JPH05138164A - Water purifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a water purifier excellent in removal capacity for residual solid matter stuck among particles of activated carbon or on the purifying mechanism, such as a hollow fiber membrane layer and has a purifying mechanism having a long life. CONSTITUTION:In a water purifier equipped with a casing 21 having a raw water inlet 34 in which raw water flows and a purified water outlet 41 from which purified water flows and a purifying mechanism 24 installed in the casing for changing raw water into purified water, a passage direction switching means for switching a raw water passage so that the flow of raw water may be in the opposite direction to that on normal use is installed in a passage route of raw water. Simultaneously ultrasonic vibrators 26a, 26b are installed in the casing at a place different from that in which the purifying mechanism 24 is installed. And an ultrasonic vibration source 27 for driving the ultrasonic vibrators is installed to backwash the purifying mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water purifier for removing sterilizing chlorine, rust, mold and the like contained in raw water such as domestic tap water to obtain purified water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, water purifiers that have been generally used are
By passing raw water such as tap water through a purifying mechanism such as an activated carbon layer and a hollow fiber membrane layer, chlorine, mold, dust, etc. are removed to obtain purified water.

[0003] However, conventionally, the hollow fiber membrane layer and the particles of the activated carbon are clogged by various bacteria, so that the purification mechanism part in which the activated carbon layer and the hollow fiber membrane layer are integrated is replaced once every several months. Had to do. In addition, considering that the filter such as the hollow fiber membrane layer generally has a shorter life than the activated carbon layer and that the price of the activated carbon layer is higher, the life of the filter determines the replacement time of the entire purification mechanism. It

Therefore, a method has been taken in which the replacement time is delayed by backwashing the flow of raw water with respect to the state of normal use.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example of such a method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-99379).

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cleaning device in a normal use state, and FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cleaning device when it is backwashed.

In the figure, 1 is a water purifier, 2 is a body, 3 is a cartridge, and 4 is a cover.

Further, 5 is a raw water inlet, 6 is a purified water outlet,
7 is an inflow passage, 8 is a backwash cleaning inflow passage opening, 9 is a check valve,
10 is an activated carbon layer, 11 is a filter, 12 is a hole, 13 is a retention part, 14 is a top packing, 15 is a gap, 16 is a discharge port, and F is a fingertip.

In this structure, when the water is normally used, the water flows through the raw water inlet 5, the inflow passage 7, the check valve 9, the retention portion 13, the hole 12, the activated carbon layer 10, as shown by the arrow in FIG.
The filter 11 and the purified water outlet 6 flow in this order for processing.

Next, when backwashing the cartridge 3, as shown in FIG. 6, with the top packing 14 of the cartridge 3 removed, the backwash inflow passage port 8 communicates with the raw water inflow port 5. When the cartridge 3 is installed by changing the mounting position and water is flowed in a state where the purified water outlet 6 is blocked by the fingertip F, the water flows as shown by the arrow, the raw water inlet 5, the backwashing inflow passage 8, the filter 11, the activated carbon layer. 10,
Hole 12, retaining portion 13, gaps 15a and 15b, discharge port 16
It flows in the order of a and 16b and flows backward in the cartridge 3 in the direction opposite to the normal use state, and the clogging solid matter between the particles of the filter 11 and the activated carbon layer 10 is washed back. is there.

According to the above method, in order to perform backwashing, it is necessary to replace the cartridge 3 after removing the cover 4 and the top packing 14, and to block the purified water outlet 6 with a fingertip F or the like during backwashing. Yes, it takes time.

Further, there are cases where the sticky solid matter adhering to the filter or the like cannot be removed only by backwashing.

[0013]

As described above, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the operation for backflowing is relatively simple, and there is a limit to the removal of sticky solids and the like only by backwashing.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is excellent in the ability to remove the residual solids adhering to the purification mechanism portion such as between the particles of activated carbon or the hollow fiber membrane layer, and to improve the life of the purification mechanism portion. The purpose is to provide a long water purifier.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a casing having a raw water inlet for inflow of raw water and a purified water outlet for outflow of purified water, and a purifying mechanism section for purifying the raw water in the casing. In the water purifier, a flow path direction switching means for switching the flow path of the raw water is provided in the flow path of the raw water so that the flow of the raw water is in a direction opposite to that in normal use,
An ultrasonic transducer is provided in a position different from the position where the purification mechanism is provided in the housing, and an ultrasonic drive source for driving the ultrasonic transducer is provided. Is.

[0016]

According to the above construction, by switching the switching valve so that the flow of the raw water is in the direction opposite to that in the normal use, the raw water flows in the cleaning mechanism in the reverse direction and is backwashed. Residual solids such as various bacteria adhering to the hollow fiber membrane layer and the activated carbon layer constituting the purification mechanism part are removed, and the ultrasonic oscillator is oscillated by the ultrasonic drive source, and the vibration is transmitted to the support plate and raw water. A solid substance having a strong adhesiveness that cannot be removed by the above-mentioned back washing is transmitted.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a water purifier which is an embodiment of the present invention.

The water purifier 20 is constructed as follows. Housing 2 having a lid 28 having a first raw water inlet 34 and a purified water outlet 41 on the upper side and a discharge port 37 on the lower side
1, a purification mechanism portion 24 formed by laminating a hollow fiber membrane layer 23 and an activated carbon layer 22 above the casing 21, and ultrasonic vibrations attached to a support plate 25 provided at the bottom portion of the casing. It is composed of children 26a and 26b. A second raw water inlet 42 is formed on the upper surface of the housing 21. The pipes 3 are respectively provided at the raw water inlets 34 and 42.
2, 31 are attached, and raw water 29 is supplied to these pipes 32, 31 via a switching valve 30. Further, a pipe 33 having an opening / closing valve 46 is attached to the purified water outlet 41. A pipe 36 having a lower end extending to the bottom of the housing 21 is attached to one raw water inlet 34 side, and the lower end of the pipe 36 is located below the purification mechanism 24, and raw water from the flow path 35 is It passes through the activated carbon layer 22 of the purification mechanism portion 24 from below the purification mechanism portion 24 and further through the hollow fiber membrane layer 23 to reach the purified water outlet 41.

A pipe 39, an opening / closing valve 38, and a pipe 45 are connected to the discharge port 37 provided in the casing 21.

The ultrasonic transducers 26a and 26b are the housing 2
It is adapted to be driven by an ultrasonic wave drive source 27 provided outside the unit 1.

Incidentally, the switching valve 30 is set to the first
It is switched so that the side of the raw water inlet 34 is opened and the side of the second raw water inlet 42 is opened during the cleaning operation.

Further, the opening / closing valve 38 on the side of the discharge port 37 acts so as to be closed during the cleaning action and open during the cleaning action. On the other hand, the opening / closing valve 46 on the side of the purified water outlet 41 acts, on the contrary, so as to be opened during the cleaning action and closed during the cleaning action. Further, the ultrasonic drive source 27 is adapted to operate during the cleaning action.

Next, the operation of the above apparatus will be described.

First, during the normal purifying action, as shown in FIG. 2, the switching valve 30 is opened to the side of the first raw water inlet 34, and the supplied raw water such as tap water passes through the flow path 35 and the casing. After moving to the bottom of the body, the activated carbon layer 22 and the hollow fiber membrane layer 23 above are moved.
Through the pipe 33 having the opening / closing valve 46 connected to the purified water outlet 41 in the upper part of the housing. At this time, the open / close valve 38 on the discharge port 37 side is closed.

During the cleaning operation, as shown in FIG. 1, the switching valve 3
0 is switched to the side of the second raw water inlet 42 and the outlet 3
Open the open / close valve 38 on the 7 side and open / close valve 4 on the purified water outlet 41 side
Close 6 Further, the ultrasonic drive source 27 is operated to drive the ultrasonic vibrators 26a and 26b.

Raw water supplied from the second raw water inlet 42 from the switching valve 30 via the pipe 31 is first fed to the hollow fiber membrane layer 2.
3, then passes through the activated carbon layer 22, reaches the outlet 37 at the bottom of the housing, and is discharged outside through the pipe 45 through the valve 38. That is, the flow path is switched in the opposite direction to that in the case of the purifying action. In this sense, the switching valve 30 and the opening / closing valve 38 have a function as flow path switching means.

During the above-mentioned cleaning operation, the flow path is switched in the opposite direction to that during normal use (during the cleaning operation), so that residual solids such as bacteria attached to the hollow fiber membrane layer 23 and the activated carbon layer 22 are removed. Cleaning is performed to remove (backwashing), and the vibrations of the ultrasonic transducers 26a and 26b are then propagated to the entire backflowing water. Objects can be removed (sonic cleaning).

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the raw water is guided from the upper part to the lower part of the housing and the purified water is also taken out from the upper part of the housing is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the raw water is not limited to the housing. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to an apparatus in which the purifying mechanism is guided from the upper part to the lower part and the purifying mechanism part is arranged in the middle of the flow path. In such a case, it is necessary to arrange each member necessary for the cleaning operation so that the raw water is supplied from the bottom of the casing at the time of cleaning and discharged from the upper part of the casing.

The second embodiment is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 3, the raw water that has passed through the switching valve 30 during normal use is purified by the purification mechanism section 24, then passes through the open / close valve 41 in the opened state, and is discharged as purified water from the discharge port 33 provided below. Is discharged. At this time, the open / close valve 47 on the drain port 45 side is closed. At the time of backwashing, it passes through the bypass valve 40 provided outside the housing 21 via the switching valve 30, and at this time the on-off valve 41 is closed, so it is pushed up from the inlet 42 provided at the bottom of the housing. And passes through the backflow inflow pipe 43. At this time, the ultrasonic transducers 26a, 2 provided below the inside of the housing and on both sides of the backflow inflow pipe 43.
The vibration of 6b is propagated to the whole water that is flowing backward as described above, and the backwashing is performed as in the first embodiment.
In addition, the raw water that has been backwashed has an on-off valve 4 installed at the top.
It is discharged from a discharge port 45 having 7.

The ultrasonic transducer may be provided not only on the bottom of the housing but also on the side surface of the housing or the upper portion of the housing. Also,
The number of ultrasonic transducers is not limited to two, and even if it is one, it is sufficient as long as it has the prescribed cleaning ability.

Further, it is also possible to use the purified water outlet 41 for draining water at the time of cleaning without providing the discharge port 45 and the opening / closing valve 47.

[0035]

According to the present invention described in detail above, it is possible to provide a water purifier capable of reliably removing the residual solid matter attached to the purification mechanism. Therefore, in a device using a filter made of a hollow fiber membrane layer or the like in the purification mechanism portion, the life of the hollow fiber membrane layer can be extended, and the replacement cycle can be delayed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a water purifier showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a water purifier showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional water purifier.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional water purifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Case 24 Purification Mechanism 26a, 26b Ultrasonic Transducer 27 Ultrasonic Drive Source 30 Switching Valve 34, 42 Raw Water Inlet 37 Discharge Port 41 Clean Water Outlet

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location C02F 9/00 Z 6647-4D

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A water purifier provided with a casing having a raw water inlet for inflowing raw water and a purified water outlet for outflowing purified water, and a purifying mechanism provided in the casing for purifying the raw water. A flow path direction switching means for switching the flow path of the raw water is provided in the flow path so that the flow of the raw water is in the opposite direction to that in normal use, and in the housing, the purification mechanism section is A water purifier characterized in that an ultrasonic transducer is provided at a position different from the provided location, and an ultrasonic drive source for driving the ultrasonic transducer is provided. 2. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the purification mechanism portion has a filter made of a hollow fiber membrane layer. 3. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the purification mechanism section includes a hollow fiber membrane layer and an activated carbon layer. 4. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the flow path direction switching means is a switching valve.