JPS61171593A - Porous hollow yarn membrane type water purifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance a counter-contamination preventing property, by mounting a lid having a sterilizing substance contained in the inner surface thereof to the purified water outlet of a porous hollow yarn type water purifier in a detachable manner. CONSTITUTION:Silver coated activated carbon 8 is received in a cylindrical activated carbon packed container 2 having a cavity 7 at the central part thereof and a polyethylene hollow yarn membranes 3 impervious to bacteria are received in the hollow yarn filter module hermetically sealed in and engaged with the cavity 7 of the activated carbon packed container 2. A lid 11 for a purified water outlet is connected on the way of the nozzle being a purifier water outlet of a water purifier by a string. A magnet 15 is attached to the back surface of the lid 11 and the lid 11 is adhered to the outer wall of the water purifier even when detached.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a water purifier with excellent anti-contamination properties.

[Prior Art] In recent years, the quality of tap water has been decreasing due to the increase in the population of cities and the decrease in water quality in water source ponds, and as a countermeasure to this problem, household water purifiers have become popular. Home water purifiers generally contain activated carbon, which absorbs chlorine and certain organic substances contained in tap water, thereby improving the taste of the water. but,
In such a water purifier, if the water flow is stopped and the device is used for a long time, the chlorine added for sterilization will be adsorbed by the activated carbon in the active phase, and the atmosphere will not be sterilizing, and the organic substances adsorbed to the activated carbon will become enriched. Bacteria proliferate because they become nutrient-rich and have an environment suitable for bacterial growth. When the water flow is restarted in such a state, a large amount of bacteria is almost always found in the water that first comes out from the purified water outlet.

In Japan, according to the Water Supply Law, water provided for drinking purposes must contain no E. coli and must contain 100% of common bacteria.
Water containing a large amount of bacteria is not suitable for drinking and is harmful, as it is stipulated that the amount of water must be less than 50% per ml. Even if activated carbon coated with silver, which has an antibacterial effect, is used to avoid this, there is only a difference in the degree of bacterial growth, and bacteria are found in the water that first comes out when the water flow is restarted, as described above.

After stopping water flow for a long period of time as described above in a household water purifier, in order to remove the bacteria that has grown and satisfy the above regulations, after restarting water flow, a certain amount of water must be passed through the water purifier to remove the bacteria that has grown. It is recommended that you wash it away.

However, the state of bacterial growth varies greatly depending on the quality of the water flowing through the water purifier, the temperature when the water flow is stopped, the length of time the water flow is stopped, etc., and it is difficult to judge how much water should be passed through the water purifier at home. However, there is a tendency to use it for drinking without passing enough water through it.

In view of this situation, the applicant first combined activated carbon with a porous hollow fiber membrane that does not allow bacteria to pass through, thereby creating purified water that will not flow out from the purified water outlet even if bacteria grow in the activated carbon layer. I suggested a device.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] This type of water purifier is excellent in that even if bacteria grow in the activated carbon layer, the bacteria will not flow out from the purified water outlet. There is a risk that the water existing between the outlets will be contaminated by bacteria entering from the purified water outlet when the water flow is stopped, but the amount of water contaminated with bacteria and the state of bacterial growth are not that large, so the above regulations are not sufficiently adhered to. Although this is satisfactory and does not pose a major problem, it is not desirable for even a small amount of bacteria to appear, and there was a demand for a water purifier that does not have such problems.

As a result of intensive study on this countermeasure, the inventor of the tree discovered a method of preventing secondary contamination due to bacterial invasion when water flow is stopped, and arrived at the present invention.

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the gist of the present invention is to apply a bactericidal substance to the inner surface of the purified water outlet of a porous hollow fiber type water purifier having a built-in porous hollow fiber membrane that does not allow bacteria to pass through. A porous hollow fiber membrane type water purifier is provided with a removably attached lid containing water.

In the present invention, the porous hollow fiber membrane that does not allow bacteria to pass through is any membrane that does not allow particles of 0.3 gm or more to pass through and that can filter water with normal tap water pressure. Polyolefin hollow fiber membranes with slit-like pores that satisfy these conditions and have a relatively large flow rate per membrane area at relatively low water pressure, such as Diabore (manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.), can also be used. , trade name) are preferably used. A porous hollow fiber type water purifier with 11 porous hollow fiber membranes is used for tap water, or in the case of a portable water purifier, after the water that enters the container or from the raw water inlet comes into contact with activated carbon, it becomes porous. A structure is used in which purified water is filtered through a hollow fiber membrane and comes out from a purified water outlet.

There are two types of membrane filtration: total filtration and partial filtration, but in the present invention, the total filtration type is preferable.This greatly reduces the possibility of bacteria entering the activated carbon layer in the case of a water purifier that is directly connected to the water supply. death.

In any case, the bacteria that have grown in the activated carbon layer are blocked by the porous hollow fiber membrane and do not come out from the purified water outlet.

Silver-coated activated carbon and ion exchange resin may coexist in the activated carbon layer, or the activated carbon layer and ion exchange resin layer may exist separately, and a filter for removing iron rust etc. may be provided before the activated carbon layer. etc. may be provided.

It is preferable that the purified water outlet does not face upward so that it is difficult for airborne bacteria to enter even if it is accidentally left open when water flow is stopped.

Any bactericidal substance can be used in the present invention, but in consideration of safety, chlorine compounds such as sodium hypochlorite used for purifying tap water,
Hypochlorous acid, hydrogen peroxide, etc. used in food additive disinfectants, boric acid, oxidol, permanganate, sodium perborate, etc. used as oral disinfectants, etc. dissolve in water and are easily removed when water flow is resumed. In addition, it is preferable that even if a small amount of bactericidal substance left behind enters the oral cavity, it will not harm health. In the present invention, only the tip of the purified water outlet is maintained in a bactericidal atmosphere. The amount of the bactericidal substance may be extremely small since it is sufficient to obtain the bactericidal substance. Methods for incorporating the bactericidal substance into the inner surface of the lid include, for example, impregnating a cotton mass or a porous body preferably in the form of an aqueous solution; It is attached to the inner surface of the removable lid at the end of the purified water outlet. In the case of a porous material, an open cell type material is used, and polyurethane, sponge, and various foam rubbers are preferably used. A few drops of the above-mentioned aqueous solution of the bactericidal substance may be added to the cotton mass or porous body. The preferred concentration of the aqueous solution varies depending on the type of the bactericidal substance, but is approximately 0.1 to 5%.

The present invention will be explained below using the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are examples showing an embodiment of the present invention with a lid attached. FIG. 3 is an example of a lid that can be detachably attached.

Figure 1 shows a type that connects directly to a tap, and tap water has an activated carbon layer that adsorbs and removes odor components, chlorine, and organic matter. The water that leaves the activated carbon layer passes through a porous hollow fiber membrane, and the membrane prevents bacteria, iron rust, and other substances that were not removed by the activated carbon layer, and from the purified water outlet, chlorine, organic matter, bacteria, iron rust,
You will get nice, clean water from which other suspended matter has been removed.

The nozzle, which is the purified water outlet, is curved downward, making it difficult for fallen bacteria floating in the air to enter. In addition, even if dirty hands etc. come into contact with the purified water outlet, bacteria will be washed away without any time for bacteria to enter when the water is flowing, and when the water is stopped flowing, the lid is filled with a cotton ball or porous resin impregnated with a bactericidal substance. Since it is attached, bacteria cannot enter.

Figure 2 is an example of a portable water purifier, in which the water in the container is treated with activated carbon, passes through a porous hollow fiber membrane, and, like the example in Figure 1, comes out with clean water from the purified water outlet. is obtained.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a mechanism for attaching a lid containing a cotton mass impregnated with a bactericidal substance or a porous resin to a purified water outlet.

As shown in FIG. 1, it may be installed by simply fitting the lid made of a relatively soft material, or it may be installed using screw threads and grooves as shown in FIG. In addition, it is preferable to connect the lid and the purified water outlet or the water purifier body with a hinge or string to prevent loss, and the lid and purified water outlet should be connected with the lid attached. It is preferable that the lid be able to come off due to the pressure of the water when water is passed through it.In the case of loose fittings, this is sufficient as long as it is a loose fit, and in the case of hinges, the stress of the hinge movement will be about the same as the water pressure. In the case of hinges or string-like objects, the outer side of the lid and the position that holds the lid should be adjusted so that when the lid is removed, it will not hang around and will be in the proper place. It is preferable to use a combination of metal and metal.

[Example] The present invention will be further explained below using Examples.

Example 1 The structure is as shown in FIG. 1. Silver-coated activated carbon is housed in a cylindrical activated carbon-filled container having a recess in the center, and a hollow fiber cancerous carbon fiber is sealed and fitted into the recess of the activated carbon-filled container. A polyethylene hollow fiber membrane diabore (manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.) that does not allow bacteria to permeate is housed inside the module, and the purified water outlet that has passed through the membrane comes out using a water purifier that faces diagonally downward. there was. In this water purifier, a purified water outlet lid is connected with a string to the middle of the nozzle, which is the purified water outlet. A magnet is attached to the back of the lid, and a magnet is also attached to the part of the water purifier body that corresponds to when the string is swayed with the lid removed, so when the lid is removed and hung, the lid will stick to the outer wall of the water purifier. It is designed to adhere to. The inside of the lid is stuffed with absorbent cotton. Using this water purifier,
After running the water for a day, stop the water flow, and wipe the tip of the water purifier outlet with water containing 10,000 coliform bacteria/mL on absorbent cotton, simulating a situation where you touch the purified water outlet with dirty hands. After
After adding 3 drops of the aqueous disinfectant solution shown in Table 1 to the absorbent cotton in the lid, the lid was attached, and after stopping water flow for 20 days, water flow was restarted. First 10m after reopening! ; The number of bacteria contained in L was tested according to a conventional method. The results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Disinfectants Aqueous solution concentration Bacterial number Hypochlorite ugly soda 0.5% Oke/m Boric acid 2
% 0 Oxidol Hydrogen peroxide 2.5%
0 As is clear from the above, by sealing the purified water outlet with a lid containing a bactericidal substance on the inside, it is possible to completely prevent so-called reverse contamination, in which bacteria invade from the purified water outlet even if the water supply is stopped for a long period of time. It shows.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the water purifier of the present invention uses a porous hollow fiber membrane to prevent bacteria that have grown in the activated carbon layer from entering purified water, and also prevents bacteria from entering purified water from the purified water outlet when water flow is stopped. Reverse contamination is prevented by a lid that contains a bactericidal substance on the inside, and in general water purifiers that do not use hollow fiber membranes like the one used in this application, even if a lid like the one used in this application is used, the bacteria will not grow in the activated carbon layer. It is not possible to completely kill the bacteria. In addition, by simply using a few drops of the disinfectant contained in the disinfectant aqueous solution in the lid, back contamination can be completely prevented at low cost, thus eliminating the risk of the disinfectant in the gutter accidentally entering the body and harming health. It has the excellent feature of not having any

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are examples showing an embodiment of the present invention with a lid attached. FIG. 3 is an example of a lid that can be detachably attached. In the figure, l: water purifier body 9: filter 2: activated carbon filled container 10: hollow fiber membrane 3: hollow fiber membrane filtration module 11: lid 4: purified water outlet 13: string 5: treated water inlet 14.15: magnet 6: Lower part of activated carbon filled container containing untreated water: Recessed part 16: Pressurizing device 8: Activated carbon 17: Porous body 12: Absorbent cotton containing bactericidal substance Patent applicant Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. + 1 Figure 2 Figure Blue 3 Country ( σ)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A porous hollow fiber membrane type water purifier with a built-in porous hollow fiber membrane that does not allow bacteria to pass through, and a lid containing a bactericidal substance on the inside is removably attached to the purified water outlet. Water purifier.