KR101080364B1 - Sterilization system - Google Patents

Abstract

A sterilization system is provided. The sterilization system captures a plurality of bacteria contained in a reservoir in which the liquid is stored, a pump for circulating the liquid for a first time and a liquid circulated by the pump for the first time, and a plurality of bacteria captured for the second time. Sterilization for sterilizing them.

Germ, biofilm, sterilization

Description

Sterilization System

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for sterilizing a liquid, and more particularly, to a sterilization system capable of sterilizing bacteria contained in a liquid by using an electrostatic induction phenomenon.

In general, underwater sterilization devices are needed where water is stored, such as in water storage tanks in apartments, in household water purifiers, in drinking water in restaurants, or where hygiene is required to sanitize bacteria.

Conventional underwater sterilizers employ chemicals or use oxidants such as ultraviolet lamps or ozone. However, bacteria suspended in a liquid, such as water stored in a storage tank, adhere to the inner surface of the storage tank and form a biofilm (BioFilm) that secretes the viscous organics themselves to create a suitable environment for survival. Such a biofilm protects the bacteria inside by an organic membrane against an external attack such as an attack of a sterile drug. Therefore, even if the bacteria are suspended in the liquid stored in the storage tank using conventional sterilization methods, it is difficult to remove the biofilm adhered to the surface of the storage tank, so that the liquid sterilization effect is lowered.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a sterilization system that can increase the sterilization effect.

The sterilization system according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems is, a storage unit in which the liquid is stored, a pump for circulating the liquid for a first time and a plurality of liquid contained in the liquid circulated by the pump for the first time And a sterilizer for capturing the bacteria and sterilizing the plurality of bacteria captured during the second time.

Sterilization system according to an embodiment of the present invention, by using the electrostatic induction phenomenon to prevent the bacteria floating in the liquid to form a bio film, the effect of increasing the sterilization effect by capturing and sterilizing the bacteria in the operation to circulate the liquid There is.

Specific structural and functional descriptions of embodiments according to the concepts of the present invention disclosed in this specification or application are merely illustrative for the purpose of illustrating embodiments in accordance with the concepts of the present invention, The examples may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein or in the application.

Embodiments in accordance with the concepts of the present invention can make various changes and have various forms, so that specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in this specification or application. However, this is not intended to limit the embodiments in accordance with the concept of the present invention to a particular disclosed form, it should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first and / or second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another, for example, without departing from the scope of rights in accordance with the inventive concept, and the first component may be called a second component and similarly The second component may also be referred to as the first component.

When a component is said to be "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that another component may exist in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between. Other expressions describing the relationship between components, such as "between" and "immediately between," or "neighboring to," and "directly neighboring to" should be interpreted as well.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, action, component, part, or combination thereof that is described, and that one or more other features or numbers are present. It should be understood that it does not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of steps, actions, components, parts or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art, and are not construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined herein. Do not.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a sterilization system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of part A of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sterilization unit shown in FIG. 1.

The sterilization system of the present invention can generally be used in places where liquids such as water are stored, such as water storage tanks in apartments, household water purifiers, drinking water in restaurants, or where hygiene is required for sanitizing bacteria. Hereinafter, for the convenience of explanation, an example in which the sterilization system of the present invention is used for home water purifier will be described.

1 to 3, the sterilization system 100 includes a storage unit 110, a circulation pump 130, a sterilization unit 140, a pulse generator 150, an MCU 160, and a temperature sensor 180. It may include.

The storage unit 110 may be a kind of storage tank that stores a liquid such as water. A plurality of bacteria 200 may exist in the liquid stored in the storage 110.

1 and 2, the storage unit 110 may include a first structure 111, a second structure 113, and a conductor 115.

The first structure 111 may be positioned outside the storage unit 110 and may be a heat insulating material for maintaining the temperature of the liquid stored in the storage unit 110.

The second structure 113 is positioned inside the storage unit 110, and the inner side surface may contact the liquid stored in the storage unit 110. The second structure 113 may be formed of resin, rubber, or the like.

The conductor 115 may be disposed between the first structure 111 and the second structure 113. The conductor 115 may receive the first pulse signal P1 from the pulse generator 150 to be described later. Can be. The conductor 115 may be a conductive metal thin film such as gold, copper, silver, or tungsten.

When the first pulse signal P1 is input to the conductor 115, the inner surface of the second structure 113 may be charged due to an electrostatic induction phenomenon. The first pulse signal P1 may be a bipolar pulse signal.

For example, when the first pulse signal P1 having a first polarity, for example, a (+) polarity, is input to the conductor 115, the inner surface of the second structure 113 may have a second polarity, such as ( -) Can be charged with polarity.

According to an embodiment, when the conductor 115 is located on the inner side of the second structure 113, the first pulse signal P1 is directly connected to the conductor 115 which is in contact with the liquid instead of the aforementioned electrostatic induction phenomenon. Can be input.

Referring to FIG. 1, the circulation pump 130 may perform a pumping operation in response to a control signal CNT output from the MCU 160. The circulation pump 130 may circulate the liquid stored in the storage 110 using the pipe 120 connecting the storage 110, the circulation pump 130, and the sterilization unit 140.

The sterilization unit 140 may receive a liquid through the pipe 120 by a pumping operation of the circulation pump 130, and may capture and sterilize a plurality of bacteria 200 suspended in the liquid. The sterilizer 140 may perform bacterial capture and sterilization in response to the second pulse signal P2 and the third pulse signal P3 output from the pulse generator 150. The second pulse signal P2 and the third pulse signal P3 may each be bipolar pulse signals.

1 and 3, the sterilization unit 140 may include a liquid circulation unit 141 and a temperature variable element 149.

The liquid circulation part 141 includes two metal structures facing each other such that the liquid circulation passage 145 is formed therein, for example, the first metal structure 143a and the second metal structure 143b, and the insulator 147. ) May be included.

The first metal structure 143a and the second metal structure 143b may be disposed to face each other at a predetermined distance. The inner side surface of the first metal structure 143a and the second metal structure 143b may be disposed to face each other. The inner side of the may form a circulation passage (145). The first metal structure 143a and the second metal structure 143b may be cooled or heated by the temperature variable element 149 which will be described later, so that the liquid passing through the circulation passage 145 may also be cooled or heated. have.

The insulator 147 may be disposed on outer surfaces of the metal structures 143a and 143b, respectively. The second pulse signal P2 output from the pulse generator 150 may be input to each insulator 147. Each insulator 147 may be resin or rubber.

When the second pulse signal P2 is input to each insulator 147, the inner surface of the first metal structure 143a and the inner surface of the second metal structure 143b may be charged due to the electrostatic induction phenomenon. For example, when the second pulse signal P2 of the first polarity is input to each of the insulators 147, the inner surfaces of the metal structures 143a and 143b may be charged with the second polarity, respectively.

According to an embodiment, a thin metal film (not shown) is further included on an upper surface of each insulator 147 so that the second pulse signal P2 is input to the metal film, or the insulator 147 is omitted and each metal is omitted. The second pulse signal P2 may be input directly to the structures 143a and 143b.

The temperature variable element 149 may be attached to at least one surface of the liquid circulation unit 141 along the circulation passage 145. The temperature variable element 149 may cool or heat the respective metal structures 143a and 143b of the liquid circulation part 141 in response to the third pulse signal P3 output from the pulse generator 150. . The temperature variable element 149 may be a peltier.

Referring to FIG. 1, the sterilization system 100 may further include an outlet 170 connected to the sterilization unit 140 through a pipe 120. After the sterilization operation of the sterilization unit 140 is finished, the discharge port 170 may discharge the liquid remaining in the interior of the sterilization unit 140 to the outside.

The pulse generator 150 may generate and output a plurality of pulse signals P1, P2, and P3, respectively. The first pulse signal P1 generated from the pulse generator 150 is output to the storage 110, and each of the second pulse signal P2 and the third pulse signal P # is output to the sterilization unit 140. Can be. Each of the plurality of pulse signals P1, P2, and P3 may be a bipolar pulse signal.

The temperature sensor 180 may be disposed inside the storage 110 and may sense the temperature of the liquid stored in the storage 110 to output a sensing result T_S. The MCU 160 may output a control signal CNT for controlling the pumping operation of the circulation pump 130 based on the sensing result T_S output from the temperature sensor 180.

In some embodiments, the MCU 160 may output a control signal CNT for controlling the pumping operation of the circulation pump 130 by a predetermined timer program.

4 is a waveform diagram for a sterilization operation of the sterilization system shown in FIG.

1 to 4, the sterilization operation of the sterilization system 100 of the present invention may be divided into two operations. For example, the sterilization operation of the sterilization system 100 may be performed by sterilizing the plurality of bacteria 200 and sterilizing the plurality of bacteria 200. It may include a second time.

During the first time, the MCU 160 may output a control signal CNT having a first level, for example, a high level, to the circulation pump 130 so that the circulation pump 130 performs a pumping operation. The circulation pump 130 performs a pumping operation in response to the control signal CNT having the first level, and the liquid stored in the storage unit 110 through the pipe 120, that is, the plurality of floating bacteria 200. It may provide a liquid containing a sterilization unit 140.

During the first time period, the pulse generator 150 may output a plurality of pulse signals P1, P2, and P3, respectively.

The first pulse signal P1 is input to the conductor 115 of the storage unit 110, and the inner surface of the second structure 113 is subjected to the electrostatic induction phenomenon generated by the input first pulse signal P1. Can be charged. The first pulse signal P1 may have a first polarity, and thus the inner surface of the second structure 113 may be charged with the second polarity. As the inner surface of the second structure 113 has the second polarity, the plurality of bacteria 200 floating in the liquid may not be attached to the inner surface of the second structure 113. This is because the plurality of bacteria 200 have a second polarity, and thus the plurality of bacteria 200 are suspended in the liquid.

The first pulse signal P1 may have a potential of +0.5 to +1.5 V in order to prevent an electrochemical change of the liquid stored in the storage 110, for example, electrolysis of water.

The second pulse signal P2 is input to the insulator 147 of each of the liquid circulation units 141 of the sterilization unit 140, and the inner side surfaces of the metal structures 143a and 143b are input second pulse signals ( It can be charged by the electrostatic induction phenomenon generated by P2).

The second pulse signal P2 may have a phase opposite to the first pulse signal P1, for example, a second polarity, to prevent signal interference with the first pulse signal P1. Accordingly, the inner surfaces of the metal structures 143a and 143b of each of the liquid circulation portions 141 may be charged with the first polarity.

The second pulse signal P2 may have a potential of −0.5 to −1.5 V in order to prevent an electrochemical change of the liquid flowing through the circulation passage 145 of the liquid circulation unit 141, such as electrostatic decomposition of water. .

As described above, since the plurality of bacteria 200 have a second polarity and the inner surfaces of the respective metal structures 143a and 143b of the liquid circulation part 141 are charged with the first polarity, A number of bacteria 200 suspended in the liquid passing through the circulation passage 145 for one hour may be attached to the inner side of each of the metal structures 143a and 143b. Through this process, the sterilization unit 140 may capture a plurality of bacteria 200.

The temperature variable element 149 of the sterilization unit 140 may cool the liquid passing through the circulation passage 145 for the first time in response to the third pulse signal P3 having the first level during the first time. .

When the liquid stored in the storage unit 110 reaches a predetermined temperature, for example, a preset cooling temperature for the first time, the MCU 160 performs a second time based on the sensing result T_S output from the temperature sensor 180. The control signal CNT having a second level, for example, a low level, may be output to the circulation pump 130. The circulation pump 130 may stop the pumping operation in response to the control signal CNT having the second level.

During the second time period, the pulse generator 150 may output a plurality of pulse signals P1, P2, and P3, respectively.

The first pulse signal P1 input to the conductor of the storage unit 110 may be the same as the pulse signal previously output during the first time.

Each of the insulators 147 of the liquid circulation unit 141 may be input with a second pulse signal P2 having a first polarity having the same phase as the first pulse signal P1. Accordingly, the inner surfaces of the metal structures 143a and 143b of each of the liquid circulation portions 141 that have been charged with the first polarity for the first time may be charged with the second polarity.

Since the plurality of bacteria 200 have the second polarity and the inner surfaces of the respective metal structures 143a and 143b are charged with the second polarity, the respective metal structures 143a and 143b for the second time period. The captured plurality of bacteria 200 attached to the inner side of the may be peeled from the inner side.

The second pulse signal P2 may have a potential greater than that of the first pulse signal P1 in order to increase the effect that the plurality of bacteria 200 are peeled off from the inner surfaces of the metal structures 143a and 143b.

The temperature variable element 149 of the sterilization unit 140 may heat the metal structures 143a and 143b in response to the third pulse signal P3 having the second level during the second time. The liquid remaining in the circulation passage 145 of the liquid circulation portion 141 by the temperature variable element 149 may be heated to a high temperature. Accordingly, the plurality of bacteria 200 included in the remaining liquid may be sterilized. After the plurality of bacteria 200 are sterilized by the sterilization unit 140 for the second time, the liquid remaining in the sterilization unit 140 may be discharged to the outside through the discharge port 170.

That is, the sterilization operation of the sterilization system 100 according to the present embodiment circulates the liquid stored in the storage unit 110 for the first time, and the plurality of bacteria 200 suspended in the liquid using the electrostatic induction phenomenon. After capture, by sterilizing the plurality of bacteria 200 captured during the second time, it is possible to enhance the sterilization effect of the stored liquid.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to better understand the drawings cited in the detailed description of the invention, a brief description of each drawing is provided.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a sterilization system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of portion A of FIG. 1.

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sterilization unit shown in FIG.

4 is a waveform diagram for a sterilization operation of the sterilization system shown in FIG.

Claims (12)

A storage unit in which a liquid can be stored; A pump for circulating the liquid for a first time; A sterilizer for capturing a plurality of bacteria contained in the liquid circulated by the pump for the first hour and sterilizing the plurality of bacteria captured for the second hour; And And at least one pulse generator for outputting a bipolar pulse signal to each of said reservoir and said sterilizer. The method of claim 1, wherein the sterilization unit, A liquid circulation portion formed therein for a circulation passage for circulating the liquid, and for trapping the plurality of bacteria contained in the liquid passing through the circulation passage during the first time; And And at least one temperature variable element arranged along the circulation passage outside the liquid circulation portion and for sterilizing the plurality of bacteria captured by heating the circulation passage for the second time. The sterilization system of claim 2, wherein the at least one temperature variable element cools the circulation passage during the first time. The sterilization system of claim 2, wherein the at least one temperature variable element is a peltier. delete The method of claim 1, And the bipolar pulse signal output to the storage unit during the first time period causes an electrostatic induction phenomenon so that the plurality of bacteria do not adhere to the inner surface of the storage unit. The method of claim 1, And the bipolar pulse signal output to the sterilizing unit during the first time causes an electrostatic induction phenomenon to cause the sterilizing unit to capture the plurality of bacteria. The sterilization system of claim 1, wherein the bipolar pulse signals output to the storage unit and the sterilization unit during the first time have different polarities. The method of claim 1, The bipolar pulse signal output to each of the storage unit and the sterilization unit during the first time has a potential of ± 0.5-1.5V. The method of claim 1, wherein the sterilization system, And a discharging opening for discharging the liquid remaining in the sterilizing unit to the outside after the sterilizing unit sterilizes the bacteria included in the liquid. The sterilization system of claim 1, wherein the pump stops a pumping operation for circulating the liquid of the reservoir during the second time. The method of claim 1, wherein the sterilization system, A temperature sensor disposed inside the storage unit for sensing a temperature of the liquid; And And a MCU for controlling a pumping operation of the pump based on the sensing result output from the temperature sensor.

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