JP7710233B2 - Purified water server with purified water usage limit function - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a purified water server with a purified water usage limit function.

Traditionally, water servers have been used mainly in offices and hospitals, but in recent years, with growing interest in water safety and health, water servers are becoming more common in ordinary homes. A water server generally has a replaceable water bottle, a cold water tank that receives and stores water from the water bottle, a cooling device that cools the water in the cold water tank, and a cold water outlet pipe that outlets the water in the cold water tank to the outside. By opening the cold water outlet valve on the cold water outlet pipe, delicious cold water can be used at any time, making it highly convenient (for example, Patent Document 1).

The replaceable water bottles used here are those that use groundwater pumped up at the water source, which is then bottled after being heat sterilized (so-called natural water bottles), or those that use tap water or other raw water, which is purified using a water purification filter at a water production plant and then bottled (so-called RO water bottles).

Water bottles for water servers usually hold around 10 liters of drinking water and weigh around 10 kg. In recent years, the cost of shipping these water bottles has been rising, placing a greater financial burden on users of water servers.

Therefore, in order to solve the problem of delivery costs for water bottles for water servers, the inventors of this application have proposed a water purification water server that uses filtered tap water from the home (for example, Patent Document 2).

The purified water server of Patent Document 2 has a raw water tank that stores household tap water as raw water, a replaceable purified water filter cartridge, an electric pump that directs the raw water from the raw water tank to the purified water filter cartridge, high-temperature and low-temperature purified water tanks that store purified water filtered by the purified water filter cartridge, high-temperature and low-temperature purified water outlet pipes that outlet the purified water in each of the purified water tanks to the outside, and high-temperature and low-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valves provided on each of the purified water outlet pipes.

This purified water server uses household tap water that is filtered through a water purification filter cartridge, eliminating the delivery costs of water bottles and reducing the financial burden on users.

JP 2015-143111 A JP 2020-138764 A

In purified water servers, the water purification filter cartridge needs to be replaced periodically. Therefore, water purification server companies regularly deliver replacement water purification filter cartridges to users. When the user receives a replacement water purification filter cartridge from the company, they remove the old water purification filter cartridge they are using from the water purification server and install the new water purification filter cartridge delivered by the company. In this way, by regularly delivering replacement water purification filter cartridges to users, water purification server companies prevent the quality of the purified water used by users from deteriorating.

The amount of purified water used by a water purification server varies from user to user, and the optimal timing for replacing the water purification filter cartridge also varies from user to user. For example, a large number of users who use a water purification server all day will need to set the timing for replacing the water purification filter cartridge to be shorter, since they will use a lot of purified water. On the other hand, a small number of users, one or two people, who use a water purification server only in the mornings and evenings will use less purified water, so it is possible to set the timing for replacing the water purification filter cartridge to be longer.

Taking this into consideration, the inventors of the present application have considered dividing users of purified water servers into those who use a large amount of purified water and those who use a small amount of purified water, and setting different intervals for the delivery of purified water filter cartridges for the two groups. Specifically, for users who are expected to use a large amount of purified water, the delivery interval of replacement purified water filter cartridges is shortened, for example, by delivering replacement purified water filter cartridges once every three months, while for users who are expected to use a small amount of purified water, the delivery interval of replacement purified water filter cartridges is lengthened, for example, by delivering replacement purified water filter cartridges once every six months. In this way, users who are expected to use a small amount of purified water can reduce the frequency of delivery of replacement purified water filter cartridges, making it possible to set a smaller economic burden than users who use a large amount of purified water.

However, if the delivery interval for replacement water purification filter cartridges is extended for a user who is expected to use a small amount of purified water, and that user uses more purified water than expected, the water purification filter cartridge in use may reach its usage limit before the new replacement water purification filter cartridge arrives, which could result in a deterioration in the quality of the purified water used by the user.

To prevent such a situation, the inventors of the present application considered adding a purified water usage limiting function that detects the cumulative purified water usage of the purified water server for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 24 hours) and, when the purified water usage reaches a predetermined upper limit, limits the further dispensing of purified water for the predetermined period of time.

By adding this purified water usage limiting function, it is possible to prevent a user from using more purified water than expected in a given period of time (e.g., 24 hours). Therefore, even if the delivery interval for replacement purified water filter cartridges is extended for users who are expected to use a small amount of purified water, it is possible to reliably maintain the quality of the purified water from the purified water server until the new replacement purified water filter cartridge arrives.

The inventors of the present application have devised a purified water server with the purified water usage limiting function described above, which includes a flow sensor that detects the flow rate of the electric pump that directs raw water to the purified water filter cartridge, and calculates the cumulative purified water usage over a predetermined time period (e.g., 24 hours) based on the signal from the flow sensor, resets the purified water usage to zero each time the predetermined time period elapses, and, when the purified water usage calculated in this way reaches a predetermined upper limit, controls to prohibit the opening of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve.

However, it was found that if the amount of purified water used is calculated based on the signal from a flow sensor that detects the flow rate of the electric pump, there is a risk that the management of purified water use will become unstable, such as the amount of purified water used based on the signal from the flow sensor reaching an upper limit even when not that much purified water is actually being used.

For example, when the water level in the purified water tank is lower than the full water level, the purified water usage may be reset to zero, and then the electric pump may be driven, causing the water level in the purified water tank to rise to the full water level. In this case, even if the user is not dispensing purified water, the amount of purified water usage based on the signal from the flow sensor will be counted for the amount of time the electric pump has been driven. As a result, there is a risk that the amount of purified water usage based on the signal from the flow sensor will reach the upper limit even if the amount of purified water actually dispensed by the user has not reached the upper limit.

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a purified water server with a purified water usage limiting function that can stably and accurately manage the amount of purified water used.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a purified water server with a purified water usage limiting function having the following configuration.
A raw water tank for storing raw water;
Replaceable water filter cartridges,
an electric pump that flows raw water from the raw water tank through the water purification filter cartridge;
A purified water tank that contains purified water filtered by the water purification filter cartridge;
A purified water outlet pipe for outletting the purified water in the purified water tank to the outside;
A purified water outlet solenoid valve provided in the purified water outlet pipe;
A purified water dispensing operation unit operated by a user;
A control unit that controls the opening and closing of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve based on a signal from the purified water dispensing operation unit,
The control unit is
A purified water usage calculation means for calculating a purified water usage amount, which is a cumulative value of the purified water output amount, based on the open time of the purified water output electromagnetic valve until a predetermined time has elapsed, and resetting the purified water usage amount to zero each time the predetermined time has elapsed;
A purified water server with a purified water usage limiting function, comprising: a purified water usage limiting control means for determining whether the purified water usage calculated by the purified water usage calculation means has reached a predetermined upper limit value, and when it is determined that the upper limit value has been reached, forbidding the opening of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve.

In this way, the purified water usage, which is the cumulative amount of purified water dispensed, is calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve until a predetermined time (e.g., 24 hours) has passed, and when the purified water usage reaches a predetermined upper limit, the opening of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is prohibited. This makes it possible to prevent the user from using more purified water than expected per predetermined time, and ensures that the quality of the purified water from the purified water server is maintained. Here, the purified water usage is calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve, so that the purified water usage tends to match the amount of purified water actually dispensed by the user, and it is possible to stably and accurately manage the purified water usage.

When the purified water outlet pipe is configured to outlet the purified water in the purified water tank to the outside by the weight of the purified water in the purified water tank,
Further comprising a purified water tank water level sensor for detecting a water level in the purified water tank,
The control unit is
a purified water tank water level determination means for determining whether or not the purified water level in the purified water tank is equal to or higher than a predetermined high water level based on a signal from the purified water tank water level sensor;
It is preferable to adopt a configuration further including a purified water tank non-high water level valve opening prohibition control means which prohibits the opening of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve when the purified water level in the purified water tank determined by the purified water tank water level determination means is lower than the high water level when the purified water dispensing operating unit is operated.

In this way, when the purified water dispensing operation unit is operated, the purified water dispensing solenoid valve opens only when the purified water level in the purified water tank is equal to or higher than a predetermined high water level, and the opening of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is prohibited when the purified water level in the purified water tank is below the predetermined high water level, so that the accuracy of the purified water usage calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is improved. In other words, when purified water is dispensed using the weight of the purified water in the purified water tank, the amount of purified water dispensed from the purified water dispensing pipe per unit time when the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is open differs between when the water level in the purified water tank is high and when the water level in the purified water tank is low. Therefore, if the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is allowed to open regardless of the water level in the purified water tank, the accuracy of the purified water usage calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve may decrease. Therefore, when the purified water dispensing operation unit is operated, if the purified water level in the purified water tank is below a predetermined high water level, the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is prohibited from opening, and the purified water dispensing solenoid valve opens only when the purified water level in the purified water tank is equal to or higher than the predetermined high water level, which makes it possible to improve the accuracy of the purified water usage calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve.

The purified water tank is composed of a plurality of purified water tanks each containing purified water having a different temperature.
The purified water discharge pipe is composed of a plurality of purified water discharge pipes that respectively discharge purified water from the plurality of purified water tanks, and the plurality of purified water discharge pipes include a first purified water discharge pipe and a second purified water discharge pipe having a purified water discharge amount per unit time larger than that of the first purified water discharge pipe,
When the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve includes a first purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve provided in the first purified water dispensing pipe and a second purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve provided in the second purified water dispensing pipe,
It is preferable that the purified water usage calculation means is configured to multiply the opening time of the first purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve by a first coefficient and add it to the purified water usage as the amount of purified water dispensed from the first purified water dispensing pipe, and to multiply the opening time of the second purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve by a second coefficient greater than the first coefficient and add it to the purified water usage as the amount of purified water dispensed from the second purified water dispensing pipe.

In this way, the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time differs when the first purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve installed in the first purified water dispensing pipe is opened and when the second purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve installed in the second purified water dispensing pipe is opened. However, this difference can be corrected by the difference in magnitude between the first coefficient and the second coefficient, making it possible to accurately calculate the amount of purified water used.

Further comprising a raw water tank water level sensor for detecting a water level in the raw water tank,
The control unit is
a raw water tank water level determination means for determining whether or not the water level of the raw water in the raw water tank is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference water level based on a signal from the raw water tank water level sensor;
A reset immediately-after determination means for determining whether or not the operation of the purified water dispensing operation unit corresponds to dispensing of purified water immediately after the purified water consumption calculation means resets the purified water consumption to zero when the purified water dispensing operation unit is operated;
It is preferable to adopt a configuration that further includes a raw water tank low water level opening prohibition control means that prohibits the opening of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve when the operation of the purified water dispensing operating unit corresponds to the dispensing of purified water immediately after the purified water usage amount is reset to zero and when the raw water level in the raw water tank determined by the raw water tank water level determination means is lower than the reference water level.

In this way, even if a large amount of purified water is dispensed at once when dispensing purified water immediately after the purified water usage is reset to zero, it is possible to prevent the water level in the purified water tank from dropping too low and the purified water dispensed amount per unit time from becoming too small. In other words, immediately after the purified water usage is reset to zero, the amount of purified water that can be dispensed until a specified upper limit is reached is the largest. At this time, if a large amount of purified water is dispensed at once when there is little water remaining in the raw water tank, the raw water tank becomes empty and water is no longer replenished from the raw water tank to the purified water tank, which may result in the water level in the purified water tank dropping too low and the purified water dispensed amount per unit time becoming too small. Therefore, when dispensing purified water immediately after the purified water usage has been reset to zero, if the raw water level in the raw water tank is below the reference water level, the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is prohibited from opening, and the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is set to open only when the raw water level in the raw water tank is equal to or higher than the reference water level. This ensures that water is replenished from the raw water tank to the purified water tank, and prevents the water level in the purified water tank from dropping too low even when a large amount of purified water is dispensed at once, and prevents the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time from being too small.

The purified water server with purified water usage limiting function of this invention calculates the purified water usage, which is the cumulative amount of purified water dispensed, based on the open time of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve until a predetermined time (e.g., 24 hours) has passed, and when the purified water usage reaches a predetermined upper limit, the opening of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve is prohibited. This makes it possible to prevent the user from using more purified water than expected per predetermined time, and ensures that the quality of the purified water from the purified water server is maintained. Here, the calculation of purified water usage is performed based on the open time of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve, so that the purified water usage tends to match the amount of purified water actually dispensed by the user, and it is possible to stably and accurately manage the purified water usage.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a purified water server with a purified water usage limiting function according to an embodiment of the present invention; 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. Cross-sectional view of the purified water tanks (high temperature, low temperature, normal temperature) shown in Figure 2, viewed from the front 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. A cross-sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG. A block diagram of a control unit that controls the opening and closing of the purified water dispensing solenoid valve shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing an example of control of calculating purified water usage by the control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of the purified water usage limit control performed by the control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of a control process for prohibiting the opening of the valve when the purified water tank is not at a high water level, performed by the control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of a control process for prohibiting the opening of the valve when the raw water tank has a low water level, performed by the control unit shown in FIG.

Figure 1 shows a purified water server with purified water usage limiting function according to an embodiment of the present invention. This purified water server puts raw water such as tap water into raw water tank 1, filters the raw water in raw water tank 1 with purified water filter cartridge 2 (see Figure 2) to produce purified water, stores the purified water in purified water tank 3 (see Figure 2), and pours it out from purified water outlet 4 for use. A purified water pouring operation unit 6 that is operated by the user is provided on the front side of housing 5. The purified water pouring operation unit 6 is composed of a high-temperature purified water pouring operation unit 6a, a low-temperature purified water pouring operation unit 6b, and a room-temperature purified water pouring operation unit 6c.

As shown in FIG. 2, the purified water server has a housing 5, a raw water tank 1 for storing raw water, a replaceable purified water filter cartridge 2, a raw water pipe 7 that connects the raw water tank 1 and the purified water filter cartridge 2, an electric pump 8 provided midway along the raw water pipe 7, a purified water tank 3 that contains purified water filtered by the purified water filter cartridge 2, a purified water outlet pipe 9 that outlets the purified water in the purified water tank 3 to the outside, and an electromagnetic valve 10 for outlet of the purified water provided on the purified water outlet pipe 9.

The housing 5 has a cylindrical section 11 extending in the vertical direction, a top plate 12 provided at the upper end of the cylindrical section 11, and a bottom plate 13 provided at the lower end of the cylindrical section 11. The raw water tank 1 is removably set on the top plate 12. The top plate 12 is provided with a raw water inlet 14 at the upstream end of the raw water pipe 7.

The raw water tank 1 is provided with a tank opening/closing valve 15. The tank opening/closing valve 15 is an opening/closing valve that blocks communication between the inside and outside of the raw water tank 1 when the raw water tank 1 is lifted from the top plate 12, and opens the inside of the raw water tank 1 to the raw water inlet 14 when the raw water tank 1 is set on the top plate 12. In addition, a raw water tank water level sensor 16 that detects the water level in the raw water tank 1 is provided on the top plate 12 of the housing 5. As the raw water tank water level sensor 16, for example, a sensor that detects the position of a float (not shown) provided inside the raw water tank 1 so as to move up and down depending on the water level of the raw water in the raw water tank 1 can be used.

The electric pump 8 sucks in raw water from the raw water tank 1 and discharges it to the water purification filter cartridge 2, thereby transferring the raw water in the raw water pipe 7 from the raw water tank 1 to the water purification filter cartridge 2. The water purification filter cartridge 2 and the water purification tank 3 are connected by a water purification pipe 17, and purified water produced by filtration in the water purification filter cartridge 2 is introduced into the water purification tank 3 through the water purification pipe 17.

As shown in FIG. 3, the purified water tank 3 is composed of a high-temperature purified water tank 3a, a low-temperature purified water tank 3b, and a room-temperature purified water tank 3c.

As shown in FIG. 4, the high-temperature purified water tank 3a is disposed below the room-temperature purified water tank 3c. The high-temperature purified water tank 3a and the room-temperature purified water tank 3c are connected via a tank connection pipe 18, and purified water is introduced from the room-temperature purified water tank 3c to the high-temperature purified water tank 3a through the tank connection pipe 18. A heating device 19 that heats the purified water in the high-temperature purified water tank 3a is attached to the high-temperature purified water tank 3a. The purified water in the high-temperature purified water tank 3a is kept at a predetermined high temperature (e.g., 80°C or higher) by the heating device 19.

A high-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9a is connected to the top surface of the high-temperature purified water tank 3a. A high-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10a is provided on the high-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9a. When the high-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10a is opened, the purified water in the high-temperature purified water tank 3a is pushed out by the weight of the purified water in the room-temperature purified water tank 3c located above the high-temperature purified water tank 3a, and is poured out through the high-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9a. At this time, the same amount of purified water as that poured out from the high-temperature purified water tank 3a flows from the room-temperature purified water tank 3c through the tank connection pipe 18 into the high-temperature purified water tank 3a, and the high-temperature purified water tank 3a is always kept full.

As shown in FIG. 2, the low-temperature purified water tank 3b is also disposed below the room-temperature purified water tank 3c. The low-temperature purified water tank 3b and the room-temperature purified water tank 3c are connected via a tank connection pipe 20, and purified water is introduced from the room-temperature purified water tank 3c to the low-temperature purified water tank 3b through the tank connection pipe 20. A cooling device 21 that cools the purified water in the low-temperature purified water tank 3b is attached to the low-temperature purified water tank 3b. The purified water in the low-temperature purified water tank 3b is kept at a predetermined low temperature (for example, below 10°C) by the cooling device 21.

A low-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9b is connected to the bottom of the low-temperature purified water tank 3b. A low-temperature purified water outlet electromagnetic valve 10b is provided on the low-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9b. When the low-temperature purified water outlet electromagnetic valve 10b is opened, the purified water in the low-temperature purified water tank 3b is pushed out by the weight of the purified water in the room-temperature purified water tank 3c located above the low-temperature purified water tank 3b, and is poured out through the low-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9b. At this time, the same amount of purified water as that poured out from the low-temperature purified water tank 3b flows from the room-temperature purified water tank 3c through the tank connection pipe 20 into the low-temperature purified water tank 3b, and the low-temperature purified water tank 3b is always kept full.

As shown in FIG. 3, the room temperature purified water tank 3c is placed above the low temperature purified water tank 3b and the high temperature purified water tank 3a. The room temperature purified water tank 3c contains air and purified water in two layers, one above the other. As shown in FIG. 5, a room temperature purified water outlet pipe 9c is connected to the bottom of the room temperature purified water tank 3c. A room temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10c is provided on the room temperature purified water outlet pipe 9c.

When the room temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c is opened, the purified water in the room temperature purified water tank 3c is pushed out by its own weight and dispensed through the room temperature purified water dispensing pipe 9c. At this time, the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c drops according to the amount of purified water dispensed from the room temperature purified water tank 3c. The water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c also drops when purified water is dispensed from the low temperature purified water tank 3b shown in Figure 3 or when purified water is dispensed from the high temperature purified water tank 3a.

The room temperature purified water tank 3c is provided with a purified water tank water level sensor 22 that detects the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c. The electric pump 8 (see FIG. 2) is controlled based on a signal from the purified water tank water level sensor 22. The electric pump 8 is controlled to operate when the purified water tank water level sensor 22 detects that the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c is below the full water level.

As shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 1, the high-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9a, the low-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9b, and the room-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9c are arranged to merge at the downstream end so that purified water flows out from a common purified water outlet 4. The high-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9a, the low-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9b, and the room-temperature purified water outlet pipe 9c may be arranged separately so that the purified water flows out from separate outlets.

Here, the flow path of purified water when purified water is dispensed from the room temperature purified water dispense pipe 9c (room temperature purified water dispense pipe 9c shown in FIG. 5) is shorter than the flow path of purified water when purified water is dispensed from the high temperature purified water dispense pipe 9a (high temperature purified water dispense pipe 9a, high temperature purified water tank 3a, tank connection pipe 18 shown in FIG. 4). Therefore, the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time when purified water is dispensed from the room temperature purified water dispense pipe 9c is greater than the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time when purified water is dispensed from the high temperature purified water dispense pipe 9a. In this example, the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time from the room temperature purified water dispense pipe 9c is about 1.5 times the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time from the high temperature purified water dispense pipe 9a.

Similarly, the flow path of purified water when purified water is dispensed from the room temperature purified water dispense pipe 9c (room temperature purified water dispense pipe 9c shown in FIG. 5) is shorter than the flow path of purified water when purified water is dispensed from the low temperature purified water dispense pipe 9b (low temperature purified water dispense pipe 9b, low temperature purified water tank 3b, tank connection pipe 20 shown in FIG. 2). Therefore, the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time when purified water is dispensed from the room temperature purified water dispense pipe 9c is greater than the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time when purified water is dispensed from the low temperature purified water dispense pipe 9b. Note that the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time from the high temperature purified water dispense pipe 9a and the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time from the low temperature purified water dispense pipe 9b are approximately the same.

The electromagnetic valve 10a for dispensing high-temperature purified water, the electromagnetic valve 10b for dispensing low-temperature purified water, and the electromagnetic valve 10c for dispensing normal-temperature purified water are electromagnetic valves that open when energized and close when energized. The opening and closing of these electromagnetic valves 10a, 10b, and 10c are controlled by the control unit 30 shown in FIG. 6. The control unit 30 receives a signal indicating the level of purified water in the purified water tank 3 from the purified water tank water level sensor 22, a signal indicating the level of raw water in the raw water tank 1 from the raw water tank water level sensor 16, a signal indicating whether or not a high-temperature purified water dispensing operation has been performed by the user from the high-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6a, a signal indicating whether or not a low-temperature purified water dispensing operation has been performed by the user from the low-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6b, and a signal indicating whether or not a normal-temperature purified water dispensing operation has been performed by the user from the normal-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6c. In addition, the control unit 30 outputs signals to drive the electromagnetic valve 10a for dispensing high-temperature purified water, the electromagnetic valve 10b for dispensing low-temperature purified water, and the electromagnetic valve 10c for dispensing room-temperature purified water.

Next, an example of the control of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 (high-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a, low-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b, and room-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c, shown by dashed lines in FIG. 1) by the control unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 7 to FIG. 10.

<Calculation of purified water usage>
7, the purified water usage amount is calculated as the cumulative value of the purified water discharge amount until a predetermined time (24 hours in this example) has elapsed based on the open time of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10. Specifically, it is determined whether the high-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a is open (step _S1 ), and when it is determined that the high-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a is open, the value obtained by multiplying the open time by a first coefficient (here, 1.0) is added to the purified water usage amount as the amount of purified water discharged from the high-temperature purified water dispensing pipe 9a (step _S2 ). Similarly, it is determined whether the low-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b is open (step _S3 ), and if it is determined that the low-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b is open, the value obtained by multiplying the open time by a first coefficient (here, 1.0) is added to the purified water usage as the amount of purified water dispensed from the low-temperature purified water dispensing pipe 9b (step _S4 ). Furthermore, it is determined whether the room-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c is open (step _S5 ), and if it is determined that the room-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c is open, the value obtained by multiplying the open time by a second coefficient (here, 1.5) larger than the first coefficient is added to the purified water usage as the amount of purified water dispensed from the room-temperature purified water dispensing pipe 9c (step _S6 ). Here, the ratio of the first coefficient to the second coefficient is set to correspond to the ratio of the purified water discharge amount per unit time of the high-temperature purified water discharge pipe 9a shown in Fig. 4 to the purified water discharge amount per unit time of the room-temperature purified water discharge pipe 9c shown in Fig. 5. In this way, the purified water usage amount is calculated, which is the cumulative value of the amount of purified water discharged from the high-temperature purified water discharge pipe 9a, the low-temperature purified water discharge pipe 9b, and the room-temperature purified water discharge pipe 9c shown by the broken lines in Fig. 1 until a predetermined time (24 hours in this example) has passed. Then, every time the predetermined time (24 hours in this example) has passed (step _S7 ), the purified water usage amount is reset to zero (step _S8 ).

<Purified water usage limit control>
As shown in Fig. 8, it is determined whether the current purified water usage has reached a predetermined upper limit (step _S11 ), and when it is determined that the predetermined upper limit has been reached, the opening of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is prohibited (step _S12 ). That is, when the purified water usage calculated as described above reaches a predetermined upper limit (e.g., the purified water usage corresponding to 1.2 liters), the high-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a, the low-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b, and the room-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c shown by the broken lines in Fig. 1 are closed if they are open, and then, even when the high-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6a, the low-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6b, and the room-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6c are operated by the user, the high-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a, the low-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b, and the room-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c are prohibited from opening. When the opening of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is prohibited, the prohibition of opening the valve is released when a predetermined time has elapsed in FIG. 7 (step _S7 ).

<Control to prohibit valve opening when water tank is not at high water level>
As shown in Fig. 9, when the high-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6a, the low-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6b, and the room-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6c are operated (step _S21 ), it is determined whether the purified water level in the room-temperature purified water tank 3c is equal to or higher than a predetermined high water level (step _S22 ) based on a signal from the purified water tank water level sensor 22 shown in Fig. 2. The predetermined high water level can be set to a water level in the range of 80% or more of the full water level of the room-temperature purified water tank 3c (for example, the full water level or a water level of 90% or more of the full water level). Then, when it is determined that the level of purified water in the room temperature purified water tank 3c shown in Figure 2 is equal to or higher than a predetermined high water level, the high temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a, the low temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b, and the room temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c are allowed to open, whereas when it is determined that the level of purified water in the room temperature purified water tank 3c in Figure 2 is lower than the predetermined high water level, the high temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a, the low temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b, and the room temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c are prohibited from opening (step _S23 ).

Here, the valve opening prohibition in step _S23 only prohibits the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 from switching from a closed state to an open state when the purified water dispensing operation unit 6 is operated by the user, and does not forcibly switch the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 in the open state to a closed state when the purified water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c drops below a predetermined high water level. On the other hand, the valve opening prohibition in step _S12 of the purified water usage limit control shown in Figure 8 not only prohibits the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 from switching from a closed state to an open state when the purified water dispensing operation unit 6 is operated by the user, but also forcibly switches the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 in the open state to a closed state when the purified water usage reaches a predetermined upper limit value.

<Control to prohibit valve opening when raw water tank water level is low>
As shown in Fig. 10, when the high-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6a, the low-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6b, and the room-temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6c are operated (step _S31 ), it is determined whether or not the operation corresponds to the dispensing of purified water immediately after the purified water usage amount is reset to zero in step _S8 shown in Fig. 7 (step _S32 ). Here, whether or not the operation corresponds to the dispensing of purified water immediately after the purified water usage amount is reset to zero may be determined based on whether or not it corresponds to the first dispensing of purified water after the purified water usage amount is reset to zero in step _S8 shown in Fig. ₇ , or it may be determined based on whether or not the purified water usage amount accumulated after the purified water usage amount is reset to zero in step S8 shown in Fig. 7 is less than a predetermined threshold value. When it is determined by this determination that the operation corresponds to the dispensing of purified water immediately after the purified water usage amount is reset to zero, it is determined based on the signal from the raw water tank water level sensor 16 shown in Fig. 2 whether or not the raw water level in the raw water tank 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference water level (step _S33 ). The predetermined reference water level can be set to a water level equal to or less than half the volume of the raw water tank 1. When it is determined that the water level of the raw water in the raw water tank 1 shown in Fig. 2 is equal to or higher than the predetermined reference water level, the high-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10a, the low-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10b, and the room-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10c are permitted to open, whereas when it is determined that the water level of the raw water in the raw water tank 1 shown in Fig. 2 is lower than the predetermined reference water level, the high-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10a, the low-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10b, and the room-temperature purified water outlet solenoid valve 10c are prohibited from opening (step _S34 ).

The control unit 30 shown in FIG. 6 can switch between a purified water usage limit mode and a purified water usage limit release mode. In the purified water usage limit mode, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the purified water usage amount, which is the cumulative value of the purified water output amount, is calculated based on the open time of the purified water output solenoid valve 10 until a predetermined time (e.g., 24 hours) has elapsed, and when the purified water usage amount reaches a predetermined upper limit value (in this example, the purified water usage amount equivalent to 1.2 liters), the opening of the purified water output solenoid valve 10 is prohibited. On the other hand, the purified water usage limit release mode is a mode in which such a limit is not imposed. The switching between the purified water usage limit mode and the purified water usage limit release mode can be performed by preparing a purified water usage limit release key 31 shown in FIG. 6, and configuring it so that when the purified water usage limit release key 31 is connected to the control unit 30, the purified water usage limit release mode is activated, and when the purified water usage limit release key 31 is not connected to the control unit 30, the purified water usage limit mode is activated.

In the above-mentioned purified water server, the purified water filter cartridge 2 shown in FIG. 2 needs to be replaced periodically. Therefore, the provider of the purified water server periodically delivers replacement purified water filter cartridges 2 to the user. When the user receives the replacement purified water filter cartridge 2 from the provider, the user removes the old purified water filter cartridge 2 that is currently in use from the purified water server and installs the new purified water filter cartridge 2 delivered from the provider to the purified water server. In this way, by periodically delivering replacement purified water filter cartridges 2 to the user, the provider of the purified water server can prevent the quality of the purified water used by the user from deteriorating.

The amount of purified water used by a water purification server varies from user to user, and the optimal timing for replacing the water purification filter cartridge 2 also varies from user to user. For example, a large number of users who use the water purification server all day will need to set the timing for replacing the water purification filter cartridge 2 to be shorter, since they will use a lot of purified water. On the other hand, a small number of users, one or two people, who use the water purification server only in the mornings and evenings will use less purified water, so it is possible to set the timing for replacing the water purification filter cartridge 2 to be longer.

Therefore, for users who are expected to use a large amount of purified water, the purified water usage limit release key 31 shown in FIG. 6 is provided, and the delivery interval for the replacement water purification filter cartridge 2 is shortened, for example, by delivering a replacement water purification filter cartridge 2 once every three months. On the other hand, for users who are expected to use a small amount of purified water, the purified water usage limit release key 31 shown in FIG. 6 is not provided, and the delivery interval for the replacement water purification filter cartridge 2 is lengthened, for example, by delivering a replacement water purification filter cartridge 2 once every six months.

In this way, users who are expected to use a small amount of purified water can reduce the frequency of deliveries of replacement water purification filter cartridges 2, making it possible to set a smaller financial burden than users who use a large amount of purified water.

In addition, it is possible to prevent a user who is expected to use a small amount of purified water from using more than expected per specified time, and it is possible to reliably maintain the quality of the purified water from the purified water server until a new replacement water purification filter cartridge 2 arrives. Here, the amount of purified water used is calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10, so that the amount of purified water used tends to match the amount of purified water actually dispensed by the user, and it is possible to stably and accurately manage the amount of purified water used.

In addition, in the above-mentioned purified water server, when the purified water dispensing operation unit 6 shown in FIG. 1 is operated, the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 opens only when the purified water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c shown in FIG. 2 is equal to or higher than a predetermined high water level, and when the purified water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c is below the predetermined high water level, the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is prohibited from opening, so the purified water usage calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is highly accurate. In other words, purified water is dispensed using the weight of the purified water in the room temperature purified water tank 3c, so the amount of purified water dispensed from the purified water dispensing pipe 9 per unit time when the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is opened differs depending on whether the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c is high or low. Therefore, if the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is allowed to open regardless of the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c, the accuracy of the purified water usage calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 may decrease. Therefore, when the purified water dispensing operation unit 6 is operated, if the purified water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c is below a predetermined high water level, the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is prohibited from opening, and the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 is opened only when the purified water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c is equal to or higher than the predetermined high water level, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the purified water usage calculated based on the open time of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10.

In addition, in the above-mentioned purified water server, the amount of purified water dispensed per unit time differs when the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valves 10a, 10b provided on the high-temperature and low-temperature purified water dispensing pipes 9a, 9b are opened and when the room-temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c provided on the room-temperature purified water dispensing pipe 9c is opened. However, this difference is corrected by the difference in magnitude between the first coefficient (1.0 in this example) and the second coefficient (1.5 in this example), making it possible to accurately calculate the amount of purified water used.

In addition, the purified water server described above can prevent the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c shown in FIG. 2 from dropping too low, causing the purified water output per unit time to be too small, even when a large amount of purified water is output at once immediately after the purified water usage is reset to zero. That is, in step S8 shown in FIG. ₇ , immediately after the purified water usage is reset to zero, the amount of purified water that can be output until the predetermined upper limit is reached is the largest. At this time, if a large amount of purified water is output at once when the remaining water in the raw water tank 1 shown in FIG. 2 is low, the raw water tank 1 becomes empty and water is no longer replenished from the raw water tank 1 to the room temperature purified water tank 3c. As a result, the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c drops too low, causing the purified water output per unit time to be too small. Therefore, when pouring purified water immediately after the purified water usage has been reset to zero, the purified water pouring electromagnetic valve 10 is prohibited from opening if the raw water level in the raw water tank 1 is below the reference water level, and the purified water pouring electromagnetic valve 10 is opened only when the raw water level in the raw water tank 1 is equal to or higher than the reference water level. This ensures that water is replenished from the raw water tank 1 to the room temperature purified water tank 3c, thereby preventing the water level in the room temperature purified water tank 3c from dropping too low even when a large amount of purified water is poured out at once, and making it possible to prevent the amount of purified water poured out per unit time from being too small.

In the above embodiment, a purified water server that supports three temperatures, high, low, and room temperature, was used as an example (purified water tank 3, purified water dispensing operation unit 6, purified water dispensing pipe 9, and purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 are respectively composed of high, low, and room temperature purified water tanks 3a, 3b, and 3c, high, low, and room temperature purified water dispensing operation units 6a, 6b, and 6c, high, low, and room temperature purified water dispensing pipes 9a, 9b, and 9c, and high, low, and room temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valves 10a, 10b, and 10c). However, this invention can also be applied to purified water servers that support two temperatures, high and low, or purified water servers that support only low temperatures.

Regarding the opening operation of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10 in the above embodiment, it is possible to control so that only the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c opens when the room temperature purified water dispensing operation unit 6c is operated, but it is also possible to control so that the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c for room temperature is continuously opened when the purified water dispensing operation unit 6c for room temperature is operated, and at the same time, the low temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b is also intermittently opened. In this way, when dispensing purified water at room temperature, it is possible to dispense purified water whose temperature is adjusted to be lower than the temperature of the purified water in the purified water tank 3c at room temperature. In this case, it is also possible to calculate the amount of purified water used based on the opening times of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c for room temperature and the low temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b.

In the above embodiment, an electric pump 8 is provided upstream of the water purification filter cartridge 2 to filter the raw water in the raw water tank 1 with the water purification filter cartridge 2, and the raw water in the raw water tank 1 flows into the water purification filter cartridge 2 by pushing the water downstream with the electric pump 8. However, this invention can also be applied to a water purification water server in which an electric pump 8 is provided downstream of the water purification filter cartridge 2, and the raw water in the raw water tank 1 flows into the water purification filter cartridge 2 by sucking water from the upstream side with the electric pump 8.

1 Raw water tank 2 Purified water filter cartridge 3 Purified water tank 3a High temperature purified water tank 3b Low temperature purified water tank 3c Room temperature purified water tank 6 Purified water dispensing operation unit 7 Raw water pipe 8 Electric pump 9 Purified water dispensing pipe 9a High temperature purified water dispensing pipe 9b Low temperature purified water dispensing pipe 9c Room temperature purified water dispensing pipe 10 Purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10a High temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10b Low temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 10c Room temperature purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve 16 Raw water tank water level sensor 22 Purified water tank water level sensor 30 Control unit

Claims (4)

A raw water tank (1) for storing raw water;
A replaceable water purification filter cartridge (2);
an electric pump (8) for causing the raw water in the raw water tank (1) to flow through the water purification filter cartridge (2);
a purified water tank (3) for storing purified water filtered by the water purification filter cartridge (2);
A purified water outlet pipe (9) for outletting the purified water in the purified water tank (3) to the outside;
A purified water outlet solenoid valve (10) provided in the purified water outlet pipe (9);
A purified water dispensing operation unit (6) operated by a user;
and a control unit (30) that controls the opening and closing of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve (10) based on a signal from the purified water dispensing operation unit (6),
The control unit (30)
a purified water usage calculation means (S 1 to S 8 ) for calculating the purified water usage amount, which is the cumulative value of the purified water discharge amount, based on the open time of the purified water discharge electromagnetic valve ( ₁₀ ) until a predetermined time has elapsed, and resetting the purified water usage amount to zero each time _the predetermined time has elapsed;
and purified water usage limiting control means (S11, S12) for determining whether the purified water usage calculated by the purified water usage calculation means ( _S1 to _S8 ) has reached a predetermined upper limit value, and forbidding _the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve (10) from _opening when it is determined that the upper limit value has been reached. The purified water outlet pipe (9) is for outletting the purified water in the purified water tank (3) to the outside by the weight of the purified water in the purified water tank (3),
The water purification tank further includes a water level sensor (22) for detecting the water level in the water purification tank (3).
The control unit (30)
a purified water tank water level determination means (S22) for determining whether or not the purified water level in the purified water tank (3) is equal to or higher than a predetermined high water level based on a signal from the purified water tank water level sensor ( ₂₂ );
The purified water server with purified water usage limiting function as described in claim 1, further comprising a purified water tank non-high water level valve opening prohibition control means (S21, _S23 ) that prohibits the opening of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve (10) when the purified water level in the purified water tank ( ₃ ) determined by the purified water tank water level determination means ( _S22 ) is lower than the high water level when the purified water dispensing operating unit (6) is operated. The purified water tank (3) is composed of a plurality of purified water tanks (3a, 3b, 3c) each containing purified water of different temperatures,
The purified water discharge pipe (9) is composed of a plurality of purified water discharge pipes (9a, 9b, 9c) which respectively discharge purified water from the plurality of purified water tanks (3a, 3b, 3c), and the plurality of purified water discharge pipes (9a, 9b, 9c) include a first purified water discharge pipe (9a) and a second purified water discharge pipe (9c) having a larger purified water discharge amount per unit time than the first purified water discharge pipe (9a);
The purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve (10) includes a first purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve (10a) provided in the first purified water dispensing pipe (9a) and a second purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve (10c) provided in the second purified water dispensing pipe (9c),
The purified water usage calculation means ( _S1 to _S8 ) multiplies the opening time of the first purified water dispensing solenoid valve (10a) by a first coefficient and adds it to the purified water usage as the purified water dispensed amount from the first purified water dispensing pipe (9a), and multiplies the opening time of the second purified water dispensing solenoid valve (10c) by a second coefficient greater than the first coefficient and adds it to the purified water usage as the dispensed amount from the second purified water dispensing pipe (9c). The raw water tank further includes a raw water tank water level sensor (16) for detecting a water level in the raw water tank (1);
The control unit (30)
a raw water tank water level determination means (S33) for determining whether or not the water level of the raw water in the raw water tank (1) is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference water level based on a signal from the raw water tank water level sensor ( ₁₆ );
a reset immediately-after determination means (S31, S32) for determining whether or not the operation of the purified water dispensing operation unit (6) corresponds to dispensing of purified water immediately after the purified water consumption calculation means ( _{S1 to S8} ) resets the purified water consumption to zero _;
A purified water water server with purified water usage limiting function as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a raw water tank low water level valve opening prohibition control means ( _S34 ) that prohibits the opening of the purified water dispensing electromagnetic valve (10) when the purified water dispensing operating unit (6) is operated and the operation corresponds to the dispensing of purified water immediately after the purified water usage amount is reset to zero and the raw water level in the raw water tank (1) determined by the raw water tank water level determination means ( _S33 ) is lower than the reference water level.