Filtration unit and portable water purification device using this filtration unit

Abstract

To provide a portable water purification manufacturing device which is small and lightweight, has good storage stability, and can be easily transported to a location where the device is needed when a disaster occurs.SOLUTION: A filter unit includes: a hollow box-shaped pipe part 70 in which pipes are installed; a twin filter which is constituted of a first module 101 attached to the upper side of the pipe part and having a cylindrical first filter element 10, and a second module 102 having a cylindrical second filter element 20; a first valve 14 which switches pipes to supply raw water to both or one of the first filter element and the second filter element; a second valve 40 which switches pipes to supply purified water processed at both of the first module and the second module to a purified water lead-out passage and switches a pipe to supply the purified water from one of the first module and the second module as back washing water of the other; and a pressure gauge 33 which displays a water pressure of a raw water introduction passage to check a rough indication for switching each filter element to back washing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a small water purification device, and in particular to a filtration unit that does not require replacement of filtration material, and a manually-driven portable water purification device that uses this filtration unit, is easy to move, transport, and handle, and is highly safe to store. [Background technology]

[0002] Securing clean drinking water is of utmost importance for survival in disaster areas where it is difficult or impossible to secure power sources, such as outdoors or in areas where it is not possible to secure energy to drive pumps. In recent years, in order to secure water and electricity in the event of a disaster, disaster prevention equipment such as food, generators, and water purification systems are stockpiled at disaster prevention base facilities, and in the event of a disaster, the disaster prevention equipment is removed from there and transported to the affected area.

[0003] In areas where purified water is in demand, the power grid is often lost and electrically powered water purifiers cannot be used. Furthermore, even if water purification equipment is transported from a disaster prevention base to an area where purified water is in demand, a certain level of experience and knowledge is required to operate it. In consideration of such a situation, manually driven and portable water purifiers such as those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have been proposed.

[0004] Providing clean water in disaster-stricken areas is the most important aspect of disaster prevention. However, many of the existing water purification devices are difficult to transport due to their size and weight, and not all of them are easy to operate. Patent Document 1 discloses a portable water purifier that uses an activated carbon filter and a UF membrane filter to purify raw water pumped up by a foot-operated diaphragm pump. Regarding filter cleaning, Patent Document 1 states that "the filter can be backwashed by injecting pure water into the outlet side of the filter."

[0005] Patent Document 2 discloses a mobile water maker that is installed on the carrier of a bicycle, and uses pedal rotation to rotate a pump to draw up raw water, which is then passed through a filter (filtering element) to produce purified water. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Utility Model Registration No. 3120876 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-86934 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] Conventional water purification equipment is generally large and heavy, making it difficult for one person to handle, and it is rare for an ordinary person to be able to easily transport and operate it. There are also small, portable water purification equipment, but even if they are easy to transport to installation locations where purified water is needed, there is room for improvement in terms of ease of storage at disaster prevention bases during peacetime and efficient use of storage space. Furthermore, filtration filters do not operate forever and require replacement or cleaning of the filter media at a predetermined time point. In the case of filters that require cleaning, specialized knowledge is required to separate the filter media from the device, which is time-consuming and reduces the efficiency of purified water production.

[0008] The first object of the present invention is to provide a filtration unit that is versatile enough to be applied to various types of water purification equipment by unitizing the filtration function parts and eliminating the need to remove or replace the filter material. The second object of the present invention is to provide a portable, manually operated water purification device that uses the above-mentioned filtration unit and is small, lightweight, easy to store, and can be easily transported to places where purified water is needed in the event of a disaster, etc., and that can be operated even by beginners. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to achieve the first objective, the filtration unit (also referred to as a filter unit) of the present invention does not require the removal, cleaning, or replacement of the filter material (filter), and its representative configuration will be described together with the symbols attached to the configuration of the embodiment, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the configurations attached with the symbols.

[0010] (1) The filtration unit of the present invention is a unit formed by combining the main mechanisms of a raw water purifier used in a purified water production system for purifying raw water to obtain drinking water. In other words, it realizes backwashing of the filter material (filter) that filters raw water, eliminating the need to remove it for cleaning or replacing it to restore its function, and by unitizing the filtering function part, it has versatility for application to water purification equipment with different external shapes and purified water production capacities. The system includes a manual pump 31, a strainer 32, a raw water inlet 61 (61a, 61b, 61c), a purified water outlet 51 (51a, 51b, 51c), a purified water distribution channel (purified water supply channel) 53, an undesired water discharge channel (drain) 54, and necessary piping including hoses. To the department A hollow box-shaped piping section 70 installed and housed therein; a twin filter including a first module 101 having a first filtration element 10 that is attached in an upright state on the piping section 70 and has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and a second module 102 having a second filtration element 20; a first valve 14 for switching piping for supplying raw water to both or one of the filtration element 10 of the first module 101 and the filtration element 20 of the second module 102; a second valve 40 for switching the piping for supplying purified water treated in both the first module 101 and the second module 102 to the purified water outlet path 51, and for switching the piping so that purified water from one of the first module 101 and the second module 102 is supplied as backwash water to the other module; A pressure gauge 33 is attached to the piping section 70 to display the water pressure of the raw water inlet passage 61 in order to confirm the guideline for switching the first module 101 and the second module 102 to backwashing.

[0011] (2) The first module 101 and the second module 102 constituting the filtration unit 100 are a ceramic hollow capillary bundle 11a formed by bundling a large number of ceramic hollow capillaries 11, each having an opening 13 at its upper end open and an opening at its lower end sealed with a plugging material; a cylindrical hollow container 16 for accommodating the ceramic hollow capillary bundle 11a; a fixed clogging member 12 for clogging the periphery of each upper end opening of the ceramic hollow capillaries 11 constituting the ceramic hollow capillary bundle 11a and the region extending over the inner wall of the hollow vessel 16 near the upper end thereof; a lower cylinder 17 disposed in the lower end region of the hollow vessel 16; and a lower cover 10a having a lower nozzle 42 for sealing the lower end of the lower cylinder 17 and receiving raw water; It is characterized by being composed of an upper cylinder 18 installed in the upper end region of the hollow container 16, and an upper cover body 10b having an upper nozzle 41 that seals the upper end of the upper cylinder 18 and dispenses purified water.

[0012] (3) The ceramic hollow thin tube bundle 11a is characterized by having a bundling material 15 for integrally fixing the lower ends of the ceramic hollow thin tube bundle 11a.

[0013] (4) The binding material 15 is characterized in that the longitudinal section on the raw water inlet side is a straight plane.

[0014] (5) The longitudinal section of the binding material 15 on the raw water inlet side is a curved surface that is a cycloid curve that is symmetrical about the center of the raw water inlet side and concave inward.

[0015] (6) The first valve 14, the second valve 40, and the pressure gauge 33 are detachable and are installed so that their position and orientation can be arbitrarily set, and are capable of being adapted to the shape of the housing of the water purification manufacturing device to which they are applied.

[0016] In order to achieve the second objective, the portable water purification device of the present invention does not require the removal, cleaning, or replacement of the filter material (filter), and its representative configuration will be described with the symbols attached to the configuration of the embodiment, but as above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the configurations attached with the symbols.

[0017] (7) The portable water purification device according to the present invention is a manually driven portable water purification device using a filtration unit that has versatility for application to water purification devices by unitizing the filtration function part, which does not require removal, cleaning, or replacement of the filter material. The system is composed of a main body case 80 and an accessory storage section 81 located on top of the main body case 80, which stores a manual pump, hoses for drawing up raw water, supplying purified water, and draining, a strainer attached to the raw water drawing hose, etc. The filtration unit 100 according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is housed inside the main body case 80, A window 85 for observing the first filtration element 10 and the second filtration element 20 that constitute the first module 101 of the filtration unit 100 described in any one of claims 1 to 6, a pressure gauge 33 that displays the pressure of the raw water 60 being pumped, an operating knob 14a of the first valve 14, and an operating knob 40a of the second valve 40 are arranged on one side of the main body case 80.

[0018] (8) The main body case 80 is characterized in that it is provided on one side thereof with a raw water nozzle 80a for connecting a raw water pumping hose, a drain valve 80b for discharging backwash treated water, and a purified water nozzle 80c for supplying purified water to users.

[0019] (9) The raw water nozzle 80a, the drain valve 80b for discharging backwash treated water, and the purified water nozzle 80c are all or partly provided with a rotating structure that retracts into the interior from the side of the main body case 80 when not in use, and when in use, is pulled out by hand and protrudes from the side.

[0020] (10) The accessory storage section 81 is detachably mounted on the main body case 80 by a simple locking mechanism, and is used as a base on which the main body case 80 is placed when producing purified water.

[0021] The present invention is not limited to the above configurations and the configurations of the examples described in the embodiments below, and it goes without saying that various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention. [Effects of the Invention]

[0022] The filtration unit of the present invention provides the core part of a water purification device as a unit, and backwashing of the filter material can be performed simply by switching the valve, eliminating the need to remove, clean, or replace the filter material, and allowing operation without the need for specialized knowledge. Furthermore, the portable water purification device of the present invention can be used with multiple units installed in parallel in a single housing, with the positions of the control knobs and pressure gauges set arbitrarily depending on the external shape and the required purified water production capacity. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an embodiment of a filtration unit according to the present invention; [Figure 2] 2A and 2B are a perspective view and a bottom view, respectively, of the first filtration element and the second filtration unit shown in FIG. 1, with a portion cut away to explain the first filtration element; [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating a first module and a second module including the filtration element shown in FIG. 2 ; [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating the overall configuration of the first module and the second module including the filtration element shown in FIG. 3, using the first module as an example. [Figure 5] Cross-sectional view of the first filtration element to explain the backwashing of the first and second filtration elements [Figure 6] A schematic diagram illustrating the water flow path when water is purified using both the first and second filtration elements. [Figure 7] A schematic diagram illustrating the flow path when backwashing one of the first and second filtration elements, showing how the second filtration element is backwashed with purified water from the first filtration element. [Figure 8] A schematic diagram illustrating a flow path when purified water from one of the first and second filtration elements is supplied to a user while a portion of the purified water is used as backwash water for the other filtration element, showing how the second filtration element is backwashed with a portion of the purified water from the first filtration element. [Figure 9] 1A and 1B are front and rear perspective views illustrating an example of the overall shape of a portable water purification device according to the present invention; [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of assembly of a filtration unit of a portable water purification device according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] Hereinafter, a filtration unit according to the present invention and a portable water purification device using this filtration unit will be described in detail using examples.

[0025] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of one embodiment of a filtration unit according to the present invention. This filtration unit 100 has a first module 101 and a second module 102 installed upright on a piping section 70, and a first valve 14, a second valve 40, and a pressure gauge 33 semi-fixedly attached. The following description will also refer to Figs. 2 to 8.

[0026] The filtration unit 100 of this embodiment is a unit that combines the main mechanisms of a raw water purification device used in a water purification manufacturing system to obtain safe drinking water by purifying raw water by removing bacteria, pathogens, and other impurities from the water. The first filtration element 10 and the second filtration element 20 employ a so-called dead-flow filtration method. The portable water purification device of the present invention realizes back-washing of the filter material (filter) that filters raw water 60, eliminating the need to remove, clean, or replace the filter material to restore its reduced functionality, and by unitizing the filtering function part, it is versatile enough to be applied to water purification devices with different external shapes, purified water production capacities, etc. Since the present invention is configured as a small-capacity purified water production device, it can be used with just one filtration unit 100, and in situations where a larger capacity is required, it is easy to use two or more filtration units 100 in parallel operation to produce large volumes of purified water.

[0027] Inside the hollow box-shaped piping section 70, the piping necessary for the device is installed, including raw water inlet passages 61 (61a, 61b, 61c), purified water outlet passages 51 (51a, 51b, 51c), purified water distribution passage 53, and waste water discharge passage (drain passage) 54 (see Figure 6). A twin filter consisting of a first module 101 having a first filtration element 10 which is cylindrical overall, and a second module 102 having a second filtration element 20 is attached in an upright state to the upper surface of the piping section 70.

[0028] The first valve 14 is a three-way switching valve (three-port valve) that switches the piping that supplies raw water to both or one of the first filtration element 10 of the first module 101 and the second filtration element 20 of the second module 102 . In addition, the second valve 40 is a three-way switching valve (three-way valve) that switches the piping to supply purified water treated in both the first module 101 and the second module 102 to the purified water outlet path 51, and switches the piping to supply purified water from one of the first module 101 and the second module 102 as backwash water to the other module.

[0029] A pressure gauge 33 is attached to the upper surface of the piping section 70 to display the water pressure of the raw water inlet passage 61 in order to confirm the guideline for switching the first module 101 (the first filtration element 10) and the second module 102 (the second filtration element 20) to backwashing.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the overall configuration of the first module and the second module including the filter element shown in FIG. 3, taking the first module as an example. The first module 101 is fixed to the upper surface of the piping section 70 by a lower cover 10a provided at the lower end of the first filtering element 10 and by multiple fixing rods 10c (three in this embodiment, arranged at 120-degree intervals) passing through the periphery of an upper cover 10b provided at the upper end (FIG. 1).

[0031] Similarly, the second module 102 is fixed to the upper surface of the piping section 70 by screws using a lower cover 20a provided at the lower end of the second filtering element 20 and multiple fixing rods 20c (three in this embodiment, arranged at 120-degree intervals) that pass through the periphery of the upper cover 20b provided at the upper end (Figure 1).

[0032] In this embodiment, a first valve 14 and a second valve 40 are installed in front of a first module 101 and a second module 102. Reference numeral 14a denotes an operating knob for the first valve 14, and 40a denotes an operating knob for the second valve 40. Furthermore, a pressure gauge 33 is also provided. The first valve 14, the second valve 40, and the pressure gauge 33 are provided with adjustment plates 71a, 71b that allow the positions and inclinations of the operation knobs to be selected as desired. This adjustment can be made by a known means that utilizes the amount of rotation of a screw, etc.

[0033] In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, upper nozzles 41 for extracting purified water are provided in the central portion of the upper cover body 10b of the first module 101 and the central portion of the upper cover body 20b of the second module 102 (Figure 4). Additionally, multiple openings 71 are formed on the side of the piping section 70. These openings 71 are outlets for a raw water nozzle 80a, a drain valve 80b, a purified water nozzle 80c, etc., which will be described later, and their positions and sizes can be selected according to the design of the purified water manufacturing device to which they are applied.

[0034] By using the twin filter unit 100 configured in this manner, it is possible to easily configure a water purification device that can be carried by the general public without specialized knowledge, is easy to operate, and has a capacity suitable for a certain desired capacity.

[0035] Since the first module 101 and the second module 102 have the same structure, FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described using the first module 101 as an example. In the present invention, the first module 101 constituting the filtration unit 100 has a cylindrical hollow container 16 that houses a ceramic hollow capillary bundle 11a formed by bundling a large number of ceramic hollow capillaries 11, the upper end of which has an opening 13 open and the lower end of which has an opening sealed with a sealing material such as a resin material, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The lower ends of the ceramic hollow thin tube bundle 11a are bound with a binding material 15 made of resin, metal, ceramics, etc. The gap between the lower end openings of the ceramic hollow thin tubes 11 and the binding material 15 is sealed by filling with a resin adhesive or the like.

[0036] FIG. 3(a) shows an example in which the surface of the binding material 15 that receives raw water is flat. The raw water 200 introduced by the pump is dispersed evenly in a 360-degree direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the first filtration element 10 on the flat surface of the binding material 15 and introduced into the ceramic hollow capillaries 11 as dead flow 250. As a result, the raw water 200 is supplied evenly to the large number of ceramic hollow capillaries 11 without bias, and purified water can be produced efficiently.

[0037] Figure 3 (b) shows another example in which the surface of the binding material 15 that receives raw water is a curved surface in which the longitudinal cross section of the binding material 15 on the raw water inlet side is a cycloid curve centered on the center of the raw water inlet side (here, for convenience, it is referred to as a cycloid curved surface). The raw water 200 introduced by the pump flows at a uniform speed around the lower end of the ceramic hollow thin tube bundle 11a due to this cycloid curved surface 15a, thereby reducing turbulence and enabling purified water to be produced with less noise.

[0038] In other words, the filtration unit 100 constituting the portable water purification apparatus of the present invention is a dead flow type in which the area around each upper end opening 13 of the ceramic hollow capillaries 11 constituting the ceramic hollow capillary bundle 11a (the upper end side wall of each ceramic hollow capillary 11) and the area extending to the inner wall near the upper end of the hollow container 16 are blocked with a fixed blocking material 12, and raw water 200 infiltrates from the side wall of each ceramic hollow capillary 11 constituting the ceramic hollow capillary bundle 11a as shown by the symbol 250, and filtered purified water 300 flows out from the opening 13.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 4, a lower cylinder 17 is installed in the lower end region of the hollow vessel 16, extending into the lower end region of the hollow vessel 16. A lower cover 10a having a lower nozzle 42 that seals the lower part of the lower cylinder 17 and receives raw water 200 is installed airtightly via an O-ring 10c or the like.

[0040] In addition, an upper cylinder 18 is installed in the upper end region of the hollow container 16 so as to form a purified water retention volume 180 (see Figure 3), and an upper cover body 10b having an upper nozzle 41 that seals the upper end of the upper cylinder 18 and dispenses purified water 300 is installed airtightly via an O-ring 10g or the like. The purified water retention volume 180 shown in FIG. 3 has the effect of reducing the influence of the pulsation of the intake water flow caused by the manual pump on the amount of purified water discharged.

[0041] Furthermore, in the filtration unit 100 according to the present invention, the first valve 14, the second valve 40, and the pressure gauge 33 are temporarily and detachably fixed to the piping section 70 during the filtration unit fabrication stage, and are attached so that their positions and orientations can be arbitrarily set. This means that there is a degree of freedom in installation depending on the shape of the housing of the water purification device to which it is applied. Therefore, the installation position and installation method are not particularly limited, and they can also be fixed to the piping section 70.

[0042] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the backwashing of the first filter element and the second filter element, using the first filter element as an example. The cleaning of the filters in the filtration unit 100 according to the present invention is carried out by backwashing. For example, first, the raw water 60 is purified by the second filter element 20 . Then, the purified water 300 purified by the second filtration element 20 enters the purified water retention volume 180 through the upper nozzle 41 provided on the upper cover body 10b in Figure 4 and flows into each opening 13 of each ceramic hollow capillary 11 that makes up the ceramic hollow tube bundle 11a.

[0043] The purified water 300 passes through each of the ceramic hollow capillaries 11 constituting the ceramic hollow tube bundle 11a as backwash water and is pushed out as backwash treated water 350 onto the side walls thereof as appropriate. By pushing out this backwash treated water 350, foreign matter (pollutants, etc.) such as bacteria, pathogens, impurities, etc. remaining in the micropores in the walls of the ceramic hollow capillaries 11 are peeled off and released together with the backwash water, and are discarded (wastewater 400) through the waste water discharge path (drain) described below.

[0044] [Normal water purification mode] The operation of the filtration unit according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the water flow path when water is purified by both the first filter element and the second filter element. In this purified water production operation (normal purified water mode), the first valve 14 opens the three raw water inlet passages 61 (61b, 61c) so that raw water flows into the first filtration element 10 and the second filtration element 20. The pump used is a manual pump 31. The manual pump 31 may be operated by hand or by foot, and for example, in the case of a foot pump, a so-called diaphragm pump that can be operated with a relatively small force is suitable. By operating this manual pump 31, raw water 60 from the raw water tank (or river, lake, reservoir, etc.) 30 is pumped up through the strainer 32 and introduced in the following flow: raw water inlet passage 61a → raw water inlet passage 61b → first filtration element 10, and raw water inlet passage 61a → raw water inlet passage 61c → second filtration element 20.

[0045] The purified water that has passed through the first filtration element 10 and the second filtration element 20 flows out from the upper nozzle 41 of each module. At this time, the second valve 40 is switched so that the purified water outlet path 51a on the first module 101 side and the purified water outlet path 51b on the second module 102 side communicate with the purified water outlet path 51c. Therefore, purified water 50 that has passed through the first filter element 10 and the second filter element 20 is supplied to the user through the purified water outlet path 51c and the purified water distribution path 53. In addition, a waste water discharge channel (drain) 54 connected to the lower end of the lower cylinder 17, a first drain valve 19, and a second drain valve 29 are attached to the lower part of the first module 101 and the second module 102, and in this normal water purification mode, the first drain valve 19 and the second drain valve 29 are both in a closed state.

[0046] A pressure gauge 33 that displays the pressure of the raw water 60 pumped up by the manual pump 31 is attached to the raw water inlet 61 a. In the dead-end water purification process using the ceramic hollow capillaries 11, the micropores in the walls of the ceramic hollow capillaries 11 become clogged with impurities, and the pressure (water pressure) required to pass through the walls gradually increases. The pressure gauge 33 measures and displays the water pressure in the raw water inlet 61a. Whether or not the filter element should be cleaned can be determined during product testing, so it can be easily recognized by displaying a warning (instruction) such as a red area on the display surface of the pressure gauge 33. When the indication of this pressure gauge reaches a predetermined value, the system switches to backwashing mode.

[0047] [Backwashing mode] The filtration unit 100 according to the present invention includes two filtration elements (10, 20) and is a backwashing system in which one element is washed using purified water that has been treated by the other element. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the flow path of water when backwashing one of the first filter element and the second filter element, showing how the second filter element is backwashed with purified water from the first filter element. In this backwashing mode, the first valve 14 and the second valve 40 are switched as follows.

[0048] The first valve 14 is switched to a flow path in which raw water 60 pumped up by the manual pump 31 flows from the raw water inlet passage 61a through the raw water inlet passage 61b to the first filtration element 10. At the same time, the second valve 40 is switched so that purified water from the first filtration element 10 flows from the purified water outlet path 51a to the second filtration element 20 through the purified water outlet path 51b. Furthermore, the second drain valve 29 located below the second filtration element 20 is opened.

[0049] As a result, the purified water produced by the first filtration element 10 backwashes the ceramic hollow tube bundle 11a of the second filtration element 20, and the washed treated water is discharged from the waste water discharge channel (drain) 54 via the second drain valve 29. The backwashing time is set empirically while observing the indicated amount (reading) of the pressure gauge 33. That is, the reading of the pressure gauge 33 is checked at the start of backwashing, and when it returns to the empirically known value indicated on the pressure gauge, backwashing is stopped at that point.

[0050] When backwashing the first filtration element 10 with the purified water from the second filtration element 20, the first filtration element 10 and the second filtration element 20 in the above description are reversed. Also, the drain valve 29 is closed and the drain valve 19 is opened.

[0051] It is desirable that the display surface of the pressure gauge 33 display the pressure value at the start of filtration operation, a guideline for the pressure value for determining backwashing, and a guideline for when cleaning of one of the filtration elements is completed by processing in the backwashing mode.

[0052] [Simultaneous combined mode of purified water production and backwashing] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case where purified water from one of the first and second filtration elements is supplied to a user while a portion of the purified water is used as backwash water for the other filtration element in a purified water use / backwash combined mode.

[0053] In this mode, the first valve 14 is switched to a flow path in which raw water 60 pumped by the manual pump 31 flows from the raw water inlet passage 61a through the raw water inlet passage 61b to the first filtration element 10, as in the backwashing mode of Figure 7. At the same time, the second valve 40 is switched so that the purified water from the first filtration element 10 flows from the purified water outlet path 51a to the purified water outlet path 51c and passes through the purified water distribution path (purified water supply path) 53 to be available as purified water 50, and a portion of the purified water from the first filtration element 10 flows from the purified water outlet path 51a through the purified water outlet path 51b to the second filtration element 20 and flows in as backwash water 52. Furthermore, the second drain valve 29 located below the second filtration element 20 is opened.

[0054] As a result, the purified water produced by the first filtration element 10 can be provided to the purified water user, and at the same time, the ceramic hollow tube bundle 11a of the second filtration element 20 is back-washed, and the washed treated water is discharged from the second drain valve 29. The backwashing processing time is also set empirically while observing the indicated amount (reading) of the pressure gauge 33. That is, the reading of the pressure gauge 33 is checked at the start of backwashing, and if it returns to the value indicated on the pressure gauge based on the factory test or empirical knowledge, backwashing is stopped at that point. After that, the system is switched to purified water supply mode (operating the foot-operated pump) as necessary.

[0055] When backwashing the first filtration element 10 with the purified water from the second filtration element 20, the first filtration element 10 and the second filtration element 20 in the above description are reversed. Also, the drain valve 29 is closed and the drain valve 19 is opened.

[0056] It is desirable that the display surface of the pressure gauge 33 display the pressure value at the start of filtration operation, a guideline for the pressure value for determining backwashing, and a guideline for when cleaning of one of the filtration elements is completed by processing in the backwashing mode.

[0057] By performing such backwashing, the ceramic hollow capillaries 11, which are the filtering material, do not need to be replaced and can be used semi-permanently, except when they lose their function due to unexpected damage caused by natural disasters, etc. This is an advantage of the filtering material using the ceramic hollow capillaries that cannot be obtained with filtering material made of exchangeable resin, which cannot be backwashed, and it can be said that this is the reason why the material is inexpensive and the running costs are extremely low.

[0058] 9A and 9B are front and rear perspective views, respectively, illustrating an example of the overall shape of a portable water purification device according to the present invention. As described above, the portable water purification device of this embodiment is a manually driven portable water purification device that uses a filtration unit that has versatility in application to water purification devices by unitizing the filtering function part, eliminating the need to remove, clean, or replace the filter media.

[0059] This portable water purification device is composed of a main body case 80 and an accessory storage section 81 located on top of the main body case 80, which stores a hand-powered pump, hoses for drawing raw water, supplying purified water, and draining, and a strainer to be attached to the raw water drawing hose.

[0060] The filtration unit 100 described above is housed inside the main body case 80, and a window 85 for observing the first filtration element 10 that constitutes the first module 101 of the filtration unit 100 and the second filtration element 20 that constitutes the second module 102, a pressure gauge 33 that displays the pressure of the raw water 60 being pumped, an operating knob 14a of the first valve 14, and an operating knob 40a of the second valve 40 are arranged on one of the sides of the main body case 80. Note that the window 85 is not an essential component, and if the design does not require observation of the filtration elements, the front surface may be covered with a housing material.

[0061] On one or more sides of the main body case 80, there are provided a raw water nozzle 80a for connecting a raw water pumping hose, a drain valve 80b for discharging backwash treated water, and a purified water nozzle 80c for supplying purified water to users.

[0062] All or part of the raw water nozzle 80a, the drain valve 80b for discharging backwash treated water, and the purified water nozzle 80c are provided with a rotating structure that retracts into the interior from the side of the main body case 80 when not in use, and protrudes from the side when in use. Reference numeral 80d denotes an auxiliary opening that takes into account cases in which the raw water nozzle 80a, the drain valve 80b for discharging backwash treated water, and the purified water nozzle 80c are relocated.

[0063] The accessory storage section 81 is detachably mounted on the main body case 80 by a locking mechanism 82, and the main body case 80 can be used as a base for placing the filtration unit 100 when producing purified water. In addition, handles 84 that are convenient for carrying are provided on both sides of the main body case 80. The accessory storage section 81 may be configured to open from the main body case 80 by means of a hinge. It goes without saying that the accessory storage section 81 may be attached to the bottom, side or back of the main body case 80.

[0064] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of assembly of the filtration unit 100 of the portable water purification apparatus according to the present invention. The filtration unit 100 of the portable water purification apparatus of the present invention is configured to be freely attached and detachable to the top surface of the piping section 70, and includes two filter elements (first filtration element 10, second filtration element 20) that serve as filtering media, a first valve 14 that switches the piping that supplies raw water to one or both of the two filter elements, a second valve 40 that switches the piping so that purified water from one filter element is supplied to the other filter element as backwash water, and a pressure gauge 33 that displays the water pressure in the raw water inlet passage 61 to indicate when to switch to backwashing.

[0065] The piping section 70 is internally installed with the piping necessary for the device, such as the raw water inlet channel 61, the purified water outlet channel 51, the purified water distribution channel 53, and the waste water discharge channel 54. When in use, the filtration unit 100 is assembled by attaching and installing the respective piping, the first filtration element 10, the second filtration element 20, the first valve 14, the second valve 40, the pressure gauge 33, and other components such as the raw water nozzle 80a, the drain valve 80b for discharging backwash treated water, and the purified water nozzle 80c.

[0066] On the other hand, when the portable water purification device of the present invention is not in use, the piping of the piping section 70, the first filter element 10, the second filter element 20, the first valve 14, the second valve 40, and the pressure gauge 33 are removed, disassembled into individual components, and stored in the main body case 80 for storage.

[0067] In this way, each component can be disassembled and stored inside the main body case 80, so it can be safely stored even in a small storage space, and by attaching a carrier to the main body case 80, anyone can transport it. 10 has a simple structure, and anyone can intuitively assemble it without prior knowledge, and since no complicated operations are required, purified water can be easily produced even in emergencies, etc. Furthermore, since it is configured to use a manual pump 31 such as a foot pump, no power source is required, and purified water can be produced regardless of the environment. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the two filter elements are designed so that they can be reverse-cleaned by switching the valve, eliminating the need to remove and clean the filter media during use, and eliminating the need to prepare and replace separate filter media even after extended use, reducing maintenance costs.The filter elements can also be cleaned while producing purified water, allowing for continuous production of purified water, making this a portable water purification device that is useful in any situation where purified water is required. [Industrial Applicability]

[0068] As explained above, the present invention is a filtration device that uses a ceramic filter assembly made by assembling and integrating filter media made of hollow tubes made of porous ceramics, but it can also be used to filter and separate other liquids in addition to purifying raw water. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 10. First filtering element 10a Lower cover 10b Upper lid 11. Ceramic hollow tube 11a···Ceramic hollow tube bundle 12... Focused and fixed occluding material 13. Ceramic hollow capillary upper end opening 14. First valve 15...Binding material 15a Cycloid surface 16. Hollow container 17 Lower cylinder 18. Upper cylinder 19. First drain valve 20 Second filtration element 21 Second water inlet valve 22 Second Outlet Valve 23. First drain valve 29. Second drain valve 30 Raw water tank 31. Manual pump (foot pump) 32 Strainer 33 Pressure gauge 40... Second valve 41 Upper nozzle 42 Bottom nozzle 50···Purified water (use) 51(51a, 51b, 51c)...Purified water outlet 52 Backwash water (part of purified water) 53 Purified water distribution channel (purified water supply channel) 54. Unwanted water discharge channel (drain channel) 60...raw water 61 (61a, 61b, 61c) Raw water introduction route 70 Piping section 71....Opening (nozzle hole) 80···Main unit case 81···Accessory storage case 82 Rock 84...handle 85...Window 100... Filtration unit 101... First module 102...Second module 180 Purified water storage volume 200...raw water 250 Dead Flow 300 Purified Water 350···Backwash treated water 400...Drainage

Claims

1. A hollow box-shaped piping section in which piping necessary for the device, including piping for a raw water inlet, a purified water outlet, a purified water distribution line, and an undesired water discharge line, is installed; a first module having a first filter element attached in an upright state to an upper surface of the piping section and having an overall cylindrical shape; and a second module having a second filter element having an overall cylindrical shape, a purified water nozzle for discharging or supplying purified water to the first module and the second module is installed; a waste water drainage channel having a drain valve is disposed in each of the first module and the second module; a first raw water inlet passage for supplying raw water to the raw water nozzle of the first module, a second raw water inlet passage for supplying raw water to the raw water nozzle of the second module, and raw water supply passages for supplying raw water from a raw water supply source; a three-way switching first valve connected to the first raw water inlet conduit, the second raw water inlet conduit, and the raw water supply conduit, for switching between supplying raw water from the raw water supply source to only the first raw water inlet conduit, only the second raw water inlet conduit, or both the first raw water inlet conduit and the second raw water inlet conduit; a pressure gauge for measuring and displaying the raw water supply pressure of the first raw water inlet line, the second raw water inlet line, and the raw water supply line; a first purified water supply / outlet passage for supplying or leading out purified water to the purified water nozzle of the first module, a second purified water supply / outlet passage for supplying or leading out purified water to the purified water nozzle of the second module, and a purified water outlet passage for supplying purified water from the first purified water supply / outlet passage and the second purified water supply / outlet passage to a purified water supply passage, a three-way switching second valve connected to the first purified water supply outlet, the second purified water supply outlet, and the purified water outlet to communicate between the first purified water supply outlet and the purified water outlet, or to communicate between the second purified water supply outlet and the purified water outlet, or to switch communication between the first purified water supply outlet and the second purified water supply outlet, the piping section accommodates the piping of the raw water inlet channel, the piping of the purified water outlet channel, the piping of the purified water distribution channel, and the piping of the waste water discharge channel, which are connected to the first module, the second module, the raw water supply channel, the purified water outlet channel, the first valve, and the second valve; the pressure gauge is disposed on an upper surface side of the piping section, and the first valve and the second valve are also disposed side by side; A filtration unit characterized in that a connection status display unit for the first valve and the second valve and a display unit for the pressure gauge are installed facing a front surface of the piping section.

2. the first valve, the second valve, and the pressure gauge are detachably attached so that their positions and orientations can be arbitrarily set; 2. The filtration unit according to claim 1, which is adaptable to the shape of the housing of the water purification device to which it is applied.

3. A water treatment system comprising a main body case and an accessory storage section located on top of the main body case for storing a manual pump, hoses for drawing raw water, supplying purified water, and discharging the drain, and a strainer attached to the raw water drawing hose; 10. A portable water purification device, comprising: a main body case containing the filtration unit according to claim 1.

4. The portable water purification device according to claim 3, characterized in that a raw water nozzle for connecting a raw water pumping hose, a drain valve for discharging backwash treated water, and a purified water nozzle for supplying purified water to users are provided on either side of the main body case.

5. The portable water purification device of claim 4, characterized in that all or part of the raw water nozzle, the drain valve for discharging backwash treated water, and the water purification nozzle are provided with a rotating structure that retracts inside from the side of the main body case when not in use and protrudes from the side when in use.

6. 4. The portable water purification device according to claim 3, wherein the accessory storage section is detachably mounted on the main body case by a locking mechanism and is used as a base on which the main body case is placed when producing purified water.

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