JPH0328889Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention relates to a sterile water filter, and in particular, a layer consisting of a wire rod whose surface is plated with metal is coated with a nylon woven fabric and an activated carbon fiber layer. By laminating them to form a filter member, the action of metal ions generated from the layer made of the wire material sterilizes germs contained in the water passing through the filter or the water stagnant near the filter. Alternatively, it relates to a sterile water filter that can be extinguished.

(Prior Art) Traditionally, tap water has been mixed with chemicals such as chlorine in order to maintain water quality standards stipulated by the Water Supply Act. For this reason, tap water has a chlorine odor and is not very tasty as drinking water.
Conventionally, in order to remove chemicals such as chlorine and fine suspended matter and obtain delicious water, tap water has been filtered using a water purifier with a built-in filter before being used for drinking.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional filters described above generally have a filter member such as granular activated carbon, activated carbon fiber, or long fiber nonwoven fabric enclosed in a container. The disadvantage of this filter is that it is easy for bacteria to grow inside the filter because it removes chlorine and fine suspended matter.

In other words, although the filter can adsorb and remove chlorine and fine suspended matter, especially when the flow of water stops and the water stagnates, the filter becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. As a result, water obtained through a water purifier, for example, has the disadvantage that it tends to contain more germs than the water quality standards mentioned above.

To improve this shortcoming, the special public
In Publication No. 7942, in addition to applying silver plating to the components of the water passage part such as the cartridge case housing the filter body and the synthetic resin aggregate that constitutes the filter body, the surface of the silver plating is further coated. Water purifiers have been proposed in which a film of poorly soluble silver salt is formed by halogenation.

According to this, silver ions are dissolved and released from the membrane surface of the poorly soluble silver salt into water, and a bactericidal effect is brought about by the action of the silver ions. The water purifier further includes activated carbon powder for removing chlorine and fine suspended matter contained in the water passing through it, and a filter cloth for preventing the activated carbon powder from scattering and flowing out. Activated carbon powder is agitated by the water flow and adheres to the surface of the filter cloth, so the passing water is filtered with limescale, chlorine, and fine suspended matter by the activated carbon powder and filter cloth, and then mixed with synthetic resin aggregates, etc. It is sterilized by silver ions dissolved and released from the surface of the poorly soluble silver salt film formed on the surface, and then supplied from the water collection pipe.

Incidentally, in such sterilizing water purifiers and filters, it is desirable to maintain a high ion concentration to increase the sterilizing ability and to maintain the sterilizing ability for a long period of time.

In the prior art described in the above-mentioned publication, sterilization ability is maintained for a long period of time by forming a thin film of poorly soluble silver salt on the silver plating to suppress the generation of silver ions.

However, if the generation of silver ions is suppressed, it will not be possible to obtain a high silver ion concentration above the minimum threshold required for sterilization. if,
By forming silver plating and a thin film of poorly soluble silver salt over as wide an area as possible of the part facing the water inside the filter body, the ion concentration in the entire water is raised to a minimum threshold value or higher, and the sterilization ability is improved. We are trying to make it happen.

Even with this structure, since the silver salt layer is exposed to water flowing through it, the ions generated from it can diffuse freely. Even if this is suppressed, there is a problem in that the wear is significant and a practically sufficient life cannot be obtained. Furthermore, since silver plating and a thin film of poorly soluble silver salt are applied over a wide area of the surfaces of various members, there is a drawback that the number of steps increases.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems.

(Means and effects for solving the problem) In order to solve the above problem, the present invention proposes that in order to sterilize water using metal ions, the ion concentration in the entire target water must be kept high. This is not necessarily necessary, and based on the new idea that it is sufficient to form a region with high ion concentration in a part of the layer, the layer made of the wire material is in direct contact with the layer made of the wire material whose surface is plated with metal. Nylon woven fabric and activated carbon fiber are laminated so as to sandwich the nylon woven fabric and activated carbon fiber, and a region with high metal ion concentration is formed inside and around the laminate made of these wires, nylon woven fabric, and activated carbon fiber. There is.

The above-mentioned high metal ion concentration region provides a sufficiently high sterilization ability, and since the release and diffusion of ions from the metal plating layer is appropriately suppressed, a long service life is also achieved.

The sterilizing effect of the metal ions mentioned above is generally recognized these days, as described in the above-mentioned publication, and the present inventor also proposed a synergistic effect with magnetism in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-23635. Although it is a minor action, the above effects of metal ions are clarified. Further, the sterilization or sterilization effect of the filter having the layer made of the metal-plated wire will be described further below.

(Example) The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a filter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.

In these figures, a lid 1 and a container body 2 are shown.
forms a supporting member of the filter, that is, a container 3. A large number of holes 4 are formed in the upper plate part 1a of the lid 1 and the bottom plate part 2a of the container body 2, respectively, so that water can freely pass therethrough.
Nylon woven fabrics 5 and 6 are disposed in the upper and lower inner parts of the container 3, and these nylon woven fabrics 5,
A nonwoven activated carbon fiber 7, a mesh member 9 whose surface is plated with metal, and an activated carbon fiber 8 are laminated so as to be sandwiched between the two layers.

In other words, a mesh member layer made of wire rods whose surfaces are plated with metal, and a nylon woven fabric and activated carbon fiber layer placed on both sides of the mesh member layer in direct contact with and sandwiching the mesh member layer. are laminated to form a filter member.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mesh member 9. The main body of the mesh member 9 is made of a metal such as stainless steel or brass, and the surface thereof is plated with a metal such as gold, silver, nickel, nickel-gold alloy, nickel-silver alloy, or nickel-chromium alloy. It is what was done.

Note that the mesh member 9 may be formed by forming the thin metal wires such as stainless steel or brass into a mesh shape as shown in FIG. 3, and then applying metal plating to the surface. The thin metal wire may be plated with metal in advance, and then the thin metal wire may be processed into a mesh shape.

The container body 2 and the lid 1 are fixed to each other after the nylon fabrics 5, 6, activated carbon fibers 7, 8, and mesh member 9 are housed inside.

Here, the sterilization or sterilization effect of the filter of this embodiment described above will be explained.

First, tap water is passed through a general filter that does not have a sterilizing or sterilizing effect (for example, the filter shown in FIG. 1 with the mesh member 9 removed) to obtain water from which chlorine has been removed, and the water is poured into two containers. Add 40 c.c. each. Then, in one container, a general filter similar to the above (capacity 20
cc) Soak.

Further, in the other container, the filter of this embodiment, that is, the filter shown in FIG.
cc) Soak. Note that the mesh member 9 has a diameter of 100
The thickness of the metal plating is 0.5 microns, and its diameter is 55 mm.

Then, examine the water in the two containers. As a result, in the case where the general filter was soaked, the number of general bacteria increased by 30 after 24 hours, and by 10 ⁴ units and 10 ⁵ units after 48 hours and 72 hours, respectively. On the other hand, in the case where the filter of this example was soaked, the number of general bacteria was 0 after 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours.

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view showing an example of a water purifier using the filter 25 of FIG. 1.

In the figure, a case body 20 is a hollow bottomed cylindrical body, and a water conduit portion 21 is protruded from the center of the bottom. Further, a lid 22 is screwed onto the open end side of the case body 20, and a water conduit portion 23 is formed in the center thereof.

A ring-shaped spacer 24 is provided inside the cylindrical body of the case body 20, and a filter 2 having the configuration shown in FIG.
5 is placed. Therefore, the lower part of the filter 25 forms a gap 26. Further, in this embodiment, a gap 27 is also formed between the bottom of the case body 20 and the top surface of the filter 25.

When tap water, for example, is supplied to the water conduit section 21 in FIG. 4 as shown by arrow A by a known appropriate means, the tap water first fills the cavity 27. After that, the water passes through the inside of the filter 25 and flows out into the cavity 26, and is further discharged from the water conduit section 23 in the direction of arrow B.

Note that when tap water passes through the filter 25, chlorine, etc. and fine suspended matter are removed by the nylon woven fabrics 5, 6 and activated carbon fibers 7, 8 housed inside the filter 25. Ru. As a result, the water is free from chlorine odor and becomes delicious for drinking.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a mesh member 9 whose surface is plated with metal is housed inside the filter. Therefore, metal ions are captured inside the filter 25, a high concentration metal ion region is formed inside the filter 25 and in the vicinity thereof, and when tap water passes through the void 27, the filter 25, and the void 26, Sterilization is performed by the action of highly concentrated metal ions on tap water. As a result, bacteria such as E. coli contained in the tap water will be significantly reduced or eliminated.

In this way, the water obtained through the filter 25 of this embodiment is clean, free of chlorine odor due to the removal of fine suspended matter and chlorine, and substantially free of germs.

In addition, in this embodiment, even when the flow of water is stopped, the metal ions generated in the mesh member 9 are directly contacted with the mesh member 9, and the nylon woven fabric laminated thereon and the active Trapped in the carbon fibers, the metal ions are not easily diffused.
As a result, a highly concentrated metal ion region is formed inside and around the filter container 3, which not only sterilizes the bacteria inside the filter, but also kills the bacteria in the water that remains around it. So,
The proliferation of bacteria in the stagnant water is almost completely prevented.

The results of a test regarding the sterilization effect conducted by the present inventor at the request of the Tokyo Food Sanitation Association were as follows.

1. The test item is a wire rod with metal plating on the surface.
A 100-mesh stainless steel net member plated with silver was used and assembled into the configuration shown in Figure 1. Add this to 50 ml of E. coli solution at 10 ⁵ /ml.
ml and stored at room temperature, and the number of viable bacteria was measured over time.The numbers after 1, 3, and 6 hours were 3200, 910, and 380, respectively, and after 9 hours, they all became 0. .

For comparison, one sheet of metal-plated wire used in the test article and two sheets of 1.2 x 10 ⁵ /
When immersed in 1 ml of E. coli solution and made similar measurements, the values after 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours were 10,000, 2,800, 5,600, 10,000, and 3,300.
It became 0 for the first time after 24 hours, and in the case of two sheets, the values after 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours were 3400, 2000, 550, 380, and 60, respectively, and became 0 for the first time after 24 hours.

2 The same test product as in the previous section was added to 50% of the 10 ³ /ml Escherichia coli solution.
When the number of viable bacteria was measured over time, the number was 10 after 1 hour, and 0 after 3 hours. For comparison, when we immersed only one and two metal-plated wire rods used in the test article and made the same measurements, in the case of one sheet, the value after 1 to 3 hours was 600.10. ,6
After the time, all 0, and in the case of 2 pieces,
The values after 1 and 3 hours were 200.60, and after the 6th hour they were all 0.

From the above test results, we found that by sandwiching a metal-plated wire layer on the surface and laminating nylon woven fabric and activated carbon fiber layers on both sides, compared to a metal-plated wire layer unit that does not have such laminations, It was demonstrated that the sterilization performance was significantly improved.

The reason why the sterilization performance is different between the metal-plated wire layer unit and the filter of the present invention in which nylon woven fabric and activated carbon fiber layers are laminated on both sides of the metal-plated wire layer is as follows. It is assumed that.

In other words, for sterilization using metal ions, an ion concentration above a certain threshold is required.
If the metal-plated wire layer is immersed alone in water, the generated metal ions will diffuse freely, making it difficult to form a high ion concentration region in the water, making it difficult to obtain high sterilization performance. In the filter of the present invention, metal ions generated from the metal-plated wire layer are captured by the nylon woven fabric and activated carbon fiber layer that are laminated in contact with both surfaces of the metal-plated wire layer. A region with high ion concentration is formed in the area, improving sterilization performance.

In the above description, a case has been described in which only one mesh member 9 whose surface is plated with metal is disposed inside the filter, but a plurality of mesh members 9 may be disposed. In FIG. 1, when providing a plurality of mesh members, it is possible to arrange them, for example, between the nylon woven fabric 5 and the activated carbon fibers 8 and between the nylon woven fabric 6 and the activated carbon fibers 7. It will be done.

It is clear that when a plurality of mesh members 9 are provided in this manner, the action of metal ions increases and the sterilization effect on germs such as E. coli is improved.

The above explanation is for the case where tap water is passed through the filter of the present invention to obtain ideal drinking water, and it is desirable to use rust-free stainless steel or the like as the mesh member main body. On the other hand, when used as industrial water, other materials such as brass may be used.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the mesh member main body is
It is not necessarily necessary to use metal such as stainless steel or brass, and non-metal such as synthetic resin, which can be plated with metal on the surface, may be used. Specifically, the mesh member body made of synthetic resin, which has been formed into a mesh shape in advance, may be then plated with metal to form the mesh member 9, or the thin wire made of synthetic resin may be plated with metal in advance. Metal plating may be applied and then a mesh member 9 as shown in FIG. 3 may be formed.

Furthermore, in the present invention, it is not necessarily necessary to use a mesh member whose surface is plated with metal, but it is sufficient to provide a layer made of wire material whose surface is plated with metal inside the filter. will also be easily understood.

(Effects of the invention) As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the following effects are achieved.

The filter member is constructed by laminating nylon woven fabric and activated carbon fiber in direct contact with both sides of a layer made of wire material whose surface is plated with metal.
The metal ions generated from the wire layer can be captured by the nylon woven fabric and the activated carbon fiber layer to form a high concentration area of metal ions in this area, and this action allows the flowing water passing through the filter and the filter to be immersed. It is possible to significantly reduce or eliminate bacteria in the accumulated water.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the generated metal ions are captured by the nylon fabric and activated carbon fibers that are in direct contact with the wire, and are difficult to diffuse. Therefore, the metal ions inside the filter can be maintained at a high concentration for a long time, and even if the water flow becomes stagnant, bacteria such as E. coli will not grow inside the filter. In addition, since the ion concentration near the metal-plated wire is kept high, the diffusion of generated metal ions is appropriately suppressed, so that consumption of the metal-plating is suppressed and the life of the filter is extended.

In addition, activated carbon fiber, nylon woven fabric, and metal-plated wire are laminated together and their relative positions are fixed, so they do not move relative to each other.
Therefore, there will be no unevenness in the filtration effect.

As explained above, according to the present invention, both when the water flow is flowing through the filter and when the water flow has stopped and is in a stagnation state, fine suspended matter is removed and the water is clean and free of bacteria. Therefore, the filter of the present invention should be understood to include both of them.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a filter according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, Fig. 3 is a plan view of a mesh member, and Fig. 4 shows the filter shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is a partial sectional view showing an example of the applied water purifier. 3... Container, 4... Hole, 5, 6... Nylon woven fabric, 7, 8... Activated carbon fiber, 9... Network member.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) Sterilization comprising a filter member that removes drugs and fine floating substances in a fluid, and a support member that supports the filter member so that the fluid passes through the filter member. In the water filter, the filter member includes: a layer made of a wire rod whose surface is plated with metal; and an active layer that is in direct contact with the layer made of the wire material and sequentially laminated on both sides of the layer made of the wire material with the layer made of the wire material in between. A sterile water filter comprising a carbon fiber layer and a nylon woven fabric. (2) The sterilizing water filter according to claim 1, wherein the layers made of the wire rod are arranged in multiple stages inside the filter. (3) The sterilizing water filter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the wire is made of stainless steel. (4) The sterilizing water filter according to any one of claims 1 to 3 of the utility model registration claim, wherein the layer made of the wire rod is formed in a mesh shape. (5) The sterilizing water filter according to any one of claims 1 to 4 of the utility model registration claim, wherein the metal plating is made of gold. (6) The sterilizing water filter according to any one of claims 1 to 4 of the utility model registration claim, wherein the metal plating is made of silver.