JP7645149B2 - Electrolyzed water generator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electrolytic water generator capable of generating electrolytic water containing both hypochlorous acid and silver ions.

In recent years, electrolytic water generators that can generate electrolytic water such as hypochlorous acid water or silver ion water by passing an electric current through electrodes in a container have been commercialized. Patent Document 1 proposes an electrolytic water generator that can generate hypochlorous acid and silver ions simultaneously or each separately.

Electrolyzed water containing hypochlorous acid, silver ions, etc. is used for sterilization and antibacterial purposes, and is generally sprayed onto objects. For this reason, the electrolyzed water generator in Patent Document 1 is also a portable sprayer.

JP 2020-11159 A

If the electrolytic water generator is made into a portable sprayer, it is not suitable for increasing the capacity and generating large amounts of electrolytic water. For this reason, it is possible to prepare a large-capacity electrolytic water generator and transfer the electrolytic water generated by the electrolytic water generator to a separate sprayer with a smaller capacity for use. In such cases, measures are required to prevent the scale that occurs when electrolytic water is generated in the electrolytic water generator.

In addition, if the electrolytic water generator is to be capable of generating both hypochlorous acid and silver ions, it is necessary to have both an electrode for generating hypochlorous acid (electrode for hypochlorous acid) and an electrode for generating silver ions (electrode for silver ions), but it is preferable to prevent the scale generated on one electrode from affecting the other electrode.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide an electrolytic water generator that has both an electrode for hypochlorous acid and an electrode for silver ions, and utilizes the flow of water when the electrolytic water generator is in use to prevent scale buildup.

In order to solve the above problems, the electrolytic water generator of the present invention is a container-shaped electrolytic water generator capable of generating electrolytic water containing both hypochlorous acid and silver ions, and is provided with a spout for pouring the electrolytic water in the container to the outside, a hypochlorous acid electrode arranged at the bottom of the container for generating hypochlorous acid, and a silver ion electrode arranged at the bottom of the container for generating silver ions, and the silver ion electrode is arranged in opposition to a pair of flat silver electrodes, each of which has a longitudinal direction parallel to the bottom of the container, and the longitudinal direction of the silver electrodes is arranged in a plan view parallel to a first direction extending from the center of the bottom of the container toward the spout, or toward the spout.

With the above configuration, when electrolytic water is poured from the spout of the electrolytic water generator, the water flows along the side of each silver electrode in the silver ion electrode, which prevents scale from adhering to the silver ion electrodes.

In addition, in the electrolytic water generator, the hypochlorous acid electrode and the silver ion electrode can be configured to be arranged side by side in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction in a plan view.

The above configuration makes it possible to avoid the presence of one electrode (e.g., an electrode for hypochlorous acid) in the area between one electrode (e.g., an electrode for silver ions) and the other electrode (e.g., an electrode for hypochlorous acid). This makes it possible to prevent scale generated at one electrode from flowing into the other electrode when electrolyzed water is poured from the spout of the electrolyzed water generator, and to suppress the effect of scale generated at one electrode on the other electrode.

In addition, in the electrolytic water generator, each of the silver electrodes for silver ions can be supported by a support rib that protrudes from the bottom of the container and extends in the longitudinal direction, and a groove can be formed between the support ribs.

With the above configuration, the scale that forms between the silver ion electrodes is trapped within the groove, and when electrolytic water is poured to the outside from the spout of the electrolytic water generator, the scale that has accumulated within the groove can be flushed along the groove to the spout.

The electrolytic water generator of the present invention has the effect of making it difficult for scale to accumulate by utilizing the water flow when electrolytic water is poured from the spout of the electrolytic water generator.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an electrolytic water generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the electrolytic water generator with the lid removed. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the internal configuration of the electrolytic water generator. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a modified example of the arrangement of the hypochlorous acid electrode and the silver ion electrode. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the arrangement of an electrode for hypochlorous acid and an electrode for silver ions near the bottom of the container.

The following describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an electrolytic water generator 10 according to this embodiment. Figure 2 is a plan view of the electrolytic water generator 10 with the lid 12 removed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electrolytic water generator 10 is a container-shaped device equipped with a container body 11 and a lid 12. The lid 12 can be removed and water can be poured into the container body 11 to generate electrolytic water by electrolysis. The electrolytic water generator 10 has a relatively large capacity and can generate a large amount of electrolytic water, but it is not intended to be used to directly spray electrolytic water from the electrolytic water generator 10 onto an object. In other words, the electrolytic water generator 10 is intended to be used by transferring the generated electrolytic water to a separate sprayer with a small capacity. For this reason, the electrolytic water generator 10 has a spout 111 and a handle 112 on the container body 11. The spout 111 and the handle 112 are arranged so as to be opposite each other when viewed from above the container body 11.

The top surface of the electrolytic water generator 10 is provided with an operation section 113 equipped with various operation buttons, and the lower part of the side of the electrolytic water generator 10 is provided with a plug socket 114 for detachably connecting a power cord.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bottom of the container (bottom of the container inner surface) of the electrolytic water generator 10 is provided with a hypochlorous acid electrode 13 for generating hypochlorous acid and a silver ion electrode 14 for generating silver ions as electrodes for generating an electrolytic solution. The hypochlorous acid electrode 13 is arranged so that the annular positive electrode and negative electrode are intertwined with each other. When generating hypochlorous acid water, a tablet containing sodium chloride as a main component is added to tap water, and an electric current is passed through the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 to perform electrolysis. On the other hand, the silver ion electrode 14 is a pair of flat silver electrodes arranged opposite each other, and each silver electrode has a longitudinal direction parallel to the container bottom. When generating silver ions, a current is applied to the silver ion electrode 14, causing silver ions to elute from the silver electrode.

The electrolytic water generator 10 basically has an operating mode in which both hypochlorous acid and silver ions are generated simultaneously, but may also have an operating mode in which either hypochlorous acid or silver ions are generated independently. That is, the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 and the silver ion electrode 14 may both be capable of applying a current simultaneously, and furthermore, a current may be capable of being applied to only one of the electrodes.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the internal configuration of the electrolytic water generator 10 (the lid 12 is not shown). Inside the electrolytic water generator 10, a control circuit 15 that controls the entire electrolytic water generator 10 and a power supply circuit 16 that generates an applied current to the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 and the silver ion electrode 14 are provided. In the electrolytic water generator 10 according to this embodiment, the control circuit 15 is disposed in the upper part of the container body 11 (below the operation unit 113), and the power supply circuit 16 is disposed in the lower part of the container body 11. In addition, the connection wiring 17 that connects the control circuit 15 and the power supply circuit 16 (or connects the plug socket 114 and the control circuit 15) is housed inside the handle 112. This allows the electrolytic water generator 10 to effectively utilize the space of the handle 112, thereby miniaturizing the electrolytic water generator 10 and improving the design of the electrolytic water generator 10.

The handle 112 can be an extrusion molded product made of aluminum or carbon material. In addition, since the handle 112 is a hollow member that houses the connection wiring 17 inside, it is preferable that the handle 112 be shaped like a cylinder (or an elliptical cylinder) that has high strength.

When electrolyzed water is generated in the electrolyzed water generator 10, scale forms near the electrodes, and if the scale is left unattended, the efficiency of generating electrolyzed water decreases. For this reason, the electrolyzed water generator 10 is configured to prevent scale from accumulating near the electrodes. This characteristic configuration is described in detail below.

As described above, the electrolytic water generator 10 is intended to be used to transfer the generated electrolytic water to another container (such as a portable sprayer). The electrolytic solution is transferred by a user lifting the electrolytic water generator 10 by holding the handle 112 and pouring the electrolytic water from the spout 111 into the other container. At this time, near the electrode at the bottom of the container, water flows in a first direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2) from the handle 112 toward the spout 111. The first direction can also be rephrased as the direction from the center of the bottom of the container toward the spout 111 in a plan view. The electrolytic water generator 10 is less likely to accumulate scale by washing away scale that occurs near the electrode with the water flow at this time.

As a first feature, the silver ion electrodes 14 are arranged so that the longitudinal direction of each silver electrode is parallel to the A direction (see FIG. 2). Alternatively, the longitudinal direction of the silver electrodes does not have to be completely parallel to the A direction, and may be inclined toward the spout 111 as shown in FIG. 4. That is, the silver ion electrodes 14 may be arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the silver electrodes is parallel to the A direction or inclined toward the spout in a plan view. As a result, when electrolyzed water is poured to the outside from the spout 111 of the electrolyzed water generator 10, water flows along the side of each silver electrode in the silver ion electrodes 14, and adhesion of scale to the silver ion electrodes 14 can be suppressed. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, it is preferable to incline the silver electrodes toward the spout 111 to such an extent that the longitudinal direction of the silver electrodes does not overlap the hypochlorous acid electrode 13.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the arrangement of the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 and the silver ion electrode 14 near the bottom of the container in the electrolytic water generator 10 according to this embodiment. The hypochlorous acid electrode 13 is placed in a state where it is slightly (about 1 to 2 mm) above the bottom of the container of the electrolytic water generator 10 (with a gap between it and the bottom of the container). Then, scale generated on the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 side is precipitated below the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 (in the gap between the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 and the bottom of the container). Therefore, when electrolytic water is poured from the spout 111 of the electrolytic water generator 10, water flows into the gap between the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 and the bottom of the container, and the scale precipitated below the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 can be discharged.

The silver ion electrodes 14 are also arranged in a state of being floating above the bottom of the container of the electrolytic water generator 10. The silver ion electrodes 14 are each supported by a support rib 141 protruding from the bottom of the container of the electrolytic water generator 10, and a groove 142 is formed between the support ribs 141 along the longitudinal direction of the silver electrode. This allows the scale that has formed between the silver ion electrodes 14 to be trapped within the groove 142. When electrolytic water is poured to the outside from the spout 111 of the electrolytic water generator 10, the scale that has accumulated within the groove 142 can be flushed along the groove 142 to the spout 111.

The groove 142 is preferably formed so that its bottom is lower than the hypochlorous acid electrode 13. This prevents scale from reaching the gap between the electrodes of the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 even if the electrolytic water generator 10 is not tilted for a long period of time, such as during the generation of silver ions, and scale that has flowed out from the groove 142 spreads to the surrounding area.

As a second feature, the hypochlorous acid electrode 13 and the silver ion electrode 14 are arranged side by side in a second direction (arrow B direction in FIG. 2) perpendicular to the A direction (first direction) in a plan view. With this arrangement, it is possible to avoid the presence of one electrode (e.g., the silver ion electrode 14) in the area between the other electrode (e.g., the hypochlorous acid electrode 13) in a plan view. This makes it possible to prevent scale generated at one electrode from flowing into the other electrode when electrolyzed water is poured to the outside from the spout 111 of the electrolyzed water generator 10, and to suppress the effect of scale generated at one electrode on the other electrode.

The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not intended to be a basis for a restrictive interpretation. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not to be interpreted solely by the above-described embodiments, but is defined based on the claims. Furthermore, all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the claims are included.

10 Electrolytic water generator 11 Container body 111 Spout 112 Handle 113 Operation unit 114 Plug socket 12 Lid 13 Hypochlorous acid electrode 14 Silver ion electrode 141 Support rib 142 Groove 15 Control circuit 16 Power supply circuit 17 Connection wiring

Claims (3)

A container-shaped electrolytic water generator capable of generating electrolytic water containing both hypochlorous acid and silver ions,
A spout for pouring the electrolytic water in the container to the outside;
A hypochlorous acid electrode disposed at the bottom of the container for generating hypochlorous acid;
a silver ion electrode disposed at the bottom of the container for generating silver ions;
The silver ion electrode is a pair of flat silver electrodes arranged opposite each other, each of the silver electrodes having a longitudinal direction parallel to the bottom of the container,
The longitudinal direction of the silver electrode is arranged, in a plan view, to be parallel to a first direction extending from the center of the bottom of the container toward the spout, or toward the spout ;
This electrolytic water generator is characterized in that, when the electrolytic water in the container is poured to the outside, the electrolytic water generator is tilted to generate a flow of electrolytic water toward the spout . The electrolytic water generator according to claim 1,
The electrolytic water generator, characterized in that the hypochlorous acid electrode and the silver ion electrode are arranged side by side in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction in a plan view. The electrolytic water generator according to claim 2,
An electrolytic water generator characterized in that each silver electrode of the silver ion electrode is supported by a support rib protruding from the bottom of the container and extending in the longitudinal direction, and a groove is formed between the support ribs.

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