JP3724941B2 - Water purifier - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a water purifier that purifies tap water, and more particularly, to a water purifier that can easily and reliably switch the discharge mode of raw water, purified water, shower, etc. with a single operation of a lever and a small operating force. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as a method of switching the discharge mode of the water purifier, the rotation of the dial or lever is transmitted to the shaft as it is, and the switching valve is opened and closed via the shaft, or the mode is switched by converting the rotation to reciprocating motion. The method of doing is known. In any of these conventional methods, the dial or lever must be adjusted to the target position. Each time an operation is performed, the operation position to be operated is confirmed, and the operated position is accurately targeted. There was an inconvenience that it was necessary to check whether the position was adjusted. When the adjustment position is shifted, water in each discharge mode may be mixed. Therefore, considering these confirmations and position adjustments, switching the discharge mode in the conventional water purifier is not necessarily a one-touch operation.
[0003]
In addition, the conventional water purifier adopts a structure in which the valve body is fitted to the water passage hole through a sealing material such as an O-ring, in order to ensure sealing reliability, as the structure of the switching valve portion inside the water purifier. Often doing. However, with such a structure, although a good sealing performance can be obtained, a relatively large force is required to attach / detach the valve body to / from the water passage hole, and accordingly, an operation force when switching the discharge mode is also relatively large. Power was to be required.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An object of the present invention is to provide a water purifier that can switch the discharge mode very easily by a truly one-touch operation without requiring adjustment of the operation position, and in particular, has improved operability.
[0005]
In addition, the problem of the present invention is to provide a water purifier that can be easily switched to a desired discharge mode with an extremely small operation force and always with the same operation, and that facilitates operation and improves reliability. It is to provide.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the water purifier of the present invention operates in one direction and reciprocates so as to return to the original position after the operation, and the lever through the ratchet mechanism or the one-way clutch mechanism. A camshaft connected to the lever and having a plurality of cams that are out of phase with each other, each mode flow port formed corresponding to each axial position of the plurality of cams, and the plurality of cams in the vertical direction A plurality of valve bodies that open and close each mode flow port, and are connected to each of the plurality of valve bodies and engage with the plurality of cams to open and close each of the plurality of valve bodies. Each of the plurality of cams, and a projection for pushing up the link and a projection for pushing down the link are arranged in parallel in the axial direction of the camshaft. Vignetting, wherein the plurality of links comprise those wherein the abutting push surface and depressed surface is provided on each projection to push down the said push protrusion.
[0008]
The discharge mode in the water purifier is preferably three modes: a raw water mode in which raw water is circulated as it is, a water purification mode in which raw water is filtered through a filter, and a shower mode in which raw water is discharged in a shower shape. It may be a water purifier including a mode other than the above, or a water purifier having only two modes of raw water and purified water.
[0009]
The ratchet mechanism includes, for example, a rack that operates integrally with a lever, and a latch that is connected to valve body driving means that drives a discharge mode switching valve body and engages the rack only in one direction. It can consist of a mechanism.
[0010]
The direction of the reciprocating movement of the lever is not particularly limited, but is preferably in the vertical direction. This lever is operated by operating one stroke in a predetermined fixed direction, and automatically returns to the original position after the operation. Therefore, if the reciprocating direction of the lever is set to the vertical direction, it is only necessary to operate the lever downward (or upward) for one stroke at the time of the switching operation. It will be good.
[0011]
It is necessary that the valve body operation amount per lever operation corresponds to the phase shift of each cam of the camshaft. The number of cams corresponding to each valve element is not necessarily one, and a plurality of cams may be arranged in the camshaft circumferential direction with respect to one valve element. As a result, the corresponding valve element can be driven each time the cams arranged in the circumferential direction come to a predetermined position. The amount of rotation of the camshaft per lever operation may be adjusted to such conditions, and may be 360 degrees / (integer multiple n of the number of discharge modes). Although the value of n may be 1, the value of n is preferably 2 or 3 in order to further reduce the required amount of rotation and the amount of operation of the lever 1 to further improve operability. The value of n can be up to about 5, but if it becomes too large, the switching reliability is adversely affected.
[0012]
Furthermore, as the valve body for mode switching, an umbrella-shaped touch valve body of a type in which the water circulation hole is closed from above and lifted upward when the valve is opened is preferable. Such a valve body can be driven with a much smaller force because there is no factor to increase the driving force due to the frictional force due to the fitting of the O-ring, etc. compared to a valve body with an O-ring, and ultimately the lever Can contribute to a significant reduction in operating force. Moreover, since the entire flow hole can be covered in an umbrella shape with respect to the flow hole, a good sealing property can be obtained.
[0013]
When the valve body is driven using a camshaft, the camshaft cam can be directly engaged with the valve body. However, the valve body is connected via a link engageable with the camshaft. By driving, a smoother operation can be obtained.
[0014]
In such a water purifier according to the present invention, the lever operation for switching the discharge mode may always be in a constant direction and need only be operated for a predetermined stroke unconditionally. No confirmation is required, and it becomes extremely simple. In addition, since a certain stroke is operated for each operation, there is no element that causes an error in the operation amount, and the reliability of the operation is extremely high. Further, since the lever is automatically returned to the original position, the operation at the time of switching is truly a one-touch operation.
[0015]
Further, since the camshaft is used in combination with the lever operating force intermittent transmission mechanism using a ratchet mechanism or the like, the stroke operation of the lever can be reliably and smoothly converted into a predetermined valve body driving operation.
[0016]
In addition, by using an umbrella-shaped valve body as a valve body and combining it with a camshaft drive means, it is possible to open and close the valve body with an extremely light force while ensuring good sealing performance, greatly reducing the lever operating force. it can.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 8 show a water purifier 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The water purifier 1 is used by being directly connected to a water tap 3 by a connecting portion 2. In the water purifier 1, depending on the purpose of use, the discharged water can be raw water (which tap water is discharged as it is), purified water (which is discharged after filtering through a filter), shower water (tap water is shower-like) A lever 4 is provided for switching to the three modes. By operating the lever 4, each water is discharged from the raw water port 5, the water purification port 6, and the shower port 7 depending on the purpose of use of tap water.
[0018]
When raw water is used, tap water is directly discharged, but when purified water is used, water is once guided to the filter cartridge 8 by the operation of the lever 4 and purified by activated carbon inside and discharged from the purified water port 6. During showering, the lever 4 is operated to spray water from the shower port 7 as a shower flow.
[0019]
The present invention relates to a structure from the lever 4 to the switching valve for surely switching these waters by a simple method.
[0020]
In the embodiment described below, the camshaft rotates once every 40 degrees of the camshaft by one operation of the lever 4, that is, nine rotations of the lever 4, and “clean water”, “raw water”, and “shower” are cut nine times. An example of a change is shown. In addition, although 360 degrees / (3 × n) degrees and n is in the range of 1 to 5 is not impossible, n is preferably 2 or 3 in terms of switching reliability.
[0021]
The stroke operation of the lever 4 in one direction is performed by a rack 9 formed integrally with the lever 4 and centering on a rotation fulcrum of the lever 4 via a latch 11 connected to the end of the camshaft 10. Then, the rotation is transmitted to the camshaft 10 as a rotational motion for one pitch. Such a ratchet mechanism 12 having a rack 9 and a latch 11 has a known structure. However, no water purifier has a ratchet mechanism. When the hand is released from the lever 4 after the operation, the lever 4 is returned to the original position (original position) by a return spring (not shown).
[0022]
When the lever 4 returns to the original position, the latch 11 is rotated by the claw 14 that can be elastically displaced toward the gap 13, and the claw 14 engages with the rack 9 in the rotation direction. At the time of return, the latch 11 is contracted by the spring action within the gap 13, the engagement with the rack 9 is released, and the lever 4 is idled, and only the lever 4 is restored. Therefore, the movement (operating force) of the lever 4 is intermittently transmitted to the camshaft 10 only in one rotation direction via the ratchet mechanism 12, and the camshaft 10 is rotated only in one direction every time the lever 4 is operated. It is like that. Such a transmission mechanism can be achieved not only by the ratchet mechanism 12 as described above but also by a known one-way clutch mechanism.
[0023]
At this time, in order to ensure that the camshaft 10 rotates without reverse rotation and to give a click feeling when operating the lever, a spring 16 and a ball 17 biased by the spring 16 are provided on a part of the camshaft 10. A so-called click mechanism 20 may be provided that is configured so that the balls 17 are received in the ball receiving grooves 19 having the same pitch as the rack 9 formed in the valve body 18.
[0024]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the camshaft 10 is formed with three cams 21, 22, and 23 formed integrally with the camshaft 10. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the cams 21, 22, and 23 is equally distributed in three in the circumferential direction of the camshaft 10, and the phase of each of the cams 21, 22, and 23 is the circumference of the camshaft 10. The directions are shifted by 40 degrees from each other. The positions of the cams 21, 22, 23 in the axial direction of the camshaft 10 are valve bodies 27, 28 that are arranged so as to be able to open and close each mode flow port and contact the seat surfaces 24, 25, 26 of each flow port. , 29 positions. Each valve body 27, 28, 29 is seated on the corresponding seat surface 24, 25, 26 by being moved downward, and the circulation port is closed, and the circulation port is moved by being moved upward. open. Each of the valve bodies 27, 28, and 29 is an umbrella-shaped valve body that does not require a special force such as release of a fitting force when opening and closing.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 8, quadrilateral links 30, 31, and 32 are respectively connected to the valve bodies 27, 28, and 29, and the valve bodies 27, 28, and 29 and the links 30, 31, and 32 are connected to each other. In addition, each set is moved up and down integrally. The cams 21, 22, 23 of the camshaft 10 are inserted into the corresponding quadrilateral links 30, 31, 32, and the valve bodies 27, 28 are engaged with the links 30, 31, 32. , 29 are driven in the opening / closing direction. As shown in FIG. 7, the cams 21, 22, 23 are pushed up with semicircular protrusions A, B, C when the cams 21, 22, 23 push down the links 30, 31, 32. It is comprised from the composite cam with protrusions a, b, and c. That is, the cam portions A, B, and C abut against the push-down surfaces X, Y, and Z of the links 30, 31, and 32, and the protrusions a, b, and c abut against the push-up surfaces x, y, and z, and the links 30, 31. , 32 is moved up and down.
[0026]
In such a water purifier, the corresponding valve bodies 27, 28, and 29 are opened and closed through the corresponding links 30, 31, and 32 by the rotation of the cams 21, 22, and 23 of the camshaft 10. The valve bodies 27, 28, and 29 are in contact with the raw water, shower, and purified water seat surfaces 24, 25, and 26 of the valve body 18, respectively, and when one part is opened, the other two parts are sealed with the cam and link described above. Is. Moreover, because the umbrella-shaped valve body is sealed against water by touching the seat surface, the lift of the valve body can be reduced and the sealing load is much smaller than the insertion valve such as an O-ring. The operation load of the lever 4 can be reduced. In addition, since the distribution port can be reliably covered with the umbrella-shaped valve body, there is no problem in sealing performance.
[0027]
Further, the operation of the lever 4 is extremely simple because it can be a truly one-touch operation in only one movement direction. Further, since the operation of the lever 4 only moves the entire length of the predetermined stroke unconditionally, there is no possibility that an erroneous operation or an insufficient operation amount will occur. Moreover, the lever 4 automatically returns and the operation of the lever 4 is the same every time in the direction of operation and the amount of operation, so the operability is so good that it cannot be expected any more.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to surely switch between “purified water”, “raw water”, and “shower” with a small operating force, and the operability that can be switched with a simple one-touch operation every time. A very good water purifier can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the water purifier of FIG.
3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a switching valve portion of the water purifier of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a front view of a ratchet mechanism that transmits the operation of the lever.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a click mechanism section.
FIG. 6 is a side view of the camshaft.
FIG. 7 is a front view of each cam portion of the camshaft.
FIG. 8 is a side view of a valve body and a link.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water purifier 2 Connection part 3 Water supply faucet 4 Lever 5 Raw water port 6 Water purification port 7 Shower port 8 Filter cartridge 9 Rack 10 Camshaft 11 Latch 12 Ratchet mechanism 13 Gap 14 Claw part 16 Spring 17 Ball 18 Valve body 19 Ball receiving groove 20 Click mechanism 21, 22, 23 Cam 24, 25, 26 Seat surface 27, 28, 29 Valve body 30, 31, 32 Link A, B, C Push-down projection (cam part)
a, b, c Push-up projection (cam part)

Claims (2)

A lever that operates in one direction and reciprocates so as to return to the original position after operation and switches a discharge mode, and is connected to the lever via a ratchet mechanism or a one-way clutch mechanism, and has a plurality of cams that are out of phase. and the camshaft, and each mode circulation port formed corresponding to the respective axial positions of the plurality of cams, to operate in the vertical direction by the plurality of cams, a plurality of opening and closing the respective mode distribution port A plurality of cams, each having a valve body and a plurality of links coupled to each of the plurality of valve bodies and engaged with the plurality of cams to drive each of the plurality of valve bodies in an opening / closing direction; In each of the above, a protrusion for pushing up the link and a protrusion for pushing down the link are provided in parallel in the axial direction of the camshaft, and the plurality of links are pushed up. Water purifier, characterized in that it abutting push surface and depressed surface is provided on each projection to push down the the cause. The water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the valve body is formed in an umbrella shape .

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