KR20090018520A - A direct-type purifying device - Google Patents

Abstract

A direct water type water purification apparatus is provided to clean purified water in the reverse osmosis membrane module and enable a user to use clean purified water directly discharged from the faucet when purifying water again by temporarily storing the purified water when purified water is not discharged through a faucet, and equalizing the concentration of concentrate in a reverse osmosis membrane module to that of the purified water or minimizing a concentration difference between the concentrate and purified water using the stored purified water. A direct water type water purification apparatus comprises a reverse osmosis membrane module(110) connected to a raw water supply pipe, a purified water discharge pipe, and a concentrate discharge pipe. The direct water type water purification apparatus further comprises: a purified water storage tank(160) in which purified water is stored; a first connecting pipe(170) of which one end is connected to the purified water discharge pipe, of which the other end is connected to the purified water storage tank, and which provides a flow path supplying purified water to the purified water storage tank; a second connecting pipe(180) of which one end is connected to the purified water storage tank, of which the other end is connected to the raw water supply pipe, and which provides a flow path flowing the purified water stored in the purified water storage tank into the reverse osmosis membrane module; a booster pump(120) which increases transfer pressure of raw water; and a controller(190) sensing the locking of the faucet when a faucet is locked to supply purified water discharged through the purified water discharge pipe to the purified water storage tank, and controlling the purified water storage tank to supply the stored purified water to the reverse osmosis membrane module when purified water is stored to a preset amount in the purified water storage tank.

Description

Direct water purifying device {A direct-type purifying device}

The present invention relates to a direct type water purification device, and more particularly, to a direct type water purification device using an RO membrane module as a filtering means.

The water purifying device is intended to be used as drinking water for the user to drink by filtering the raw water supplied from the raw water source, and the water purifier is a representative example. However, the water purifying apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the water purifier but is applied to all the apparatuses for filtering the raw water to produce purified water. On the other hand, the direct type water purification device means that there is no water purification tank for storing purified water in the device. In the case of the direct type water purification device, the user directly uses the filtered purified water. Normally, the direct type water purifier is installed in the sink, and the raw water inlet pipe is connected to the domestic water supply pipe, and the filtered water discharge pipe through which the purified water is discharged is directly connected to the tap.

When reverse osmosis (RO) membrane module is used as the filtering means, part of the raw water supplied to the RO membrane module becomes purified water and the remainder is concentrated water. Therefore, the purified water is discharged to the tap, and the concentrated water is not used and is connected to a drain pipe.

On the other hand, in the case of the water purification device using the RO membrane module, the concentration of purified water is significantly lower than that of the concentrated water due to the high Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) removal rate. Osmotic pressure is generated in several directions. Therefore, when the user opens the faucet to drink the purified water, that is, to produce the purified water, a pressure greater than this osmotic pressure must be applied. On the contrary, when the faucet is not locked to produce purified water, pure water in purified water is transferred to concentrated water by diffusion and osmotic pressure in the RO membrane module. As a result, the concentration of concentrated water is lowered and the concentration of purified water is increased. In other words, the contaminants increase in the purified water relatively, so that the purified water has a high TDS, and as the time for which the purified water is not produced increases, the TDS concentration of the purified water increases. This phenomenon causes a problem that when the faucet is opened again to produce purified water, that is, the water having a relatively high TDS remaining in the RO membrane module is discharged for a predetermined period of time before the new purified water is produced. .

The general water purifier is equipped with a water purification tank, the amount of purified water having a high TDS is relatively small compared to the amount stored in the water purification tank is not a big problem. However, in the case of a direct type water purification device having no water purification tank, there is a problem since a user immediately uses the purified water having the high TDS immediately after the re-repair.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, when the present invention does not discharge the purified water to the faucet, a portion of the produced purified water is collected and stored by diluting the concentrated water in the RO membrane module by using this discharge Thereby, the purpose is to make the concentration of concentrated water equal to the purified water or to minimize the difference.

Immediate water purifying device according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a direct type water purifying device comprising a RO membrane module connected to the raw water supply pipe, the purified water discharge pipe, and the concentrated water discharge pipe, the purified water storage tank for storing purified water; A first connection pipe having one end connected to the purified water discharge pipe and the other end connected to the purified water storage tank to provide a flow path to supply purified water to the purified water storage tank; A second connection pipe having one end connected to the purified water storage tank and the other end connected to the raw water supply pipe to provide a flow path such that purified water stored in the purified water storage tank flows into the RO membrane module; A booster pump for increasing the water pressure of raw water; And when the faucet is locked, supplying purified water discharged through the purified water discharge pipe to the purified water storage tank, and supplying the stored purified water to the RO membrane module when a predetermined amount of purified water is stored in the purified water storage tank. And a controller for controlling to control the control function.

In addition, the first connecting pipe is provided with a first valve operating by a control signal of the controller to supply or shut off the purified water, and the controller opens the first valve when the faucet is locked to open the purified water. Supply purified water to the storage tank.

In addition, a raw water shutoff valve is installed at the front end of the booster pump on the raw water supply pipe to supply or block the raw water by operating by a control signal of the controller, and the controller turns off the booster pump when the faucet is locked. After opening the raw water shutoff valve, the first valve is opened.

In addition, a pressure switch is installed on the path of the purified water discharge pipe, and the controller is connected to the pressure switch so as to be able to exchange signals to determine whether the faucet is locked.

In addition, when the second connection pipe is provided with a second valve to operate by the control signal of the controller to supply or cut off the purified water, the controller is stored in a predetermined amount of purified water in the purified water storage tank Closing the raw water shutoff valve to cut off the supply of raw water, closing the first valve, and opening the second valve to supply the stored purified water to the RO membrane module.

The controller may be configured to close the second valve when all of the purified water in the purified water storage tank is discharged.

In addition, a water level sensor is installed in the purified water storage tank, the controller is connected so as to exchange the signal with the water level sensor can determine the water level in the purified water storage tank.

According to the present invention, when the purified water is not discharged into the faucet, the purified water in the RO membrane module is cleaned and the user is reclaimed by temporarily storing the purified water and using the same to make the concentration of the concentrated water in the RO membrane module equal to or minimize the difference. From time to time, you can use clean purified water straight from the tap.

The above objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, a direct type water purifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, the direct type water purifying apparatus filters the raw water flowing into the RO membrane module 110 to discharge the purified water and the concentrated water, and the raw water supply pipe 130 and the purified water discharge pipe 140 connected to the RO membrane module 110. ) And the concentrated water discharge pipe 150, the purified water storage tank 160 for temporarily storing purified water, the first connection pipe 170 for connecting the purified water discharge pipe 140 and the purified water storage tank 160, purified water storage tank 160 And a second connection pipe 180 connecting the raw water supply pipe 130, a booster pump 120 installed on a path of the raw water supply pipe 130 to increase the water pressure of the raw water, and controlling the operation of the components of the water purifier. It includes a controller 190 to.

The RO membrane module 110 includes a raw water inlet 112, a purified water outlet 114, and a concentrated water outlet 116. The raw water inlet 112 is connected to the raw water supply pipe 120 to receive the raw water, and the raw water is separated into purified water and concentrated water while passing through the RO membrane module 110. RO membrane module 110 is usually arranged in a spiral wound at least one of the reverse osmosis membrane, the filter member is installed. The purified water is discharged through the purified water discharge port 114 connected to the purified water discharge pipe 140 connected to the faucet 102, and the concentrated water is discharged through the concentrated water discharge port 116 connected to the concentrated water discharge pipe 150.

In front of the booster pump 120 on the path of the raw water supply pipe 130, a raw water shutoff valve 132 is installed to operate or control the raw water by controlling the control signal of the controller 190. In addition, a pressure switch 145 is installed on the path of the purified water discharge pipe 140 to exchange signals with the controller 190. When the faucet is closed, the pressure of the purified water discharge pipe 140 is raised and the pressure switch 145 detects this and sends a signal to the controller 190. Thus, the controller 190 receives the signal to determine whether the faucet is closed.

The purified water storage tank 160 temporarily stores a portion of purified water discharged through the purified water discharge pipe 140. The purified water storage tank 160 is employed in a general water purifier and is not a drinking water tank for drinking purposes, so the capacity does not need to be as large as that of the general water purifier. On the other hand, inside the purified water storage tank 160, a water level sensor 165 for exchanging a signal with the controller 190 is installed. The controller 190 may receive the signal of the water level sensor 165 to determine the water level inside the purified water storage tank 160.

The first connection pipe 170 has one end connected to the purified water discharge pipe 140 and the other end connected to the purified water storage tank 160 to supply a flow path for supplying purified water flowing through the purified water discharge pipe 140 to the purified water storage tank 160. Will be provided. On the other hand, the first connecting pipe 170 is provided with a first valve 175 to operate by the control signal of the controller 190 to supply or block the purified water. The first valve 175 may open or close the flow path according to the control signal of the controller 190, and the check valve or the solenoid valve may prevent the purified water collected in the purified water storage tank from flowing into the purified water discharge pipe 140. .

The second connection pipe 180 has one end connected to the purified water storage tank 160 and the other end connected to the raw water supply pipe 130 so that the purified water stored in the purified water storage tank 160 flows into the RO membrane module 110. To provide. On the other hand, the second connecting pipe 180 is provided with a second valve 185 to operate by the control signal of the controller 190 to supply or block the purified water. Like the first valve, the second valve 185 is also preferably a solenoid valve that opens or closes the flow path by a control signal of the controller 190.

When the faucet 102 is locked, the controller 190 supplies the purified water discharged through the purified water discharge pipe 140 to the purified water storage tank 160 to temporarily store the purified water, and then supplies a predetermined amount of the predetermined amount to the purified water storage tank 160. When the purified water is stored, the above components are controlled to supply the stored purified water to the RO membrane module 110.

Hereinafter, the operation of the direct type water purifier according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the controller 190 receives a signal from the pressure switch 145 installed in the purified water discharge pipe 140 to determine whether the faucet 102 is opened (S200).

When the user opens the tap to use the purified water, the controller 190 closes both the first valve 175 and the second valve 185 (S202). Then, the booster pump 120 is turned on (S204), and the raw water shutoff valve 132 is opened (S206), so that the raw water flows into the RO membrane module 110. Raw water is separated into purified water and concentrated water in the RO membrane module 110, the purified water is discharged to the faucet 102 via the purified water discharge pipe 140, the concentrated water is discharged to the outside via the concentrated water discharge pipe 150 do.

On the other hand, when the user locks the faucet, the pressure of the purified water discharge pipe 140 is raised and the pressure switch 145 that detects this sends a signal. The controller 190 receiving the signal causes the booster pump 120 to be turned off (S210). On the other hand, since the raw water must be continuously supplied to the RO membrane module 110, the raw water shutoff valve 132 is to be kept open (S220). In this case, since the booster pump 120 is in an off state, the amount of raw water flowing into the RO membrane module 110 is relatively smaller than that of opening the faucet.

Thereafter, the controller 190 opens the first valve 175 and closes the second valve 185, so that the purified water that has exited the RO membrane module 110 as shown in FIG. Through the connection pipe 170 is introduced into the purified water storage tank 160 (S230).

As the purified water continues to flow into the purified water storage tank 160, the controller 190 receives a signal from the water level sensor 165 to determine whether the amount of purified water stored in the purified water storage tank 160 is filled by a predetermined amount. It is determined (S240).

When the purified water is filled by a predetermined amount, the controller 190 closes the raw water shutoff valve 132 to block the supply of raw water (S250). Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the first valve 175 is closed to block the inflow into the purified water storage tank 160, and the second valve 185 is opened to discharge the purified water stored in the purified water storage tank 160 to release the RO membrane module. Re-flow into the 110 (S260).

When the controller 190 receives a signal indicating that all of the purified water stored in the purified water storage tank 160 has been discharged from the water level sensor 165 (S270), both the first valve 175 and the second valve 185 are closed. To be made (S280).

Meanwhile, the purified water introduced into the RO membrane module 110 may weaken the concentration of the concentrated water in the RO membrane module 110 to be equal to the concentration of the purified water or minimize the difference in concentration. That is, when the raw water collected in the purified water tank flows to the raw water inlet 112 through the raw water supply pipe 130, the concentrated water is pushed to the purified water and is discarded through the concentrated water discharge pipe 140 through the concentrated water outlet 116. By doing so, the concentrated water containing the high concentration of TDS can be lowered to the same or similar concentration as the purified water, and the purified water can be eliminated or minimized due to the diffusion and osmotic pressure when the purified water is stopped.

Thus, when the recalibration, that is, when the faucet is opened again, the purified water coming directly from the faucet will have a low TDS, that is, a clean purified water.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described specific embodiments. That is, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make many changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims, and all such appropriate changes and modifications are possible. Equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of a direct type water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the direct type water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 and 4 are views for explaining the operation of the direct type water purifier according to the embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Major Symbols in Drawing>

110. RO membrane module 120. Booster pump

130. Raw water supply pipe 132. Raw water shutoff valve

140. Purified water discharge pipe 150. Condensed water discharge pipe

160. Purified water storage tank 165. Water level sensor

170. First connector 175. First valve

180. Second connector 185. Second valve

190. Controller

Claims (7)

In a direct type water purification device comprising a RO membrane module connected to the raw water supply pipe, the purified water discharge pipe, and the concentrated water discharge pipe, A purified water storage tank for storing purified water; A first connection pipe having one end connected to the purified water discharge pipe and the other end connected to the purified water storage tank to provide a flow path to supply purified water to the purified water storage tank; A second connection pipe having one end connected to the purified water storage tank and the other end connected to the raw water supply pipe to provide a flow path such that purified water stored in the purified water storage tank flows into the RO membrane module; A booster pump for increasing the water pressure of raw water; And, It detects when the faucet is locked and supplies the purified water discharged through the purified water discharge pipe to the purified water storage tank, and supplies the stored purified water to the RO membrane module when a predetermined amount of purified water is stored in the purified water storage tank. A direct-type water purification apparatus comprising a; controller. The method of claim 1, The first connecting pipe is provided with a first valve operating by a control signal of the controller to supply or block the purified water, And the controller opens the first valve to supply purified water to the purified water storage tank when the faucet is locked. The method of claim 2, A raw water shutoff valve is installed at the front end of the booster pump on the raw water supply pipe to supply or block the raw water by operating by a control signal of the controller. And the controller is configured to open the first valve after turning off the booster pump and opening the raw water shutoff valve when the faucet is locked. The method of claim 2 or 3, The pressure switch is installed on the path of the purified water discharge pipe, And said controller is connected to said pressure switch so as to be capable of signal exchange to determine whether said faucet is locked. The method of claim 3, wherein The second connecting pipe is provided with a second valve which operates by a control signal of the controller and supplies or blocks the purified water, When the predetermined amount of purified water is stored in the purified water storage tank, the controller closes the raw water shutoff valve to block supply of raw water, closes the first valve, and opens the second valve to open the stored purified water. Direct water purifying apparatus, characterized in that water is supplied to the RO membrane module. The method of claim 5, wherein And the controller is configured to close the second valve when all of the purified water in the purified water storage tank is discharged. The method according to claim 5 or 6, The water level sensor is installed in the purified water storage tank, And the controller is connected to the water level sensor so as to be able to exchange signals.

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