JPH0655307B2 - Filter - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a filter for filtering drinking water and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many homes have come to use filters for filtering drinking water and the like.

The conventional filter will be described below.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of a conventional filter,
Reference numeral 1 is a filter body, and 2 is a water supply hose for guiding raw water from the discharge pipe of the faucet to the filter body 1. Reference numeral 5 is a filtration cartridge housed in the filter unit 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes an activated carbon storage portion provided in the filtration cartridge 5, which stores activated carbon for removing residual chlorine and the like. Reference numeral 7 denotes a hollow fiber membrane filtration unit housed in the filtration cartridge 5, which is formed by bending a plurality of hollow fibers having a number of fine holes in the wall to be bundled into a U shape and fixing the ends with an adhesive. It has a structure. An inlet pipe 3 is connected to the water suction hose 2. Reference numeral 4 is a backflow preventing valve body for preventing water once flowing into the filtration cartridge 5 from flowing back to the inlet side.
It is housed in the inlet pipe 3. Reference numeral 9 denotes a discharge pipe for discharging filtered water, and the discharge pipe 9 is fixed to a discharge pipe cover 8 provided on the upper portion of the filter body 1.

The operation of the filter configured as described above will be described below.

Raw water flowing in from the water absorption hose 2 is supplied to the filtration cartridge 5 via the inlet pipe 3. While the raw water supplied to the filtration cartridge 5 is passed through the filtration cartridge 5, residual chlorine and the like are first removed by the activated carbon accommodating portion 6, and then the turbid component such as iron rust and general bacteria are removed by the hollow fiber filtration unit 7. It is removed and discharged from the discharge pipe 9.

By the way, activated carbon in a filtration cartridge or a filter material such as a hollow fiber membrane causes clogging as it is used. For example, when the micropores of the hollow fiber constituting the hollow fiber filtration unit are clogged with impurities such as iron rust contained in water, the resistance of the filter material in the filtration cartridge to water increases and the passage of water deteriorates. Therefore, in order to easily check whether it is time to replace the filtration cartridge, how much resistance has increased from the degree of decrease in flow rate when the flow rate of the filtration cartridge is compared with the flow rate before the filtration cartridge is used. There is a method of checking and determining whether it is time to replace the filtration cartridge.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a method, since the flow rate largely changes due to, for example, the water pressure of a water pipe, it is inaccurate, and it is possible to accurately determine whether it is time to replace the filtration cartridge. Absent. It is also possible to detect the change in the water pressure of the water pipe together with the flow rate and display the replacement time by the two values, but this makes the structure complicated and increases the cost. Further, if the water flow detecting means is provided on the secondary side of the filter material, that is, on the side of the filtered water flow path, the influence of such water pressure of the water pipe is reduced, but in reality, there is a case where a large space cannot be saved in this part. In many cases, there is no filtration cartridge replacement time display device for displaying accurate information in a small space and with a simple structure.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention forms a float member accommodating portion that communicates with a filtered water passage between the filter material and the filtered water discharge port, and partially forms a flat surface. The substantially spherical float member provided with the flat portion has a state in which the spherical portion faces the filtered water passage to narrow the filtered water passage and a flat portion faces the filtered water passage to widen the filtered water passage. The float member is rotatably housed so that the flat member faces the filtered water passage when there is no water flow, and a weight member is provided inside the float member so that the float member can be seen from the outside. Made possible

Operation The present invention has the above-described configuration, and when the flat surface portion of the float member in the filtered water passage faces the filtered water flow passage, the flow passage cross section sharply widens when the filtered water flows into the filtered water flow passage. The water pressure acting on the flat portion becomes low, and the force acts as a force to rotate the flat member in such a direction that the flat portion escapes from the filtered water passage, and the float member restores the strength of the water flow and the weight member. It will stop at an angle that balances the forces, and its rotation angle will be the size according to the strength of the water flow.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows a filter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a filter body, 2 is a water absorption hose, 3 is an inlet pipe, 5 is a filtration cartridge, and 9 is a discharge pipe, which are the same as those of the conventional example shown in FIG. Therefore, detailed description is omitted.

The configuration of the filtration cartridge replacement time display unit that displays the replacement time of the filtration cartridge will be described below.
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the filtration cartridge replacement time display portion. Reference numeral 11 is a discharge pipe cover provided on the upper part of the filter body 1, and 12 is a float member housed in a housing recess formed in the discharge pipe cover 11. 13 is made of a transparent material and has an O-shaped opening formed in the discharge pipe cover 11.
The window member is fitted so that water leakage does not occur due to the ring. 14 is the float member 12 and the discharge pipe cover 1
It is a fixing ring for fixing to 1. Reference numeral 15 is a coupling pipe integrally formed with the discharge pipe cover 11 and capable of being coupled to the discharge port of the filtration cartridge 5. The discharge pipe 9 is fixed to a discharge pipe cover 11. Reference numeral 16 denotes a communication channel formed on the side of the absorption recess, the through hole of the discharge pipe 9 communicates with this communication channel 16, and this communication channel 16
Communicate with the through hole of the coupling pipe 15.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the float member 12. The float member 12 is partially provided with a flat surface portion 12a. The plane part is colored blue, and the other parts are colored red. Reference numerals 17 and 18 denote rotary shafts protruding from both ends,
The float member 12 is moved by the rotary shafts 17 and 18 into the first
It is rotatably held in the direction of arrow A shown in the figure.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 19 denotes a weight member housed inside the float member 12, which is fixed in the float member 12 at the position shown in FIG. Reference numeral 21 is a retaining stopper that is provided so as to project inside the window member 13 and restricts the rotation range of the float member 12.

Reference numeral 20 is a through hole formed in the bottom of the accommodation recess of the discharge pipe cover 11. Most of the water that has flowed in through the coupling pipe 15 flows into the communication channel 16, but part of it flows into the accommodation recess through the through hole 20.

The operation of the filter of the embodiment constructed as above will be described below.

Raw water flowing from the water suction hose 2 is filtered by the cartridge 5
Is filtered as it passes through and the filtered water flows into the coupling pipe 15. Most of the filtered water that has flowed into the coupling pipe 15 flows into the communication channel 16, but part of the filtered water flows into the accommodation recess that accommodates the float member 12 through the through hole 20. Through hole 20
The water flowing into the accommodation recess reaches the upper part of the accommodation recess, and then merges with the water flowing in the communication channel 16. In this way, the water flow generated in the upper portion of the accommodation recess causes the air accumulated in the upper space of the accommodation recess to be discharged to the outside.

In the state shown in FIG. 4, the front half of the communication channel 16 is narrowed by the spherical surface on the side of the float member 12. When flowing through the narrowed portion of the communication channel 16, the flow side becomes faster. However, beyond that portion, the flow path suddenly widens and the flow velocity sharply slows. The flow velocity is high when flowing through the narrowed portion of the communication flow passage 16, so that the water pressure is high in that portion, but when the flow velocity is slowed out from the next wide passage, the water pressure becomes low. Therefore, the pressure acting on the flat portion 12a of the float member 12 becomes low, so that the float member 12 receives a force in the direction of the arrow B and tries to rotate against the gravity acting on the weight member 19.

Then, both forces, that is, the water flow causes the float member 12 to stand still at an angle at which the force for rotating the float member 12 in the direction of the arrow B and the restoring force by the weight member 19 are balanced. When the flow rate of water is large, the force in the direction of arrow B is also strong and the rotation angle is large. When the flow rate of water decreases, the force in the direction of arrow B also weakens, and the rotation angle of the float member 12 also decreases.

When the cartridge is new, the flow rate of water is large, and the float member 12 is rotated until its plane portion is directed almost upward as shown in FIG. In this state, when the inside float member 12 is viewed through the window member 13 from the outside, the red side surface portion is almost completely hidden, and the visible portion is only the plane portion, that is, the blue portion.

As the cartridge becomes more clogged, the flow rate of water decreases and the rotation angle of the float member 12 decreases, resulting in the state shown in FIG. In this state, when the inside float member 12 is viewed through the window member 13 from the outside, the red side surface portion is visible together with the blue plane portion. In this way, by visually observing the state of the float member 12 through the window member 13, the user can know the replacement time of the filtration cartridge 5. In addition, in this embodiment, the window member 13 is formed in a hemispherical shape, and when the inside of the window member 13 is filled with water, the window member 13 has a function of a convex lens, so that the float member 12 inside can be enlarged and shown to the user. I can.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, the present invention forms a float member accommodating portion that communicates with the filtered water passage between the filter material and the filtered water discharge port, and has a substantially spherical shape with a flat surface portion in part. The float member is rotatably accommodated in the accommodating portion so that the spherical portion can face the filtered water passage and the flat portion can face the filtered water passage. By providing a weight member in the float member so as to face the filtered water passage and making the float member visible from the outside, in the portion narrowed by the spherical portion of the float member in the filtered water passage. When the pressure is high and reaches the flat part next to it, the flow path widens rapidly and the pressure becomes low.
Due to the pressure difference, a force acts on the float member so that its flat surface portion escapes from the filtered water passage, and the float member stops at an angle where the strength of the water flow and the restoring force of the weight member are balanced. The rotation angle becomes a size according to the strength of the water flow. Therefore, the user can easily and accurately determine whether or not it is time to replace the filter material by visually observing the flow member, and if such a configuration is adopted, a small space is required and an excellent filter can be realized. Can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a filter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the filtration cartridge replacement time display unit, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a float member provided in the filtration cartridge replacement time display unit, and FIG. 4 is a filter material of the filtration unit at the replacement time. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the filter material of the same filter is renewed, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional filter. 1: Filter main body, 2: Water absorption hose 3: Inlet pipe, 5: Filtration cartridge 9: Discharge pipe, 11: Discharge pipe cover 12: Float member, 13: Window member 14: Fixing ring, 15: Coupling pipe 16: Communication channel, 17, 18: rotating shaft 19: weight member, 20: through hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A raw water inlet, a filter medium containing a filter medium,
An accommodating container for accommodating the float member, which has a filtered water outlet, a filtered water passage for guiding the filtered water from the filter medium accommodating portion to the discharge port, and a substantially spherical float member partially provided with a flat surface portion. Part is formed so as to communicate with the filtered water passage, and the float member is provided in the accommodating portion so that the filtered water passage can be narrowed by the spherical surface portion and the filtered water passage can be widened by the flat portion. It is rotatably accommodated, a transparent portion is provided on the wall forming the accommodation portion, and a weight member is provided in the float member so that the flat portion faces the filtered water passage when there is no water flow. Characteristic filter.