KR101164722B1 - Water purifier and sterilizing and cleaning method of the water purifier - Google Patents

Abstract

The water purifier of the present invention injects steam into a filter head to which a plurality of filters for filtering raw water are combined, a reservoir for temporarily storing purified water passing through the filter head, and a flow path of the purified water including the filter head and the reservoir. And a steam module for washing or disinfecting the flow path, wherein the steam module is detached from the filter head to communicate the purified water flow path with the steam module, and a steam module is mounted on the filter head. A second step of supplying water to the module, a third step of washing or disinfecting each pipe including a reservoir by steam generated by heating in the steam module, and a fourth step of removing the steam module from the filter head Sterilization and cleaning are possible through the method comprising the step.

Description

Sterilization and cleaning method of water purifier and water purifier {WATER PURIFIER AND STERILIZING AND CLEANING METHOD OF THE WATER PURIFIER}

The present invention relates to a sterilization and cleaning method of a water purifier and a water purifier including a configuration to enable sterilization and cleaning by steam.

In general, the water purifier has a structure in which a filter head equipped with a filter for filtering water supplied from the outside and a reservoir for storing water filtered through the filter head are connected by a pipe.

The water purifier performs a sterilization and disinfection by flowing hot steam through the pipe for sterilization and disinfection of the pipe according to a long time of use, and for this purpose, a separate steam generator for generating high pressure steam has to be provided. .

The steam generator is to disassemble the water purifier for further sterilization and disinfection of the water purifier to combine the injection means provided in the steam generator and to inject a high pressure steam.

In addition, the steam generator is also difficult to quantify the degree of sterilization and cleaning because the structure of the water purifier is different and different for each product.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of a device in which sterilization and cleaning are simple and efficient while eliminating the cumbersome coupling and disassembly as described above.

The present invention has been made to improve the above problems, to provide a sterilization and cleaning method of a water purifier and a water purifier that does not require troublesome disassembly and assembly, easy and quick sterilization and disinfection.

In one embodiment, the water purifier according to the present invention includes a filter head to which a plurality of filters for filtering raw water are coupled, a reservoir for temporarily storing purified water passing through the filter head, and a flow path of the purified water including the filter head and the reservoir tank. And a steam module for washing or disinfecting the flow path by injecting steam into the steam module, wherein the steam module is detached from the filter head so that the water flow path and the steam module communicate with each other.

In one embodiment, the sterilization and cleaning method of the water purifier of the present invention is a first step of mounting a steam module in the filter head, a second step of supplying water to the steam module, and is generated by heating in the steam module And a third step of washing or disinfecting each pipe including a reservoir by steam, and a fourth step of removing the steam module from the filter head.

The present invention is easy and quick to sterilize and clean by mounting a steam module in the filter head and flowing steam directly along the water tank and piping without any troublesome disassembly and assembly procedures for disinfection and cleaning.

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

In the process, the size or shape of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of description, terms specifically defined in consideration of the configuration and operation of the present invention according to the intention or custom of the user or operator And definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a specific coupling embodiment of the filter head and the steam module which is the main part of the present invention.

The present invention includes a filter head 100, reservoir 200, steam module 300 as shown.

The filter head 100 is a part which provides a inlet / outlet space for filtration of the raw water supplied from the outside by combining a plurality of filters 101 for filtering raw water.

The reservoir 200 is provided with a space for temporarily storing the purified water filtered through the filter 101 through the filter head 100, the purified water is heated or cooled to be withdrawn to the water of the desired temperature Will be described later.

The steam module 300 is detachably coupled to the filter head 100 and pipes connecting the filter head 100 and the water tank 200 together with the water tank 200 to generate steam generated by heating raw water. It is passed through to sterilize and clean.

The present invention can be applied and implemented by the above configuration, it will be described for each major component for the description of various embodiments.

As described above, the filter head 100 is equipped with a plurality of filters 101, and the plurality of filters 101 are roughly purified in the order of precipitation treatment, sun carbon treatment, hollow fiber membrane filtration / reverse osmosis membrane filtration, and after carbon treatment. Treatment, each filtration process takes place in each filter 101.

In the sedimentation treatment, a bulky precipitate is filtered by a sedimentation filter, and in the sun carbonization treatment, raw water, that is, chlorine in tap water, is removed by a sun carbon filter.

The hollow fiber membrane filtration / reverse osmosis membrane filtration may be performed only by performing all or selecting the hollow fiber membrane filtration and the reverse osmosis membrane filtration. The removal process is made.

The after carbon treatment is a process of the final filtration of raw water by the fucarbon filter using a material such as ceramic, silver carbon to improve the taste of water.

The reservoir 200 provides a space in which the purified water filtered through the filter 101 is temporarily stored as described above, and the purified water is connected to the cold water tank 201 connected to a pipe p2 to take water of a desired temperature. And a hot water tank 202 connected to the pipe p3.

The reservoir 200 is provided with a drain valve 205 for discharging purified water contained for sterilization and cleaning.

Cold water tank 201 is equipped with an evaporator 203 on the outer surface to cool the water in the reservoir 200 to the desired temperature to open and close the cold water valve 207 through the pipe (p4) cold water intake cock (not shown below) Can be withdrawn.

The hot water tank 202 is equipped with a heater 204 on the outer surface to heat the water in the water reservoir 200 to a desired temperature to open the hot water valve 209 through the pipe p5 (hereinafter, not shown) Can be withdrawn.

On the other hand, the steam module 300, as described above, the steam generated by heating the raw water supplied through the filter head 100 together with the reservoir 200 to each pipe (p1, p2, p3, p4, p5). For sterilization and cleaning by flowing, it includes a main body 310, a heater 320, a temperature sensor 330, a thermostat 340.

The steam module 300 may be disinfected and cleaned by removing and mounting one of the filters 101 mounted on the filter head 100 as shown in FIG. 1, and may apply the embodiment as shown in FIG. 2.

That is, the steam module 300 removes one of the filters 101 mounted on the filter head 100, removes the remaining filter 101 mounted on the filter head 100, and then removes the filter head 100. Hermetically operates the steam module 300.

Here, the filter head 100 is mounted to the steam module 300, and then sealed with a sealing cap 110 to the site where the remaining filter 101 is mounted, and sterilizes and cleans.

For reference, in FIG. 2, solid arrows indicate supply of raw water, and dotted arrows indicate discharge of steam, respectively.

The main body 310 is formed with an inlet 311 for supplying raw water and an outlet 312 for discharging steam, and is coupled to the filter head 100.

The main body 310 may be coupled to the filter head 100 by a screw method, or may be modified and applied in various embodiments, such as a fitting coupling by coupling a coupling groove and a coupling protrusion.

The heater 320, the temperature sensor 330, and the thermostat 340 are components embedded in the main body 310.

The heater 320 heats the water supplied to the main body 310, the temperature sensor 330 detects the temperature of the water to be heated, and the thermostat 340 is the heater 320 when the temperature of the water to be heated is outside the set range. Transmits a signal to stop the operation, and transmits a signal for operating the heater 320 to the heater 320 when it enters the setting range.

That is, the thermostat 340 is provided to prevent overheating and unnecessary energy consumption by the continuous operation of the heater 320 and to continuously generate steam while maintaining the temperature inside the main body 310 in a predetermined range.

When the user wants to disinfect and clean the water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, the power supply unit is provided in the housing 400 in which parts such as the filter head 100, the reservoir 200, and the steam module 300 are embedded. The steam module 300 is operated by detachably connecting the 500 and the steam module 300.

Operation and stop of the steam module 300 is made by the operation panel 410 provided on one side of the housing 400.

An embodiment of a method for disinfecting and cleaning the water purifier of the present invention as described above will be described.

The water purifier of the present invention includes a first step S100 of mounting the steam module 300 on the filter head 100, a second step S200 of supplying water to the steam module 300, and a steam module 300. A third step (S300) of washing or disinfecting the steam of the filter, and the fourth step (S400) of removing the steam module 300 from the filter head 100.

In the first step S100, the steam module 300 is mounted on the filter head 100 embedded in the housing 400 to which the plurality of filters 101 are mounted to prepare for the operation of the steam module 300.

In the second step S200, water for generating steam from the steam module 300 is supplied to the steam module 300.

At this time, the water contained in the reservoir 200 connected to the filter head 100 and the pipe is drained to the outside.

In the third step (S300) while the steam generated in the operating steam module 300 passes through each pipe including the reservoir 200, washing or disinfection is made.

In the fourth step S400, when the washing or disinfection is completed, the steam module 300 is removed from the filter head 100.

Thereafter, the plurality of filters 101 are mounted on the filter head 100 and ready to be withdrawn.

The present invention can be carried out by disinfection and cleaning by the above method, it will be described in the main step for the description of the various embodiments, the structure and coupling relationship of the specific device, see Figures 1 and 2.

The first step (S100) is a preparation step for mounting and operating the steam module 300 as described above, the first-first process (S110) of mounting the steam module 300 and the power to the steam module 300 It includes a 1-2 process (S120) for supplying the first and third processes (S130) for operating the steam module 300.

In the first-first process S110, the steam module 300 is mounted at a position from which one of the plurality of filters 101 mounted on the filter head 100 is removed.

Here, the steam module 300 is mounted on the filter head 100, the remaining filter is removed, and then the sealing cap 110 is fastened to a portion where the remaining filter is removed to seal the filter head 100. Process S112 may be further included.

At this time, the mounting of the steam module 300 opens an inspection door (not shown) provided to be opened and closed in the housing 400 in which the filter head 100 and the reservoir 200 are built, and one of the plurality of filters 101. Remove it and mount it in a simple way, such as screwing in or screwing in.

In the 1-2 process (S120), the power supply unit 500 provided in the housing 400 and the steam module 300 are connected to prepare the operation of the steam module 300.

Here, although the connection between the steam module 300 and the power supply unit 500 is not particularly shown, when the main body 310 is mounted on the filter head 100 by providing an electrical contact with the main body 310, the power supply unit 500 and the physical power supply unit 500 are physically connected. Consideration can also be given to making a connection.

Therefore, when the user wants to disinfect and clean in the first process (S130), when the user selects the disinfection and cleaning mode by operating the operation panel 410 provided on one side of the housing 400, the steam module 300 and the power Applications and modifications may be made to allow the supply unit 500 to operate while being electrically connected.

Meanwhile, when the first step S100 is completed as described above and the steam module 300 is operated, a second step S200 of supplying water to the steam module 300 is performed.

Here, the water of the reservoir 200 is drained to the outside through the drain valve 205.

In the second step 200, the drain pipe 205 is provided with a drain valve 205 rather than a pipe p1 connecting the filter head 100 and the reservoir 200 so that the water in the reservoir 200 is smoothly drained. It may be disposed close to natural drainage by gravity, or a pump may be mounted on the outlet side of the drain valve 205 to forcibly drain the water.

In this case, the cold water valve 207 of the cold water tank 201 is opened together with the hot water valve 209 and the drain valve 205 of the hot water tank 202 to store the cold water tank 200, as well as the cold water tank 201 and the hot water tank. All water contained in the 202 is also discharged so that the steam flows smoothly.

Subsequently, after the water in the reservoir 200 including the cold water tank 201 and the hot water tank 202 is completely discharged to the outside, the raw water valve 105 provided on the pipe connected to the filter head 100 is opened to filter the water. Raw water is supplied to the steam module 300 through the head 100.

In the third step (S300), the sterilization and cleaning is performed by the steam module 300, the process of discharging steam to the reservoir 200 side (S310), the process of detecting the temperature of the water to be heated (S320), and the heater It includes a step (S330) of transmitting to the heater 320 whether the operation of the operation 320 or stop operation.

First, steam generated by heating water supplied from the filter head 100 by the heater 320 built in the steam module 300 is discharged to the reservoir 200 side.

Here, the raw water valve 105 is to supply and block the raw water to the steam module 300 by the amount of steam generated for sterilization and cleaning.

Subsequently, the temperature sensor 330 embedded in the steam module 300 senses the temperature of the heated water.

Next, the thermostat 340 built in the steam module 300 compares the input temperature setting range with the temperature of the water detected by the temperature sensor 330 to output an operation or stop signal of the heater 320. To 320).

Therefore, when the water purifier according to the embodiment of the present invention is finished sterilization and cleaning through the third step (S300), the user operates the operation panel 410 to release the sterilization and cleaning mode from the filter head 100. A fourth step S400 of removing the steam module 300 is performed.

When the operation of the steam module 300 is stopped in the fourth step S400, the steam module 300 is detached from the filter head 100, and the filter module 100 is remounted and the raw water valve 105 is opened again to supply raw water. And the purified water filtered through the filter 101 are stored in the water storage tank 200 including the cold water tank 201 and the hot water tank 202, and preparation for intake is completed.

As described above, it can be seen that the present invention has a basic technical idea to provide a method for sterilizing and cleaning a water purifier and a water purifier, which does not require troublesome disassembly and assembly and is easy and quick to sterilize and disinfect.

While the present invention has been described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Accordingly, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the following claims.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of a water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a specific coupling embodiment of the filter head and the steam module which is the main part of the present invention

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing a sterilization and cleaning method of the water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100 ... filter head 200 ... reservoir

300 ... steam module 310 ... body

320 ... heater 330 ... temperature sensor

340 Thermostat

Claims (10)

In a water purifier comprising a filter head to which a plurality of filters for filtering raw water are combined and a reservoir for temporarily storing purified water passing through the filter head, A steam module mounted at a position where one of the filters mounted on the filter head is removed, and injecting steam into the purified water flow path including the filter head and the water storage tank to clean or disinfect the flow path; And After removing all the filters mounted on the filter head, the filter is installed in the installed position, the sealing cap for sealing the filter head; including, And a water purifier in which the steam module is operated while the filter head is sealed. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, The steam module, A main body formed with an inlet for supplying water and an outlet for discharging steam, and coupled to the filter head; A heater for heating the water supplied built into the main body; A temperature sensor which senses the temperature of the water heated in the main body, And a thermostat for stopping the operation of the heater when the temperature of the water to be heated is greater than or equal to a set value and operating the heater if less than the set value. The method of claim 1, The filter head, the reservoir and the steam module are embedded in a housing, The housing has a built-in power supply connected to the main power supplied on and off for operation, The steam module is detachably coupled to the power supply and is operated by receiving power, The steam module is a water purifier operated by an operation panel provided on one side of the housing. A first step of mounting the steam module to the filter head; A second step of supplying water to the steam module; A third step of washing or disinfecting each pipe including a reservoir by steam generated by heating in the steam module; And And a fourth step of removing the steam module from the filter head. The first step, A first-first process of mounting the steam module at a position where at least one of the filters mounted on the filter head is removed; Steps 1-2 of preparing the operation of the steam module while the steam module is detachably connected to the power supply unit connected to the main power supplied on and off for the operation of the housing in which the filter head and the steam module are built. , And a 1-3 process of operating the steam module by operating an operation panel provided at one side of the housing, The first-first process, The steam module is mounted to the filter head, the process of sterilization and cleaning of the water purifier comprising the step of closing the sealing cap to the site where the remaining filter is removed to seal the filter head after the remaining filter is removed. delete delete The method of claim 7, wherein In the third step, Discharging the steam generated by heating the water supplied from the filter head by a heater embedded in the steam module, to the reservoir side; Detecting a temperature of water heated by a temperature sensor embedded in the steam module; Comparing the temperature setting range of the thermostat embedded in the steam module with the temperature of the water detected by the temperature sensor, and transmitting the operation or operation stop signal of the heater to the heater.

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