KR20120045950A - A water purifier with sterilization - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A water sterilizing purifier is provided to prevent the contact of discharge electrodes with water by positioning the discharge electrodes on the water surface of a reservoir. CONSTITUTION: A water sterilizing purifier includes a reservoir(110), an U-shaped sterilizing lamp(120), a water level sensor(130), and a controller. The U-shaped sterilizing lamp is mounted in the reservoir. The water level sensor is arranged at the U-shaped sterilizing lamp. The controller is in electric connection with the water level sensor. The water level sensor detects the introduction of water into the U-shaped sterilizing lamp due to the destruction of the U-shaped sterilizing lamp and shuts off the power of the U-shaped sterilizing lamp. The U-shaped sterilizing lamp includes an U-shaped arc tube(121), discharge electrodes(122a, 122b), and a quartz tube(123).

Description

Sterilization Water Purifier {A WATER PURIFIER WITH STERILIZATION}

The present invention relates to a water purifier provided with an ultraviolet lamp for sterilization of the water purifier, wherein the water purifier is capable of preventing a short circuit or contamination of the purified water by detecting a contact between the electrode and the purified water in advance when the ultraviolet lamp is broken.

In general, a water purifier refers to a device for supplying purified water such as tap water to be suitable for drinking. Such water purifiers are classified into various types such as natural filtration, direct filtration, distillation, reverse osmosis, etc. according to the water purification method. Currently, the most commonly used is a natural filtration and direct filtration water purifier, which is purified by a filter.

The most common configuration of a water purifier using such a filter is provided with a filter and a reservoir, and in some cases, a cooling system using a heater and a refrigerant, which are separate components, may be provided at the same time in order to supply cold and hot water.

1 shows a general shape of a conventional water purifier. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional water purifier includes a main body 1 forming an external appearance, a filter 2 installed at the center of the main body to purify raw water flowing into the main body, and water filtered from the filter. A water tank (3), a hot water unit 4 including a heater (not shown) for heating the water from the reservoir, a cold water unit (5) including a cooling system (not shown) for generating cold water, It comprises a hot water intake cock (7) and cold water intake cock (6) connected to each of the hot water and cold water portion and protrudes to the outside of the main body to collect the cold water and hot water, each configuration is a water channel Hose to form the interconnection and the like for wiring.

On the other hand, the water purified by passing through the filter should be stored in the water tank (or cold water tank), and even if the filter is passed, microorganisms inside the water tank by bacteria introduced from the atmosphere by air vents or bacteria supplied from the filter, This can multiply. In particular, there is a risk of contamination by microorganisms because most of the remaining chlorine components that can inhibit bacterial growth in the water purification process is removed. Thus, UV-lamps are used to sterilize microorganisms inside the reservoir.

2 shows a schematic view of the use of such ultraviolet sterilizing lamps in the reservoir 3 of the water purifier. In FIG. 2, the ultraviolet sterilizing lamp 10 includes an arc tube 13 accommodating gas and the like, discharge electrodes 11 and 12 provided at both ends of the arc tube, and a quartz tube 14 surrounding the arc tube. It is composed. The discharge electrodes 11 and 12 are anodes and cathodes which are spaced apart from each other. When a high voltage is applied, the discharge is started to form an arc in the inert gas inside the arc tube and emit ultraviolet rays.

However, UV sterilization lamps are used to sterilize the purified water stored in the reservoir, and are located in the water, and both the arc tube and the quartz tube may be damaged, so that water may enter the arc tube when broken. In this case, when the discharge electrode is placed in the water and power is continuously supplied to the sterilizing lamp, water may contact the discharge electrode which is subjected to a high voltage, and thus there is a problem that a risk of leakage occurs. In addition, there is a problem that purified water continues to be supplied even if there is a risk that fragments of broken quartz tubes, arc tubes, mercury, etc. provided in the arc tubes remain in the water.

The present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a sterilizing water purifier that detects when the ultraviolet sterilization lamp is broken to prevent the discharge electrode flowing high voltage to come in contact with water.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a sterilizing water purifier that prevents fragments of a broken sterilizing lamp from remaining in the water and being continuously supplied.

The present invention provides the following technical configuration as a means of solving the above problems.

Sterilizing water purifier of the present invention; 'U' type sterilization lamp mounted inside the reservoir; A water level sensor provided in the sterilizing lamp; And a controller electrically connected to the water level sensor, wherein the water level sensor senses that water is introduced into the sterilization lamp by the breakage of the sterilization lamp in the reservoir, and the controller supplies power to the sterilization lamp. Configured to block.

Wherein the 'U' type sterilizing lamp, 'U' type arc tube; Discharge electrodes provided at both ends of the 'U' arc tube; And a quartz tube surrounding the 'U' type arc tube, wherein the 'U' type sterilizing lamp has a discharge electrode positioned above the reservoir and the 'U' type arc tube extending toward the bottom of the reservoir. It is mounted on top of the reservoir.

In addition, the germicidal lamp is composed of a UV lamp (UV-lamp).

In addition, the water level sensor is provided in the arc tube so that the lower end is located below the discharge electrode, is configured to detect by contacting at least earlier than the discharge electrode and the water flowing into the sterilization lamp by the damage of the sterilization lamp. .

Here, the level sensor is composed of a lead wire extending from the discharge electrode side to the lower side of the discharge electrode.

According to the aspect of the present invention as described above, the discharge electrodes are all placed on the water surface of the reservoir using the 'U' type sterilization lamp, so that even if water is introduced by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp, the discharge electrodes are subjected to high voltage to the water. It may not be contacted, and the water level sensor detects the water before contacting the discharge electrode to cut off the power of the sterilization lamp so that the discharge electrode subjected to the high voltage may not contact the water.

On the other hand, the sterilizing water purifier of the present invention further includes an inlet valve for opening and closing the inlet pipe for introducing the purified water into the water tank, when the water level sensor detects the water flowing into the sterilization lamp by the damage of the sterilization lamp, Is configured to close the inlet pipe by operating the inlet valve.

The aspect of the above configuration of the present invention, so that the discharge electrode, which takes a high voltage when the sterilization lamp is broken does not come into contact with the water, and the purified water is not supplied continuously to supply the contaminated purified water by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp You can prevent it.

The present invention has the following effects by the technical configuration as described above.

The present invention uses a 'U' type sterilizing lamp so that all of the discharge electrodes can be positioned on the water surface of the reservoir, so that even if water is introduced due to breakage of the sterilizing lamp, the discharge electrodes that are subject to high voltage may not come into contact with water. The sensor detects water before contacting the discharge electrode and cuts off the power of the germicidal lamp so that the discharge electrode, which is subjected to a high voltage, does not come into contact with water, thereby preventing a short circuit.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the discharge electrode, which is subjected to a high voltage, when the sterilization lamp is broken from being in contact with water, and to prevent the supply of contaminated purified water due to the breakdown of the sterilization lamp by preventing the purified water from being supplied continuously.

1 is a schematic view of a general water purifier.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional ultraviolet sterilization lamp mounted on the reservoir.
3 and 4 are schematic diagrams of one embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described a specific content for practicing the present invention through an embodiment of the present invention.

The sterilizing water purifier of the present invention is a reservoir 110, a 'U' type sterilizing lamp 120 mounted inside the reservoir, a water level sensor 130 provided in the sterilizing lamp, a controller electrically connected to the water level sensor. The water level sensor 130 detects that water is introduced into the sterilization lamp by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp in the reservoir, and the controller 140 controls the power supply 170 of the sterilization lamp. It is configured to block.

Although not shown in the drawings, the present invention relates to a sterile water purifier and one embodiment of the present invention basically includes a configuration having a general water purifier. That is, it is provided with the main body which forms an external appearance, the filter which is provided in the center of a main body, and refine | purifies the raw water which flows in into a main body, and the water storage tank which stores the water filtered from the said filter. In addition, it may be configured to have a cold and hot water purification function, in this case, a hot water unit including a heater for heating the water from the reservoir, a cold water unit including a cooling system for generating cold water, and the hot water unit and cold water unit It may be configured to include a hot water intake cock and cold water intake cock to be respectively connected to the protruding to the outside of the main body to take cold water and hot water. Each of the above components is interconnected by a hose for forming a channel, a wiring for control, and the like. However, the components generally used in water purifiers and the like of the above components are not shown in detail, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The reservoir 110 is a place to temporarily store the purified water in order to sufficiently maintain the flow rate of the water purifier. In the case of water purifiers, it is difficult to supply sufficient purified water when necessary unless sufficient flow rate is secured through the stored purified water, and in the case of having a cold / cold water purification function, power consumption may be excessively required because of rapid cooling or heating. Therefore, a sufficient flow rate is secured in advance through such a reservoir.

The reservoir 110 may include a purified water tank, a cold water tank and a hot water tank. In other words, the reservoir is used as a general term for the space where the integer can be stored. However, in the present invention, the reservoir refers to a purified water tank or a cold water tank, and since the hot water tank is heated by a heater, a separate sterilization lamp may not be used and thus is not included in the reservoir in the present invention.

In FIG. 3, the inlet pipe 151 to which the purified water is supplied is connected to the reservoir 110. The inlet pipe 151 is configured to allow the purified water to flow into the reservoir, not limited to a specific position in the reservoir, it may be located in the upper, lower or middle portion of the reservoir. The inlet pipe 151 is provided with an inlet valve 150 that can open and close the inlet pipe. As will be described later, when the water level sensor detects the water flowing into the sterilization lamp by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp, the controller 140 is configured to close the inlet pipe 151 by operating the inlet valve 150.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 3, the reservoir 110 is equipped with a water outlet pipe 160 through which the purified water is discharged. As shown in Figure 3, the outlet pipe 120 is connected to the lower portion of the reservoir. When the sterilizing lamp is broken, fragments of the broken quartz tube or the arc tube may occur, and heavy metals such as mercury for generating arcs may remain in the water. Therefore, the discharge pipe 160 is connected to the lower portion of the reservoir so that the purified water contaminated by debris or heavy metal may be naturally discharged by gravity. However, even if the water outlet pipe 160 is located at the top instead of the bottom of the reservoir, the purified water may be forcibly discharged.

As shown in FIG. 3, the 'U' type sterilizing lamp 120 includes a 'U' type arc tube 121 and discharge electrodes 122a and 122b provided at both ends of the 'U' type arc tube. It is configured to include a quartz tube 123 surrounding the U'-type arc tube. In this embodiment, the germicidal lamp 120 is composed of an ultraviolet lamp (UV-lamp).

The 'U' arc tube 121 has a space in which the arc is generated in the 'U' shape. Discharge electrodes 122a and 122b are provided at both ends of the 'U' arc tube. Here, both ends of the 'U' type arc tube refer to the start point and the end point of the 'U' type, as shown in FIG. 3, and the start point and the end point are adjacent to each other at the same height. Accordingly, even if the sterilization lamp is placed in the water, both ends of the arc tube in which the discharge electrode is located are not located in the water because it is located above the sterilization lamp, so that the water does not directly contact the discharge electrode even if the sterilization lamp is broken. The quartz tube 123 protects the arc tube by the configuration surrounding the 'U' arc tube.

Here, the 'U' type sterilizing lamp 120 is formed so that the discharge electrodes 122a and 122b are located above the surface of the reservoir, and the 'U' type arc tube 121 extends toward the bottom of the reservoir. do. Accordingly, the sterilization lamp 120 as shown in Figure 3 is mounted on the top of the reservoir.

The water level sensor 130 is provided between the arc tube 121 and the quartz tube 123 so that the lower end thereof is positioned below the discharge electrodes 122a and 122b. Here, the level sensor 130 is composed of a lead wire extending from the discharge electrode side to the lower side of the discharge electrode. Therefore, the lower end of the lead wire is mounted so as to be positioned below the discharge electrodes 122a and 122b. This configuration is shown in detail in FIG. In FIG. 3, when the sterilizing lamp is mounted on the top of the reservoir, the discharge electrodes 122a and 122b are at the position B, but the end of the water level sensor 130 is at A below the B side. Therefore, the water level sensor 130 is configured to detect the contact with the water flowing into the sterilization lamp at least before the discharge electrode by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp.

As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 140 is electrically connected to the water level sensor and is electrically controllable to the power source 170 of the sterilization lamp. Accordingly, when the water level sensor 130 detects water, the controller 140 cuts off the power 170 of the sterilization lamp.

According to the aspect of the present invention as described above, the discharge electrodes are all placed on the water surface of the reservoir using the 'U' type sterilization lamp, so that even if water is introduced by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp, the discharge electrodes are subjected to high voltage to the water. Do not allow contact. In addition, the water level sensor detects the water before contacting the discharge electrode to cut off the power of the germicidal lamp so that the discharge electrode, which is subjected to a high voltage, is not in contact with the water.

Meanwhile, the sterilizing water purifier of the present invention further includes an inlet valve 150 that opens and closes an inlet pipe 151 for introducing purified water into the water reservoir, and the inlet valve 150 is connected to the controller 140 as shown in FIG. 4. Is electrically connected and configured to be controlled by a controller. Accordingly, when the water level sensor detects the water flowing into the sterilization lamp by the breakage of the sterilization lamp, the controller 140 operates the inlet valve 150 to close the inlet pipe so that the purified water is stored in the reservoir. Control not to supply

The aspect of the above configuration of the present invention, so that the discharge electrode, which takes a high voltage when the sterilization lamp is broken does not come into contact with the water, and the purified water is not supplied continuously to supply the contaminated purified water by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp I can prevent it

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the scope of the present invention is not to be construed as limited to such embodiments and / or drawings, and is determined by the matters set forth in the claims below. do. In addition, it should be clearly understood that improvements, changes, modifications, and the like apparent to those skilled in the art described in the claims are included in the scope of the present invention.

110: reservoir 120: 'U' type sterilization lamp
121: 'U' type arc tube 122: discharge electrode
123: quartz tube 130: water level sensor
140: controller 150: inlet valve
151: inlet pipe 160: outlet pipe
170: power of the germicidal lamp

Claims (6)

Reservoir;
'U' type sterilization lamp mounted inside the reservoir;
A water level sensor provided in the sterilizing lamp;
And a controller electrically connected to the water level sensor.
The water level sensor detects that water is introduced into the sterilization lamp by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp in the reservoir, and the controller cuts off the power of the sterilization lamp,
Sterilizing water purifier.
The method of claim 1,
The 'U' type sterilizing lamp,
'U' type arc tube;
Discharge electrodes provided at both ends of the 'U' arc tube;
Includes; quartz tube surrounding the 'U' arc tube,
The discharge electrode is located on top of the reservoir and is mounted on top of the reservoir so that the 'U' arc tube extends toward the bottom of the reservoir,
Sterilizing water purifier.
The method of claim 2,
The water level sensor,
It is provided inside the arc tube so that the lower end is located below the discharge electrode,
Detecting by contacting the water flowing into the sterilization lamp at least before the discharge electrode by the breakdown of the sterilization lamp,
Sterilizing water purifier.
The method of claim 3,
And the water level sensor is a lead wire extending from the discharge electrode side to the lower side of the discharge electrode.
The method of claim 1,
Further comprising an inlet valve for opening and closing the inlet pipe for introducing purified water into the reservoir,
And the water level detecting sensor detects water flowing into the sterilizing lamp by the breakage of the sterilizing lamp, and the controller operates the inlet valve to close the inlet pipe.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The sterilizing lamp is an ultraviolet lamp (UV-lamp),
Sterilizing water purifier.

Images