KR20120047141A - Water purifier with self cleaning means and cleaning method for a water furifier using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A water purifier with an automatic cleaning unit and a method for cleaning the water purifier using the same are provided to maximally expand the cycle of a cleaning operation. CONSTITUTION: A filtering part(110) includes a plurality of filters purifying feed water by being in connection with a feed water source. A purified water bath(120) stores purified water generated from the filtering part. A sterilizing water generator generates sterilizing water and supplies sterilizing water to at least part of the filters. A sterilizing water supplying unit supplies the sterilizing water from the sterilizing water generator to the purified water bath.

Description

WATER PURIFIER WITH SELF CLEANING MEANS AND CLEANING METHOD FOR A WATER FURIFIER USING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a water purifier having automatic cleaning means and an automatic cleaning method of the water purifier using the same, and more particularly, to a water purifier having a function capable of cleaning the inside of the water purifier itself.

In the case of a water purifier used for home or commercial use, it generally includes a filter part for filtering raw water and a tank part for storing purified water. In addition, a plurality of pipes are connected between the filter part and the tank part and a nozzle for supplying purified water.

As is well known, when the water purifier is used for a long time, foreign matters contained in the water may be deposited on the inner wall of the tank part and the pipe, or bacteria may breed, so it is necessary to clean it at regular intervals.

Since the cleaning work belongs to a highly difficult work that needs to be performed by disassembling the water purifier, it is generally performed by professional service personnel rather than by a general user. To this end, a schedule must be negotiated with the service personnel in advance, and a considerable time is required for the cleaning operation. This inconvenience of management causes the general user to be reluctant to use the water purifier.

Looking at the process of the above-described cleaning operation, the process of the so-called "cody" visited to separate the water purifier, the cleaning chemicals are put into the water filled in the existing water purifier, the process of draining them after a certain time Will go through. Therefore, there is a inconvenience that the service personnel have to wait for a long time until the cleaning by the cleaning chemicals sufficiently occurs, and there may be a case where the customer is asked to drain the water due to the nature of the service personnel who are chased by time. In this case, there is also a concern that the user may drink water without completing the drainage due to an accident or inadequate operation.

The present invention has been made to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art as described above, to provide a water purifier having an automatic cleaning means capable of eliminating the need for a separate cleaning operation, or to increase the cycle of the cleaning operation to the maximum. To be.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic cleaning method for a water purifier having the above automatic cleaning means.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, the filter unit is connected to the water supply source to purify the raw water; A water tank for storing the purified water generated by the filter unit; Sterilization water generator for receiving the purified water stored in the water purification tank to generate sterilization water; And a sterilizing water supplying means for supplying the sterilizing water generated by the sterilizing water generator to the water purification tank.

In the above aspect of the present invention is provided with a sterilizing water generator capable of generating sterilizing water inside the water purifier and by using the sterilized water generated thereby to clean the water purification tank by the service personnel do not have to visit the cleaning device itself It would be possible. In this process, instead of receiving water from an external source, the amount of water used can be reduced by generating sterilized water using purified water stored in a purified water tank. In addition, it is possible to prevent the accumulation of foreign matter in the sterilizing water generator due to long-term use since the purified water from which the foreign matter is removed.

In this case, the automatic cleaning process may be performed only when there is an instruction of a user's selection, for example, pressing an operation button, or automatically performed when a predetermined time elapses or a predetermined or more constant is made even without a separate operation. You can do that. To this end, counting means for counting the use time of the water purifier or the quantity of purified water supplied through the water purifier; And a controller configured to perform the cleaning operation by controlling the sterilizing water generator and the sterilizing water supply means based on the data measured by the counting means.

Here, the sterilizing water generator may be used any one, and as an example may be used a chlorine water generator for generating chlorine water by electrolysis of the supplied purified water. In addition, it is also possible to use a form in which the powdered drug is automatically mixed.

On the other hand, the water purification tank is further provided with a concentration measuring means for measuring the concentration of the chlorine water supplied, the control unit is set to control the concentration of the chlorine water generated based on the value measured by the concentration measuring means Can be. For example, when sterile water is generated by circulating only a part of the water in the purified water tank, the concentration of chlorine water may be increased to have an appropriate level of concentration even if the existing purified water and the sterilized water are mixed.

On the other hand, the filter unit for purifying the raw water may be composed of a plurality of filters, the raw water passes through the plurality of filters sequentially. Among the plurality of filters, a sediment filter or a membrane filter serves to physically filter out foreign substances contained in raw water passing through. In this case, since the filtered foreign matter remains in the filter, it is necessary to replace it regularly, but passing through the sterilizing water can minimize the contamination of the filter due to residual foreign matter, which can help to improve the life of the filter. Therefore, when a plurality of filters is included in this way, the sterilizing water may be introduced into at least some of the plurality of filters and then introduced into the water purification tank.

At this time, the sterilizing water generated by the sterilizing water generator may be introduced into the filter located in the downstream of the plurality of filters and then introduced into the water purification tank. Through this, it is possible to simplify the flow path structure for moving the sterilizing water. The filter located downstream may be a membrane filter. In some cases, a filter such as a post carbon filter may be additionally installed downstream of the membrane filter. In this case, a sterilizing water passing through the membrane filter may include a bypass flow passage that bypasses the post carbon filter and is supplied to a water treatment tank. Can be.

In addition, in order to shorten the time required for the drainage process, it may further include a drain tube and a drain pump for draining the water stored in the water purification tank.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for automatically cleaning a water purifier including a sterilizing water generator for generating sterilizing water by receiving purified water stored in a purified water tank, the method comprising: supplying part or all of the purified water stored in the purified water tank to the sterilizing water generator ; Supplying the generated sterilized water to the purified water tank to raise the level of the purified water tank to a predetermined level or more; Maintaining a state in which the sterilizing water of the purified water tank is above a predetermined level for a predetermined time; And a step of draining the sterilizing water after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Here, the step of filling the purified water tank after the sterilization water drainage; Maintaining a state in which the purified water is supplied for a predetermined time; And draining the purified water after a predetermined time has elapsed.

In addition, at least a part of the sterilizing water in the step of supplying the generated sterilizing water to the water purification tank may be supplied to the filter unit. At this time, the filter unit includes a hollow fiber membrane filter, the sterilizing water may be supplied to the membrane filter after being supplied to the membrane filter.

On the other hand, in the step of draining the sterilizing water at least part of the sterilizing water may be to be drained through the purified water outlet for supplying purified water to the user. This makes it possible to clean not only the purified water tank but also the entire flow path from the purified water tank to the purified water outlet.

On the other hand, the water purification tank may include a cold water tank for storing cold water and a hot water tank for storing hot water. In this case, since the hot water tank is maintained at a relatively high temperature, the possibility of contamination is relatively lower than that of the cold water tank. Thus, each of the above steps may be performed only for the cold water tank, or may be performed at a higher frequency for the cold water tank.

According to the aspects of the present invention having the above configuration, the water purifier itself can facilitate the cleaning operation even without the visit of the service personnel, so as not only to solve the inconvenience in use, but also to select the cleaning cycle according to the user's taste. It becomes possible. In addition, since the water stored in the water purification tank is used in the washing operation, water consumption can be reduced.

1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a flow path structure of an embodiment of a water purifier having an automatic cleaning means according to the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of performing automatic cleaning in FIG. 1.
3 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a flow path structure of another embodiment of a water purifier having an automatic cleaning means according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail an embodiment of a water purifier having an automatic cleaning means according to the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a flow path structure of an embodiment of a water purifier having automatic cleaning means according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which automatic cleaning is performed in FIG. 1. 1 and 2, the embodiment 100 is primarily connected to the raw water side, such as a water supply pipe, the filter unit 110 for purifying the raw water supplied and the water purified by the filter unit 110 is primary It includes a water purification tank 120 is stored as. An electrode sensor 122 is provided inside the water purification tank 120 so as to measure the concentration of chlorine water generated and supplied by the chlorine water generator 170 to be described later.

The purified water stored in the purified water tank 120 may be provided to the user as drinking water without additional treatment, or may be provided by cooling or heating. To this end, the cold water tank 130 and the hot water tank 140 is connected to the purified water tank 120, respectively, the cold water tank 130 is a cooling device (not shown) driven by a thermoelectric element or a steam compression cycle device Is provided to cool the water supplied from the water purification tank to a predetermined temperature. Similarly, the hot water tank 140 is provided with a heater (not shown) to store the purified water heated to a predetermined temperature. Since the cooling device and the heater may adopt the conventionally known matters, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The cold water tank 130 and the hot water tank 140 is installed so that the cold water cock 132 and the hot water coke 142 is installed on the outside of the water purifier body to supply cold water and hot water to the user, respectively. In addition, the opening and closing valves 134 and 144 for opening and closing the flow path are respectively installed in the discharge pipe 130a of the cold water tank 130 and the discharge pipe 140a of the hot water tank 140, respectively. Both downstream sides of the 144 are connected to the drain pump 150. Therefore, the flow path is configured such that either or both of the cold water tank and the hot water tank can be drained by the drain pump in accordance with the opening and closing of the open / close valves.

The three-way valve 160 for switching the flow path is installed on the discharge side of the drain pump 150, one discharge port of the three-way valve 160 for discharging the water drained through the drain pump 150 to the outside The drain pipe 166 is connected, the other discharge port is connected to the chlorine water generating device 170. The chlorine water generating device 170 generates chlorine water by electrolyzing water supplied from the cold water tank or the hot water tank using a current applied from the outside. In FIG. 1, water is supplied to the chlorine water generator 170 only by a cold water tank or a hot water tank, but water may be supplied to the chlorine water generator 170 from the purified water tank.

The discharge pipe 170a of the chlorine water generator 170 joins a flow path for supplying purified water to the purified water tank 120. Through this, the chlorine water generated by the chlorine water generating device 170 is configured to be supplied to the interior of the water purification tank 120, the water supplied to the water purification tank 120 is also in the cold water tank and hot water tank Supplied.

Here, the discharge pipe 170a of the chlorine water generator 170 is provided with a check valve 172 to prevent the back flow.

Now, the filter unit 110 will be described. The filter unit 110 includes four filters each having different functions and uses, and are sequentially connected to the sediment filter 112 and the downstream side of the sediment filter 112 directly connected to raw water. It will include a precarbon filter 114, a postcarbon filter 116 and a membrane filter 118. In detail, the sediment filter 112 is a filter made of high-density polypropylene of 5 μm or less, and filters water and contaminants of 5 μm or more to pass the water path through the filter. It serves to protect all the components on the membrane and the membrane filter described below.

The sediment filter 112 is a filter centered on a thorough mechanical filtration, and has an excellent effect of removing dust and complex particles present in water. In general, the constants contain numerous invisible sands, iron particles, and other soil components. In addition, the sludge flowing through the pipe of the old tap water (I) and the contaminants formed in the tap water (I) pipe, etc. are included in a large amount. These types of particles belong to a relatively large group of contaminants in the total water contained in the water, which are first filtered by the assembly sediment filter 112 to help filter the smaller particles and finer components connected behind it. Done.

Since the pre-carbon filter and the membrane filter installed after the sediment filter 112 serve to filter out the ultrafine particles, the ability of the filter may be impaired in an instant when directly exposed to a relatively large size of contaminants. The role of the filter 112 also serves to protect a fine filter such as a membrane filter.

The precarbon filter 114 connected to the discharge pipe 112a of the sediment filter 112 removes chemical substances harmful to the human body, such as chlorine, carcinogens, pesticides, and synthetic detergents, by using activated carbon adsorption. Activated carbon included in the precarbon filter 114 is a special carbon mainly fired at high temperature using coconut shell, wood, coal, etc. as a raw material of amorphous carbon having a fine pore of a molecular size well formed during the activation process. Means an aggregate. In general, activated carbon is an adsorbent having an internal surface area of 800 to 1200㎥ per gram. Partial chemical adsorption occurs, but most adsorption is performed by the attraction of carbon atoms in the activated carbon to the surrounding liquid or gas. Physical adsorption that traps molecules. In addition to the function of the sediment filter 112, in addition to the function of absorbing and removing contaminants of a smaller scale, the sediment filter 112 also has a function of improving water taste.

The post carbon filter 116 connected to the discharge pipe 114a of the precarbon filter 114 may further increase the purity of the water by removing unpleasant tastes, odors and pigments remaining in the purified water. Like the precarbon filter 114, the post carbon filter 116 contains activated carbon.

The membrane filter 118 connected to the discharge pipe 116a of the post carbon filter 116 may include a reverse osmosis (R / O) filter or a hollow fiber membrane filter (UF, Hollow Fiber Membrane). The hollow fiber membrane filter of the membrane filter 118 is a pore filter having pores of several tens to hundreds of nanometers (nm), and contaminants present in the water by passing only water through a myriad of micropores distributed on the membrane surface. Remove it. The hollow fiber forming the hollow fiber membrane of the hollow fiber membrane filter refers to an aggregate of filter yarns formed like a thread having a central hole. The reverse osmosis (R / O) type water purifier is excellent by the hollow fiber membrane filter in terms of removing foreign matters, but has a disadvantage in that a large amount of water is discarded in the water purification process and removes components such as minerals remaining in the water.

In addition, a filter having various purposes (for example, a UV filter using ultraviolet light) may be further added.

On the other hand, a check valve 102 is provided in the discharge pipe 118a of the membrane filter 118 to prevent the above-mentioned chlorine water from flowing back to the filter unit 110.

The operation of this embodiment will now be described with reference to FIG.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning operation may be started by the user pressing an operation button (not shown) provided in the water purifier main body, and may be automatically performed without the user's instruction when the water purifier usage is more than a predetermined level. . In order to prevent misuse by the user in this process, the display device (not shown) provided in the water purifier may be configured to notify the user that the water purifier is currently being cleaned. Usage of the water purifier may be measured by counting the use time or counting the quantity of purified water flowing into the water treatment tank.

In any case, when the cleaning operation is started, water is supplied into the water purification tank, the cold water tank, and the hot water tank so as to have a predetermined level, preferably a full water level (step S01). This water supply process is performed while the two on / off valves 134 and 144 are closed.

After the high water level, the raw water supply is cut off, the two open / close valves 134 and 144 are opened, and the three-way valve 160 is operated to discharge the water drained by the pump 150 into the chlorine water generator ( 170) to be introduced (step S02). In this process, water existing in the flow path between the cold water tank and the hot water tank, the cold water coke, and the hot water coke is also supplied to the chlorine water generator due to the pump pressure of the drain pump 150. The water thus supplied is changed into chlorine water while passing through the chlorine water generator 170, and is re-introduced into the water purification tank 120 due to the two check valves.

Through this, chlorine water is supplied to the purified water tank, the cold water tank and the hot water tank, so that the supplied chlorine water is not discharged immediately but remains for a predetermined time (step S03). Through this, the cleaning operation for the purified water tank, the cold water tank and the hot water tank by the chlorine water is made, and the inside of each flow path corresponding to the movement path of the chlorine water is also cleaned. Here, initially, all the water present in the purified water tank may be converted into chlorine water, or only a part of the water may be converted into chlorine water to be mixed with the existing purified water. In the latter case, the concentration of the chlorine water generated by the chlorine water generating device can be further increased so that the concentration of the mixed water of chlorine water and purified water becomes a state suitable for washing. This concentration control can be controlled by the value of the current applied to the chlorine water generating device, by measuring the concentration of the actual mixed water through the electrode sensor installed in the water purification tank concentration of chlorine water generated based on this Consider also an example to control the.

When the step S03 is completed, all the chlorine water present in the water purification tank, cold water tank and hot water tank is drained (step S04). In this drainage process, some of the chlorine water also flows into the side of the cold water and the hot water coke to clean the inside of the two cocks and the corresponding flow paths. An example of draining by may be considered.

When the draining process is completed, the raw water is introduced from the outside in a state in which the two open / close valves are closed to refill the purified water in the purified water tank, the cold water tank, and the hot water tank (step S05). The purified water thus supplied is for washing away the chlorine water remaining in the water purifier, and is drained again after remaining for a predetermined time (step S06). The cleaning operation is completed.

In the above-described example, the water purification tank, the cold water tank, and the hot water tank are configured in the same manner, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and in the case of the hot water tank, the frequency of contamination or microbial propagation is relatively low due to the characteristics of high temperature. An example may be considered in which only the cold water tank is cleaned or the hot water tank is washed at a relatively low frequency compared to the cold water tank.

In addition, it is also possible to consider an example that the generated chlorine water does not directly flow into the water purification tank, but is introduced into the water purification tank via some of the filters provided in the filter unit 110. That is, in the case of a membrane filter or a sediment filter, if foreign matters remaining in the inside accumulate more than a certain amount, secondary contamination may occur as a result. However, when the inside of the filter is cleaned using the chlorine water, The replacement cycle can be further extended and cleaner water can be obtained even within the replacement cycle.

To this end, as shown in FIG. 3, a flow path switching valve 180 is installed at an end of the discharge pipe 170a of the chlorine water generator 170, and the remaining openings of the flow path switching valve 180 are respectively provided. It is connected to the discharge pipe 116a of the post carbon filter. According to this configuration, during normal operation, the outlet of the post carbon filter and the inlet of the membrane filter are in communication with each other so that the purified water is formed. When the chlorine water is filled in the purified water tank during the cleaning process, the chlorine water generator 170 The discharge tube 170a and the inlet port of the membrane filter 118 communicate with each other. Through this, the generated chlorine water may be introduced into the water purification tank after cleaning the inside of the filter while passing through the membrane filter 118 to clean both the water purification tank and the filter.

Meanwhile, in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the membrane filter is located at the rear end, but in some cases, the membrane filter is located downstream of the precarbon filter, and the post carbon filter is disposed at the rear end. In this case, the chlorine water passing through the membrane filter may have a separate bypass flow path extending between the discharge pipe of the membrane filter and the discharge pipe of the post carbon filter. An example of bypassing the post carbon filter to be introduced into the water purification tank may be considered.

Claims (14)

A filter unit connected to a water supply to purify raw water;
A water tank for storing the purified water generated by the filter unit;
Sterilization water generator for receiving the purified water stored in the water purification tank to generate sterilization water; And
And a sterilizing water supply means for supplying the sterilizing water generated by the sterilizing water generator to the water purification tank. The method of claim 1,
Counting means for counting the usage time of the water purifier or the quantity of purified water supplied through the water purifier; And
And a controller for controlling the sterilizing water generator and the sterilizing water supplying means by the data measured by the counting means to perform a cleaning operation. The method of claim 1,
The sterilizing water generator is a water purifier having an automatic cleaning means, characterized in that to generate chlorine water by electrolysis of the supplied purified water. The method of claim 3,
The water purification tank is further provided with a concentration measuring means for measuring the concentration of the chlorine water supplied, wherein the control unit controls the concentration of the chlorine water generated based on the value measured by the concentration measuring means Water purifier with automatic cleaning means. The method of claim 1,
The filter unit includes a plurality of filters through which the raw water passes sequentially,
And the sterilizing water is introduced into at least a portion of the plurality of filters and then introduced into the water purification tank. The method of claim 5,
The sterilizing water generated by the sterilizing water generator is a water purifier having an automatic cleaning means, characterized in that flowing into the water purification tank after entering the filter located at the downstream of the plurality of filters. The method of claim 6,
The filter located in the downstream is a water purifier having automatic cleaning means, characterized in that the membrane filter. The method of claim 1,
And a drain tube and a drain pump for draining the water stored in the water purification tank. An automatic cleaning method of a water purifier including a sterilizing water generator for receiving a purified water stored in a water purification tank to generate sterilizing water,
Supplying some or all of the purified water stored in the purified water tank to the sterilizing water generator;
Supplying the generated sterilized water to the purified water tank to raise the level of the purified water tank to a predetermined level or more;
Maintaining a state in which the sterilizing water of the purified water tank is above a predetermined level for a predetermined time; And
Automatically cleaning the water purifier comprising a step of draining the sterilization water after a predetermined time. 10. The method of claim 9,
Filling the purified water tank with purified water after draining the sterilizing water;
Maintaining a state in which the purified water is supplied for a predetermined time; And
And draining the purified water after a predetermined time has elapsed. 10. The method of claim 9,
At least a part of the sterilized water is supplied to the filter unit in the step of supplying the generated sterilized water to the water purification tank. The method of claim 11,
The filter unit comprises a hollow fiber membrane filter, wherein the sterilizing water is supplied to the membrane filter and then supplied to the water treatment tank. 10. The method of claim 9,
At least a part of the sterilizing water in the step of draining the sterilizing water is an automatic cleaning method of the water purifier, characterized in that drained through the purified water outlet for supplying purified water to the user. 10. The method of claim 9,
The water purification tank includes a cold water tank for storing cold water and a hot water tank for storing hot water,
Wherein each of the steps is performed only for a cold water tank.

Images