KR102170642B1 - An apparatus feeding functional chemicals and a water softner comprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A head having a hole formed in the lower portion, an inlet port and an outlet port respectively disposed on both sides, and a partition wall disposed between the inlet port and the outlet port to divide the hole; A hollow elution part connected to the lower part of the center of the head and filled with a functional material therein; And a housing extending downward from the head and disposed so as to surround the elution portion, wherein the elution portion is located at an upper center to connect the head and the elution portion; And a bypass formed on one side of the outer circumferential surface of the connection portion to allow fluid communication between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the functional material is a sustained-release capsule, and a water softener including the same. . According to the functional material feeder and water softener according to the present invention, the amount of the functional material eluted according to the flow rate and flow rate passing through the filter in the functional material feeder installed in the conventional water softener is not constant, so that the filter life is short and the filter is replaced. To solve the problem that it is difficult to determine the timing uniformly, it is possible to continuously, sequentially and mixedly supply the functional material filled in the functional material feeder with a sustained-release capsule having a plurality of layers or a ring shape on the outside, and when the functional material is replaced. It can be easily understood, and the effect of miniaturization and cost reduction can be obtained.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD An apparatus feeding functional chemicals and a water softner comprising the same}

The present invention relates to a functional material feeder and a water softener including the same, and in more detail, the structure of the functional material feeder is improved, and the functional material filled in the functional feeder is in the form of a sustained-release capsule having several layers or rings. It relates to a functional material feeder and a water softener that can be used after softening by continuously and stably supplying a functional material to raw water by controlling the dissolution rate, amount of dissolution, and dissolution period of the material.

Recently, as interest in skin beauty increases, various water softeners are being developed.

The water softener removes the hardness components existing in the existing water and groundwater to generate soft water that is less irritating to the skin and provides it to the user, and this soft water is very useful not only for skin beauty, but also for the purpose of treatment for infants and users with skin diseases. .

In recent years, water softeners that not only generate soft water but also produce soft water supplied with various functional materials have been developed and are commercially available.

Korean Registered Patent No. 1129376 discloses a filter material that is a functional material feeder installed in a water softener, which fills and supplies a functional material in a powder state.

Water softeners using such a functional material feeder have a problem in that the amount of the functional material that is eluted is not constant according to the flow rate and flow rate passing through the filter, so that the filter life is short and it is difficult to uniformly determine the replacement time of the filter.

In addition, since it is necessary to increase the number of filters themselves in order to supply various types of functional materials, there are also problems in the complexity of the manufacturing process, increase in cost, and enlargement of the device.

(Patent Document) KR 1129376 B1

The present invention was conceived to solve the problems of the prior art, and filled with a functional material in the form of a sustained-release capsule in a functional material feeder that supplies the functional material to the water softener, and a layer structure or a ring structure formed in the sustained-release capsule It is an object of the present invention to provide a functional agent supplying device for softening by supplying a functional agent to raw water sequentially, mixedly and continuously according to the number or thickness of, and a water softener including the same.

The functional material feeder according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises: a head having an opening formed at a lower portion, an inlet and an outlet respectively disposed on both sides, and a partition wall disposed between the inlet and the outlet to divide the opening; A hollow elution part connected to the lower part of the center of the head and filled with a functional material therein; And a housing extending downward from the head and disposed to surround the elution portion, wherein the elution portion includes a connection portion located at an upper center to connect the head and the elution portion, and the connection portion is formed on one side of the outer peripheral surface And a bypass for allowing fluid communication between the inlet port and the outlet port, wherein the functional material is a sustained-release capsule and is saturated with raw water in the dissolution part and flows out.

The elution part may include an inlet pipe through which inlet water from the inlet port flows in by connecting an upper side of the elution part to the head; A check valve positioned at the lower end of the inlet pipe to prevent reverse flow of the inlet water; And a case including a plurality of openings and surrounding the outside of the inlet pipe.

The connection part may include a mesh member positioned inside the connection part to evenly diffuse the inflow water; A capillary tube positioned under the mesh member to move the influent water to the upper portion of the connection portion; And a support member positioned below the mesh member to support the capillary tube.

It is preferable that the sustained-release capsule has a structure of a plurality of layers or rings, and the plurality of layers and rings are made of different functional materials.

The functional material is preferably one or more selected from the group consisting of wild chrysanthemum, ginseng, and mugwort extract.

The sustained-release capsule preferably has different dissolution rates depending on the thickness of the plurality of layers or rings.

The plurality of layers or the number of rings is 4, and the elution period per one of the plurality of layers and rings is preferably 1 week.

In addition, the water softener according to the present invention includes a raw water inlet through which raw water is introduced; A functional material feeder connected through the raw water inlet and a flow path to supply a pre-filled functional material to the raw water; It characterized in that it comprises a; and a softening filter connected through the functional material feeder and the flow path to soften the raw water supplied with the functional material.

Preferably, the water softener further includes a pre-treatment filter positioned between the raw water inlet and the functional material feeder to filter the introduced raw water to flow into the functional material.

According to the functional material feeder according to the present invention and the water softener including the same, the functional material can be continuously supplied by filling and eluting the functional material in the form of a sustained-release capsule inside the functional material feeder.

In addition, by making the functional material form a plurality of layers or rings, it is possible to mix and use various types of functional materials, as well as to be supplied sequentially.

Furthermore, since the dissolution rate can be easily determined, the timing of replacement of the capsule can be easily known, and the miniaturization of the device and cost reduction can be expected.

1 is a view schematically showing the structure of a water softener and a flow of raw water according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a functional material feeder 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a view showing the flow of raw water.
3 is a side view (left side of (b)) and a longitudinal sectional view (right side of (b)) of one embodiment ((a)) and another embodiment of a functional material 1 filled in the functional material feeder 200 .

The functional material feeder 200 of the present invention and the components constituting the water softener including the same may be used integrally or separately, as necessary. In addition, some components may be omitted depending on the type of use.

A preferred embodiment of the functional material feeder 200 and the water softener according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thickness of the lines or the size of components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of description. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to the intention or custom of users or operators. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be described based on the contents throughout the present specification.

1. Functional material feeder 200 and structure of a water softener including the same

First, the structures of the functional material feeder 200 and the water softener according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

1 is a view schematically showing the structure of a water softener and the flow of raw water according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a functional material feeder 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention and raw water flow 3 is a side view (left of (b)) and a longitudinal sectional view ((b) of one embodiment ((a)) and another embodiment of a functional material (1) filled in the functional material feeder 200 Right).

The water softener according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a raw water inlet unit 10, a pretreatment filter 100 connected to the raw water inlet unit 10, a functional material feeder 200 connected to the pretreatment filter 100, and a functional material feeder It includes a soft water filter 300 connected to 200 and a soft water outlet 20 connected to the soft water filter 300, and each of the components is connected through a flow path F.

Further, the flow path F is formed of a first flow path F1 to a fourth flow path F4. For convenience of description, the number of the flow path and the reference numerals in the drawings are made to match.

The raw water inlet 10 is a part for introducing raw water into the water softener. Here, "raw water" refers to water that is to be softened by flowing into the water softener, and tap water will be common.

Therefore, the raw water inlet 10 is preferably connected to a faucet (not shown) used at home to introduce raw water, but is not limited thereto.

The pretreatment filter 100 is connected to the raw water inlet 10 through the first flow path F1, and filters unnecessary substances such as fine suspended matter contained in the raw water introduced from the raw water inlet 10. Pre-treatment such as etc.

The functional material feeder 200 is connected through the pretreatment filter 100 and the second flow path F2, and supplies the functional material 1 by eluting it.

The structure and function of the functional material feeder 200 are the main parts and concepts of the present invention, and will be described in more detail later.

The softening filter 300 is connected through the functional material feeder 200 and the third flow path F3, and the raw water supplied with the functional material 1 is introduced through the functional material feeder 200 to perform a water softening process. .

The softening process is a process of removing hardness present in raw water, and it is preferable to use a cation exchange resin filter, but is not limited thereto.

The soft water outlet 20 is connected to the soft water filter 300 through the fourth flow path F4, and discharges soft water generated by the soft water filter 300 to be supplied to the user.

Hereinafter, a functional material feeder 200, which is one of the main components of the present invention, will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

The functional material feeder 200 includes a head 210, an elution portion 230 positioned under the head 210, and a housing 220 surrounding the elution portion 230.

The head 210 includes an opening 214 formed at a lower portion, an inlet 211 and an outlet 212 positioned on both sides, and a partition wall 213 disposed between the inlet 211 and the outlet 212.

The inlet 211 is disposed on one side of the head 210, is connected to the second flow path F2, and the raw water pretreated by the pretreatment filter 100 is introduced.

The outlet 212 is disposed on the other side of the head 210 and is connected to the third flow path F3 so that the functional material 1 is eluted to discharge the supplied raw water to the soft water filter 300.

An opening 214 through which the inlet 211 and the outlet 212 communicate with each other is positioned under the head 210.

The partition wall 213 is disposed between the inlet 211 and the outlet 212 to separate the opening 214 and guides the inflowed raw water to flow downward and the raw water supplied with the functional material 1 to flow upward. do.

The elution part 230 has a hollow shape and is filled with a functional material 1 therein, and includes a connection part 231, an inlet pipe 233, and a case 235.

The connection part 231 is located above the elution part 230 to connect the head 210 and the elution part 230, and the connection part 231 is located inside the bypass 232 on one side of the outer circumferential wall, and the connection part 231 A mesh member 236, a support member 237, and a capillary tube 238 are provided.

The bypass 232 is formed on the outer circumferential wall of the connection part 231 to allow fluid communication between the inlet 211 and the outlet 212, and some of the introduced raw water may pass through the bypass 232.

The mesh member 236 is located inside the connection part 231 in a form that blocks the inner cross section of the connection part 231.

The support member 237 is positioned close to the lower portion of the mesh member 236 to block the inner end face of the connection portion 231 similar to the mesh member 236 to support the capillary tube 238.

The capillary tube 238 is positioned so as to pass through the support member 237, thereby enabling fluid communication between the elution part 230 and the connection part 231.

That is, the support member 237 serves to support the capillary tube 238 around the capillary tube 238.

The functional material 1 is filled in the elution part 230 and is preferably a sustained-release capsule.

The sustained-release capsule is a known technology that is manufactured to exhibit an effect while the drug is slowly eluted in a solvent by applying a certain treatment to a drug made of a capsule (which will be a functional agent (1) here), so the detailed description in this specification is Omit it.

However, in general, since a method of mixing or coating a polymer material is often used, it is preferable that the capsule is processed or manufactured, but is not limited to the above processing or manufacturing method.

Since the functional material (1) is in the form of a sustained-release capsule, only a predetermined amount of the total inclusion can be continuously eluted and used, so that the functional material (1) can be used for a long time without the need to frequently fill the functional material (1) because the service life is extended. have.

As an embodiment of the sustained-release capsule, referring to (a) shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of different functional materials (1A, 1B, 1C) may be arranged in a ring shape, and in this case, the number of rings It is also possible to determine the type and number of the functional agents 1 to be eluted according to, and the amount and speed of the functional agents 1 to be eluted according to the thickness of the ring, and the amount of each functional agent 1 to be mixed.

Referring to (b) shown in FIG. 3 as another embodiment of the sustained-release capsule, as shown in the left side of FIG. 3 (b), one functional material 1A is disposed to surround the outer side of the capsule, and the right side Referring to the longitudinal sectional view of, different functional materials (1A, 1B, 1C) are sequentially layered from the inner center of the capsule, unlike in the above-described embodiment arranged in a ring shape in the longitudinal direction of the capsule. .

Therefore, it is sequentially eluted from the outermost functional material (1A) to the central functional material (1C), and it is possible to adjust the dissolution rate by adjusting the thickness of the layer of the functional material (1).

For example, if the thickness of the layer is adjusted so that it takes 1 week for all of the functional material (1) to dissolve, it takes about 1 month to arrange the 4 layers. As such, the dissolution rate of each layer and the number of layers Since it is possible to know the rate at which all the capsules are eluted by using, the replacement timing of the capsules can be accurately determined.

In addition, since it is possible to supply various functional materials 1 through one sustained-release capsule, it is possible to expect miniaturization and cost reduction of the device.

In addition, each functional agent (1A, 1B, 1C) may be any one or more of wild chrysanthemum, ginseng, mugwort extract, but is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, the inlet pipe 233 is formed to extend from one side of the elution part 230 to the inside of the elution part 230, and the raw water introduced from the inlet 211 is introduced into the elution part 230 through this.

In addition, a check valve 234 is installed at the lower end of the inlet pipe 233 to prevent reverse flow of incoming raw water.

The case 235 is formed extending from one side of the upper portion of the elution portion 230 to the inside, and is positioned to surround the inlet pipe 233 at a predetermined distance, and one or more openings may be formed in the outer peripheral wall.

The housing 220 extends downward from the head 210 and is detachably disposed to surround the outside of the elution part 230.

2. Operation of the functional material feeder 200 and a water softener including the same

Hereinafter, the operation of the functional material feeder 200 and the water softener including the same will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 2.

First, the raw water introduced into the raw water inlet 10 is introduced into the pretreatment filter 100 through the first flow path F1, and pretreatment is performed by filtering fine suspended substances in the raw water.

The pre-treated raw water is introduced into the inlet 211 of the functional material feeder 200 through the second flow path F2.

The raw water introduced into the inlet 211 is guided by the partition wall 213 disposed in the center of the head 210 and moves downward, and at this time, some of the raw water is the bypass 232 located on the outer peripheral wall of the connection part 231 And the other part is introduced into the inlet pipe 233 located above the elution part 230.

The raw water introduced through the inlet pipe 233 is once filled into the case 235. When the opening formed in the case 235 is filled to a height at which the opening is located, it is introduced into the space under the elution part 230 through the opening.

In this case, the case 235 serves as a rectifier to prevent the raw water flowing into the inlet pipe 233 from rapidly flowing into the space of the elution unit 230.

In addition, reverse flow of raw water is prevented due to the check valve 234 located at the bottom of the inlet pipe 233.

Next, the functional material (1) filled in the elution part 230 is eluted with the raw water introduced into the elution part 230 through the opening, and after a certain time passes, the functional material (1) in the raw water in the elution part 230 Reaches saturation.

Since the raw water in the elution part 230 reaches a saturated state and raw water flows in from the opening, the raw water level in the elution part 230 rises, and accordingly, the raw water saturated with the functional agent 1 rises toward the capillary tube 238 Is done.

When the raised water level reaches the capillary tube 238, the raw water saturated with the functional material 1 is sucked upward through the capillary tube 238 and spreads evenly through the mesh member 236 located on the upper side.

The raw water diffused in the saturated state of the functional material (1) is a part of the raw water that has passed through the bypass 232 at the point where the upper portion of the mesh member 236 and the bypass 232 meet. It is mixed and continues to rise and flows out to the outlet 212.

Through this process, the concentration of the functional material (1) in the raw water can be kept constant.

The raw water that contains the functional material 1 and flows out is introduced into the soft water filter 300 through the third flow path F3 and is generated as soft water through a softening process, and the soft water passed through the above process is the fourth flow path F4. It flows to the soft water outlet 20 through and is discharged to the outside of the water softener and supplied to the user.

The functional material feeder according to the present invention and the water softener including the same according to the present invention as described above are filled with the functional material in the form of a sustained-release capsule in the functional material feeder for supplying the functional material, and the number of layer structures or ring structures formed in the sustained-release capsule Or, it is an object of the present invention to provide a functional agent supplying device for softening by sequentially, mixing, and continuously supplying a functional agent to raw water according to thickness, and a water softener including the same.

This solves the problem that the filter life is short and it is difficult to consistently determine the replacement time of the filter as the amount of the functional agent that is eluted according to the flow rate and flow rate passing through the filter in the conventional functional material feeder installed in the water softener is not constant. By doing so, it is possible to supply the functional material continuously, sequentially and mixedly.

In addition, it is easy to know when to replace the functional material, and it is possible to obtain the effect of miniaturization and cost reduction of the device.

Above, although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those of ordinary skill in the art can variously modify the present invention within the scope not departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the following claims. It will be appreciated that it can be modified and changed.

1: Functional material
10: raw water inlet
20: soft water outlet
100: pretreatment filter
200: Functional material feeder
210: head
211: inlet
212: outlet
213: bulkhead
214: opening
220: housing
230: elution part
231: connection
232: bypass
233: inlet pipe
234: check valve
235: case
236: mesh member
237: support member
238: capillary tube
300: soft water filter
F: Euro
F1 ~ F4: 1st ~ 4th Euro

Claims (9)

A head having an opening formed at a lower portion, an inlet and an outlet respectively disposed on both sides, and a partition wall disposed between the inlet and the outlet to divide the opening;
A hollow elution part connected to the lower part of the center of the head and filled with a functional material therein; And
A housing extending downward from the head and disposed to surround the elution part; Including,
The elution part is located in the upper center and includes a connection part connecting the head and the elution part,
A bypass formed on one side of the outer circumferential surface to allow the inlet and the outlet to communicate with each other; Including,
The functional agent is a sustained-release capsule that is saturated with raw water and flows out in the dissolution part,
The elution part,
An inlet pipe through which inlet water from the inlet port is introduced by connecting an upper side of the elution part to the head;
A check valve positioned at the lower end of the inlet pipe to prevent reverse flow of the inlet water; And
A case having a plurality of openings and surrounding the outside of the inlet pipe; Characterized in that it further comprises,
Functional material feeder.
delete The method of claim 1,
The connection part,
A mesh member positioned inside the connection part to evenly diffuse the influent;
A capillary tube positioned under the mesh member to move the influent water to the upper portion of the connection portion; And
Characterized in that it comprises; a support member located below the mesh member to support the capillary tube,
Functional material feeder.
The method of claim 1,
The sustained-release capsule,
A plurality of layers or a plurality of ring structures, characterized in that the plurality of layers and the plurality of rings are made of different functional materials,
Functional material feeder.
The method of claim 4,
The functional agent is characterized in that one or more is selected from the group consisting of wild chrysanthemum, ginseng, mugwort extract,
Functional material feeder.
The method of claim 4,
The sustained-release capsule is
Characterized in that they have different dissolution rates depending on the thickness of the plurality of layers or the rings,
Functional material feeder.
The method of claim 4,
In the plurality of layers or the plurality of rings, the plurality is 4, and in the plurality of layers and the plurality of rings, the elution period per each of the layers and rings is 1 week,
Functional material feeder.
A raw water inlet through which raw water is introduced;
A functional material feeder connected through the raw water inlet and a flow path to supply a pre-filled functional material to the raw water;
A softening filter connected to the functional material feeder through a flow path to soften the raw water supplied with the functional material; And
Includes; a soft water outlet connected through the soft water filter and a flow path to outflow the softened raw water to the outside,
The functional material feeder is characterized in that the functional material feeder according to any one of claims 1 and 3 to 6,
Water softener.
The method of claim 8,
The water softener,
A pre-treatment filter positioned between the raw water inlet and the functional material feeder to filter the introduced raw water to flow into the functional material feeder;
Water softener.

Images