JP2000210661A - Multiple way valve and water purifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the wear of the closing part and improve the durability of the valve body itself by constituting a multiple way valve in a way that a valve casing is provided having an upper chamber with a fluid inlet and a lower chamber with a fluid outlet and a desired communicated port is opened by moving either one of the plural valves equipped in the upper chamber. SOLUTION: A valve casing 18 is divided into an upper chamber 18e and a lower chamber 18f by a dividing wall 18d having three communicative ports 18a-18c. The upper chamber 18e is provided with a raw water inlet 15, and the lower chamber 18f is provided with a raw water feeding port 16 and a raw water outlets 17a, 17b. And the upper chamber 18e is provided with valve elements 18a1-18c1 whose lower end parts project into the lower chamber 18f in engagement conditions. And a switching lever 19 is rotated to rotate a rotating shaft 23 through a prescribed angle, thereby pushing up the valve discs engaged with the corresponding communicative ports to open the communicative ports by cams 23a-23c formed integrated to the rotating shaft 23 and to make the raw water inlet 15 communicate with any of the raw water feeding port 16 and the raw water outlets 17a, 17b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-way valve and a water purifier, and more particularly to a multi-way valve for distributing and mixing a fluid, and a water purifier using the multi-way valve.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a multi-way valve for distributing and mixing a fluid, a multi-way valve for switching a fluid flow path by rotating a shaft having a seal member (a so-called rotary type), a seal member, and the like. A configuration in which the fluid flow path is switched by moving the fluid linearly (so-called spool type) is widely used. However, these types of multi-way valves have a problem in that the durability and sealing properties of the sealing member are low.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-144913, an inlet and a plurality of outlets are provided in a valve case, rubber balls for closing the respective outlets are provided, and the rubber balls are pushed up by a rotating member having a cam. Thus, a multi-way valve that moves any rubber ball to open a corresponding outlet has been proposed, but in this multi-way valve,
Since the rubber ball serving as the valve body and the rotating member for driving the rubber ball are in direct contact with each other, the rubber is liable to be worn and there is a disadvantage that the durability cannot be sufficiently improved.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-33885 discloses that
A valve case is provided with an inlet and a plurality of outlets, and a rod-shaped valve body for closing each outlet is provided, and the rod-shaped valve body is sandwiched between a rotating member having a cam and a compression spring, and is vertically moved. Although a multi-way valve that opens the outlet is described, this multi-way valve uses a rotating member and a compression spring together to drive the valve element, so the number of parts increases, and the multi-way valve is inevitably used. There is a disadvantage that it becomes larger. When this multi-way valve is used in a water purifier, the size of the multi-way valve increases the amount of fluid retained inside the multi-way valve, resulting in a problem of unsanitation. There is also a problem that the multi-way valve becomes expensive due to the increase in the number of parts.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-way valve which is excellent in durability and can reduce the amount of stagnant fluid when used in a water purifier.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an upper chamber having a fluid inlet formed by a partition wall having a plurality of communication ports, and a plurality of communication ports. A valve case having a lower chamber having a fluid outlet and communicating with the upper chamber; and a valve case provided in the upper chamber corresponding to each communication port and closing the communication port by its own weight and / or fluid pressure. A plurality of valve bodies, and a valve body moving means for moving any one of the valve bodies to open a desired communication port, and the valve body has a vertical cross-sectional shape of the valve body in the vertical direction. It features an asymmetric multi-way valve.

Here, the valve body moving means moves the valve body upward by a cam provided on the valve body moving means to open the communication port, and the valve body has a vertical sectional shape. It is preferable that it is T-shaped or V-shaped, and that at least a part of the valve body or the partition wall is formed of an elastic body.

Further, a water purifier having any one of the above-mentioned multi-way valves is also a preferred embodiment.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A multi-way valve according to the present invention can be suitably used for a water purifier or the like as shown in FIG.
The water purifier 10 includes a flow path switch 11 and a cartridge 12
It is directly fixed to a water tap with a fixture 14 provided in the flow path switch 11.

The flow path switching device 11 comprises a fixture 14, a valve case 18, and a valve body moving means including a switching lever 19 and the like.

The switching lever 1 is provided inside the valve case 18.
9, three communication ports 18 provided in parallel with the rotation shaft 23.
The upper chamber 18e and the lower chamber 18f are divided by a partition wall 18d having a, 18b, and 18c. The upper chamber 18e is provided with a raw water inlet 15 for introducing raw water from a water tap, and the lower chamber 18f is supplied with a raw water inlet 16 for supplying raw water to the cartridge 12, and the raw water flows out in a straight shape. Raw water outlet 17a, and raw water outlet 17b through which raw water flows out in a shower form
Is provided. The upper chamber is watertightly engaged with the communication ports 18a, 18b, and 18c from above by its own weight and fluid pressure, and the lower end projects into the lower chamber 18f in the engaged state. V-shaped valve element 18a
1, 18b1 and 18c1 are provided.

At the top of the valve case 18, there is provided a fixture 14 for connecting to a water tap.
The fixing device 14 includes a ring-shaped rubber packing 20, a holding ring 21, and a cap 22. The water faucet and the valve case 18 are connected to each other without water leakage by the female screw and the male screw formed on the cap 22 and the valve case 18, respectively. Concatenate. With this configuration, the valve bodies 18a1, 18b
Inspection and replacement of 1, 18c1 can be easily achieved by removing the fixture 14 from the valve case 18 and opening the upper part of the upper chamber 18e.

The valve body moving means includes a switching lever 19.
And a rotation shaft 23 provided on the switching lever 19.
Can be rotated by a predetermined angle. It is preferable that the rotation shaft 23 be provided with a click stop mechanism 19b for determining a rotation angle. The rotating shaft 23 is provided with a seal ring 23d at a predetermined position, and the seal ring 23d is watertightly engaged with the inner wall surface of the lower chamber 18f. , Communication port 18b
Is the raw water outlet 17a, and the communication port 18c is the raw water outlet 17
The flow passages respectively communicating with b are formed. The rotating shaft 23 is provided with cams 23a, 23b, 23c for pushing up the valve body at positions corresponding to the respective communication ports. The cams 23a, 23b and 23c are preferably formed integrally with the rotating shaft 23 by means such as injection molding in terms of production efficiency. Also, the cams 23a, 23b, 23c
By selectively turning the rotation shaft 23 upward by 90 °, the valve element engaged with the corresponding communication port is pushed up, and the communication port can be opened. When the valve is pushed up and the communication port is opened as described above, the raw water inlet 15 and any one of the raw water inlet 16, the raw water outlet 17a, and the raw water outlet 17b communicate with each other.
The amount of pushing up of the valve body is 1 mm or more so as to secure a water flow amount, and 3 m in order to make the valve case 18 smaller and reduce the amount of accumulated water to make it sanitary.
m or less.

Then, the valve elements 18a1, 18b1, 18c
1 has a T-shaped longitudinal cross-section and is asymmetric in the vertical direction, as shown by a valve element 18a1 in FIG.
And a shaft portion 18a3. The umbrella portion 18a2 has a function of closing the communicating opening to be engaged, and the shaft portion 18a3 is for allowing the valve body 18a1 itself to move up and down by contacting the cam of the rotating shaft 23. It has a positioning function so that it does not come off from the communication port. And umbrella part 1
8a2 is provided with a sealing member (elastic body) 18a4 for improving the sealing performance. The sealing member is
The partition wall 18d of the valve case 18 instead of the umbrella 18a2
May be provided on both the umbrella portion 18a2 and the partition wall 18d in order to obtain higher sealing performance. Rubber, resin, cloth, or the like can be suitably used as the seal member. Further, the shaft portion 18a3 preferably has a spline shape in order to secure a positioning function for preventing the shaft portion 18a3 from coming off from the communication port 18a and a water flow passage. However, a rib or a hole is provided to secure the water flow passage. , Shaft diameter to communication port 18
By making it smaller than a, a water passage may be secured.

As described above, in the multiway valve of the present invention,
It is divided into a part that closes the communication port (umbrella part) and a part that drives the valve body itself (shaft part). The cam does not contact the closing part, so the wear of the closing part is prevented, and the valve body itself is durable. Performance can be greatly improved as compared with the related art. Further, the multi-way valve body of the present invention may be any valve body having a T-shaped vertical cross-section, as well as a V-shaped, inverted triangular, or trapezoidal shape as long as it is asymmetric in the vertical direction. Good. Since the longitudinal cross-sectional shape is asymmetric in the longitudinal direction, it is possible to increase the obstruction of the communication port due to only the own weight of the valve body and the fluid pressure. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a conventionally used spring or the like to enhance the obstruction of the communication port. as a result,
The number of parts can be reduced and the valve can be downsized. On the other hand, in a valve using a ball having a symmetrical shape in the longitudinal section in the longitudinal direction, the closing portion of the communication port and the driving portion of the valve body are not separated, so the valve body is worn by the cam due to repeated switching, The worn portion pivots and moves to the closing portion, which causes a decrease in the closing property. Further, in a valve using a valve body having a cross shape or a rhombus in vertical cross section, the center of gravity of the valve body itself becomes high, and the communication port cannot be sufficiently closed only by the own weight of the valve body or the fluid pressure.

On the other hand, the cartridge 12 shown in FIG. 1 has a hollow fiber membrane bundle module 28 formed by bundling hollow fiber membranes 27 in a container 26 and bending the bundle into a U-shape, activated carbon, zeolite, ion exchange resin, and the like. An adsorbent 29 made of a chelate resin or the like is loaded. The container 26 has a raw water receiving port 2 connected to the raw water supply port 16 of the flow path switch 11.
4 is provided on the side of the container 26, and a plurality of shower holes (filtered water supply ports) 25 for filtering raw water taken in from the raw water receiving port 24 and discharging the filtered water as filtered water are provided at the lower portion of the container 26. ing. And in the upper part of the container 26,
A transparent lid 30 is provided so that the degree of contamination of the hollow fiber membrane 27 can be checked from the outside. Further, an opaque lid 31 is provided on the transparent lid 30 so as to be detachable from the container 26. In addition, the flow path switch 11 and the cartridge 1
3, is connected by a bayonet mechanism or the like that fits the female part 32 provided in the flow path switch 11 and the male part 33 provided in the cartridge 12 as shown in FIG.

In the water purifier using the multi-way valve of the present invention having the above-described structure, the cam 23a of the rotating shaft 23 is connected to the valve body 18 when the switching lever 19 is at 12:00 as shown in FIG.
a1 is pushed up to open the communication port 18a. as a result,
The raw water that has flowed from the water tap into the upper chamber 18e through the raw water inlet 15 flows into the cartridge 12 through the communication port 18a and the raw water supply port 16. At this time, since the cartridge 12 and the flow path switch 11 are connected to each other in a watertight manner via the ring-shaped rubber packing 39 by the above-mentioned bayonet mechanism, it is possible to prevent raw water from leaking from this portion to the outside. Then, in the raw water flowing into the cartridge 12, chlorine and organic substances are adsorbed and removed by the adsorbent 29, and then red rust and bacteria are filtered by the hollow fiber membrane 27. The treated water from which the impurities have been filtered is supplied to the shower hole 25.
From the filter water.

Next, when the switching lever 19 is rotated clockwise to the 3 o'clock position, as shown in FIG.
The valve body 18b1 is pushed up by the cam 23b to open the communication port 18b. Therefore, the raw water inlet 15
The raw water flowing into the upper chamber 18e flows out of the raw water outlet 17a in a straight shape without being filtered. Then, the switching lever 19 is further rotated by 90 ° to 6
In this state, the valve element 18c1 is pushed up by the cam 23c of the rotating shaft 23, and the communication port 18c is opened. As a result, the upper chamber 1 through the raw water inlet 15 from the water tap
The raw water flowing into 8e flows out as raw shower water from the raw water outlet 17b without being filtered.

[0019]

According to the multi-way valve of the present invention, the valve body is divided into a portion for closing the communication port (umbrella portion) and a portion for driving the valve body itself (shaft portion), and the cam does not contact the closing portion. Therefore, the wear of the closing portion can be prevented, and the durability of the valve body itself can be greatly improved as compared with the related art. In addition, since the longitudinal cross-sectional shape is asymmetric in the longitudinal direction, it is possible to increase the obstruction of the communication port by only the own weight of the valve body and the fluid pressure, and as a result, the communication port is conventionally formed using a spring or the like. It is not necessary to increase the obstruction, and it is possible to reduce the number of parts, reduce the size of the valve body, and reduce the amount of fluid retained in the multi-way valve.

Here, when the valve body is moved by the cam, the cam moves one of the valve bodies upward to open the corresponding communication port, so that the valve body is compared with the conventional multi-way valve. The moving distance of the multi-way valve can be reduced, and the size of the multi-way valve can be further reduced. As a result, the amount of fluid retained inside the multi-way valve can be further reduced. Further, when at least a part of the valve body is formed of an elastic body, it is possible to enhance the sealing performance when closing the communication port.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a water purifier showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a valve body used in the water purifier of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a bayonet mechanism of the water purifier of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Water purifier 11: Channel switch 12: Cartridge 14: Fixture 15: Raw water inlet 16: Raw water outlet 17b: Raw water outlet 17b: Raw water outlet 18: Valve case 18a: Communication port 18a1: Valve 18a2 : Valve head 18a3: Shaft 18a4: Seal member (elastic body) 18b: Communication port 18b1: Valve 18c: Communication port 18c1: Valve 18d: Partition wall 18e: Upper chamber 18f: Lower chamber 18b: Communication port 18c: Communication Mouth 19: Switching lever 19b: Click stop mechanism 20: Ring-shaped rubber packing 21: Pressing ring 22: Cap 23: Rotating shaft 23a: Cam 23b: Cam 23c: Cam 23d: Seal ring 24: Raw water receiving port 25: Shower hole 26: Container 27: Hollow fiber membrane 28: Hollow fiber membrane module 29: Adsorbent 30: Transparent lid 31: Impermeable Light lid 32: Female part 33: Male part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3H067 AA03 AA32 BB02 BB12 CC60 DD03 DD12 DD22 EA25 FF11 GG13 4D006 GA02 HA03 HA91 JA63A KA02 KA03 KB12 KD09 KD19 MA01 PA01 PB06 PB22 PC52

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An upper chamber having a fluid inlet formed by a partition wall having a plurality of communication ports, and a lower chamber having a fluid outlet connected to the upper chamber by the plurality of communication ports. And a plurality of valve elements provided in the upper chamber corresponding to the respective communication ports and closing the communication ports by its own weight and / or fluid pressure, and any of the valve elements. A multi-way valve, comprising: a valve body moving means for moving the valve to open a desired communication port; and wherein the valve body has a vertically sectional asymmetric shape in the longitudinal direction. 2. The multi-way valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve body moving means moves the valve body upward by a cam provided on the valve body moving means to open a communication port. 3. The multi-way valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve element has a T-shaped or V-shaped vertical cross-sectional shape. 4. The multi-way valve according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the valve body is formed of an elastic body. 5. The multi-way valve according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the partition wall is formed of an elastic body. 6. A water purifier having the multi-way valve according to claim 1.