a flow dividing function provided in the drum 13. The drum 13 has a groove 13a and a groove 13b on the surface. The groove 13a is
Has a function of adjusting the amount of water supplied when the mineral water that has entered through the water supply port 10 is sent to the drainage port 12. Groove 13b
Similarly has a function of adjusting the amount of water to be supplied when the diluted water that has entered from the second water supply port 11 is sent to the drain port 12.

The function of adjusting the water supply amount is as follows.
3b is realized by adopting the configuration shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view in which the grooves 13a and 13b are developed on a plane. That is, the grooves 13a and 13b rotate integrally with the rotation of the drum 13, and the width of the grooves changes according to the rotation angle. When the rotation angle of the drum 13 is 0 degrees, the second water supply port 11 provided in the case 14 is opened by the groove 13b, and the first water supply port 10 is closed by the groove 13a.

The state of the change of the width of the grooves 13a and 13b is as follows.
In the present embodiment, the relations are opposite to each other. For this reason,
Due to the rotation of the drum 13, the opening degrees of the first water supply port 10 and the second water supply port 11 are opposite to each other.
In other words, when the rotation angle of the drum 13 is 0 degree, the second drain port 11 is fully opened by the groove 13b, that is, the opening degree is 100. It is closed. When the rotation angle of the drum 13 is 330 degrees, the second water supply port 11 is in the groove 13b.
The opening is 0, that is, fully closed, and the first water supply port 1
0 has an opening of 100 due to the groove 13a, that is, is fully open. That is, by rotating the drum 13 by the control means 9, the flow rate of the raw water flowing from the first water supply port 10 and the flow rate of the raw water flowing from the second water supply port 11 can be adjusted at a fixed ratio.

In this embodiment, the hardness sensor 8 provided at the outlet of the flow control valve 7 measures the hardness of the mineral component by measuring the resistance value.

The hardness setting means (not shown) allows the user to freely set the hardness of the mineral component.
The hardness set here is transmitted to the control means 9 together with the information of the hardness sensor 8. In the present embodiment, the control means 9 is constituted by a microcomputer, and uses the hardness set in the hardness setting means and the information of the hardness sensor 8 to control the flow rate regulating valve 7.
Is controlled.

Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the user sets a desired hardness in the hardness setting means, for example, opens a water tap and presses a switch (not shown), the mineral water regulator 1 starts operating. That is, the raw water supplied from the tap is supplied as mineral water having the hardness set in the hardness setting means. The switching valve 6 is for controlling the amount of magnesium. When the amount of magnesium in the mineral water is increased, the switching valve 6 is switched to the second flow divider 5. When the amount of magnesium is reduced, the switching valve 6 is switched to the first valve. It operates so as to switch to the current divider 3 side.

First, the operation for producing mineral water containing a large amount of magnesium and having a calcium to magnesium ratio of about 2: 1 will be described. The switching valve 6 is connected to the second flow divider 5. Raw water flowing in from the raw water inlet,
It passes through the first flow divider 3 and flows through the magnesium addition cylinder 2. In the raw water, materials such as basic magnesium carbonate in the magnesium addition cylinder 2 are dissolved. The mineral water in which the magnesium is dissolved is passed through a second flow divider 5, one of which enters a calcium addition cylinder 4 filled with a material such as calcium sulfate, in which the calcium is dissolved and supplied to the flow control valve 7. The other passes directly through the switching valve 6 and directly to the flow control valve 7.
Shunted.

The flow control valve 7 is provided with a groove 13a
The grooves 13b divide the flow into a path flowing through the calcium addition cylinder 4 and a path flowing through the switching valve 6. Using the flow control valve 7, the two types of water are mixed and made uniform, and the water is sent from the drain port 12. The water outlet 12 is provided with a hardness sensor 8 for checking the hardness of the mixed water. This hardness information is transmitted to the control means 9. If the hardness is equal to the hardness set in the hardness setting means, the control means 9 determines whether the drain port 12
It works so that the water that has come out can be taken out of the apparatus.

Next, the operation for producing calcium-rich mineral water with a small amount of magnesium will be described. The switching valve 6 is connected to the first flow divider 5. The raw water flowing from the raw water inlet passes through the first flow divider 3 and is divided into the magnesium addition cylinder 2 and the switching valve 6. In the raw water flowing through the magnesium addition cylinder 2, materials such as basic magnesium carbonate are dissolved. Nothing is dissolved in the water flowing through the switching valve 6. The mineral water in which the magnesium is dissolved passes through the second flow divider 5 and enters the calcium addition cylinder 4 filled with a material such as calcium sulfate, in which the calcium is dissolved, and supplied to the flow control valve 7. The raw water that has passed through the switching valve 6 is directly diverted to the flow control valve 7. The following is the same as when magnesium is increased.

At this time, the amount of the mineral component added in the magnesium addition cylinder 2 and the calcium addition cylinder 4 is shown by (Equation 1).

[0028]

(Equation 1)

The hardness shown in (Expression 1) expresses the amount of a mineral component in terms of the amount of calcium carbonate. The total amount of calcium carbonate (hereinafter referred to as total hardness) contained in the water flowing through the magnesium addition cylinder 2 and the calcium addition cylinder 4 is represented by the product of the hardness shown in (Equation 1) and the flow rate of the raw water. FIG. 4 shows an example of the relationship between the flow rate of water passing through the addition cylinders 2 and 4, the hardness, and the total hardness. In the figure, a indicates the hardness, and b indicates the total hardness. Both change with the flow rate. The water that has passed through the addition cylinders 2 and 4 becomes mineral water with higher hardness as the flow rate is smaller, but the total hardness is higher as the flow rate is larger.

Assuming that the total of the flow rate of the mineral water flowing from the first water supply port 10 and the flow rate of the raw water flowing from the second water supply port 11 is the total flow rate, the mineral water generated by the flow control valve 7 is The hardness is expressed as hardness = total hardness / total flow rate. That is, in order to increase the hardness generated by the flow control valve 7, it is necessary to reduce the total flow rate or increase the total hardness.

In this embodiment, when (hardness of the concentration sensor)> (set hardness), the control means 9 decreases the flow rate on the mineral water side, that is, the raw water discharged from the second water supply port 11. To decrease the flow rate, (hardness of concentration sensor) <
At the time of (set hardness), control is performed so as to increase the flow rate on the mineral water side. That is, the control means 9 controls the flow regulating valve 7.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the amount of magnesium can be changed by changing the amount of water passing through the magnesium addition cylinder by using the switching valve. As a result, it is possible to produce not only high-hardness mineral water to which not only calcium but also magnesium is added, as well as low-hardness mineral water.

In this embodiment, the flow control valve 7 is provided with a mixing function. However, there is no problem even if the mixing function is configured differently from the flow control valve 7.

In this embodiment, the flow control valve 7 is disposed after the addition cylinder. However, the flow control valve 7 may be disposed near the raw water inlet without any problem.

In this embodiment, the flow control valve 7 is composed of the case 14 and the drum 13. However, the flow control valve 7 may be configured to control the flow using a needle.

Further, in this embodiment, the flow control valve 7 has a function of merely mixing naturally, but it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which mixing is positively performed using, for example, a flow meter.

[0037]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the magnesium-added cylinder filled with magnesium, the calcium-added cylinder filled with calcium, and the supplied raw water are divided into a path to the magnesium-added cylinder and other paths. A first flow divider, a second flow divider for diverting raw water that has passed through the magnesium addition cylinder into a path to the calcium addition cylinder and another path, and one of the water in the first and second flow dividers. A switching valve for selecting one of them to make thinning water, a flow rate adjusting valve for mixing the thinning water from the calcium addition cylinder and the switching valve, a hardness sensor for measuring the concentration of the mixed solution, and according to the measurement result,
Control means for controlling the concentration by changing the mixing ratio by the flow rate adjusting valve, wherein the control means realizes a calcium-to-magnesium ratio of 2: 1 at a high hardness by switching a switching valve, and at a low hardness. And a mineral water purifier to which calcium can be added.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mineral water purifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a flow control valve of the mineral water purifier.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a shape of a groove of a flow control valve of the mineral water purifier.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a flow rate of the mineral water purifier, hardness, and total hardness.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mineral water conditioner 2 Magnesium addition cylinder 3 First shunt 4 Calcium addition cylinder 5 Second shunt 6 Switching valve 7 Flow control valve 8 Hardness sensor 9 Control means 13 Drum

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI C02F 1/68 530 C02F 1/68 530L (72) Inventor Tetsuo Obata 1006 Ojidoma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A magnesium-added cylinder filled with magnesium, a calcium-added cylinder filled with calcium, a first diverter for dividing supplied raw water into a path to the magnesium-added cylinder and other paths, and a magnesium-added cylinder. A second flow divider for dividing the raw water passing through the cylinder into a path to the calcium addition cylinder and the other path, and a switch for selecting one of the water of the first and second flow dividers to make the water thinner A valve, a flow control valve for mixing the diluted water from the calcium addition cylinder and the switching valve, a hardness sensor for measuring the concentration of the mixed liquid, and, according to the measurement result, changing the mixing ratio by the flow control valve. A mineral water purifier comprising control means for controlling the concentration.