Patent Publication Number: US-2023137383-A1

Title: Dual-purpose houshold water purifier

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to the technical field of water treatment equipment and its surrounding supporting facilities, in particular to a dual-purpose household water purifier. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     At present, most household water purifiers on the market are reverse osmosis water purifiers. The working principle of reverse osmosis is: reverse osmosis is the most precise membrane liquid separation technology. An operating pressure is applied on the inlet water (concentrated solution) side to overcome natural osmotic pressure. When the operating pressure higher than the natural osmotic pressure is applied to the concentrated solution side, a flow direction of the water molecules permeating naturally, will be reversed, and the water molecules in the inlet water (concentrated solution) will partially pass through the reverse osmosis membrane to become the purified water on the dilute solution side. The reverse osmosis equipment can block all soluble salts and organic matter with a molecular weight greater than 100, but allows the water molecules to pass through to achieve purpose of purifying water. 
     The reverse osmosis water purifiers can be used in two modes, one mode is an electric drive reverse osmosis water purifier, and the other is a non-electric drive reverse osmosis water purifier. The electric drive reverse osmosis water purifier is powered by an external power, and the electric energy drives operation of the water purifier. The electric energy provides power for the booster pump in the water purifier. The booster pump pressurizes the water to achieve an optimum water pressure required by reverse osmosis membrane. The non-electric reverse osmosis water purifier has no power input. The purification of the reverse osmosis membrane mainly depends on the water pressure of the tap water. The water molecules pass through the reverse osmosis membrane via the water pressure of the tap water, and other substances are intercepted to achieve purpose of purifying water. 
     In the reverse osmosis water purifiers used in homes, the electric drive water purifiers are widely used, and have lower requirements on water pressure of the raw water. There are even electric self-priming reverse osmosis water purifiers, with no requirements on water pressure of the raw water. The non-electric drive reverse osmosis water purifier has higher requirements on the water pressure of the raw water, the water pressure of the raw water is required to reach 0.2 MPa or above, and the use effect of the non-electric drive water purifier is slightly worse than that of the electric drive water purifier. However, the non-electric drive reverse osmosis water purifier has the advantages of no electronic components inside, low price, simple structure and small size. The non-electric drive reverse osmosis water purifier is especially suitable for homes with no power interface under cabinets in some old communities. 
     However, there are currently no machines on the market that have the advantages of these two reverse osmosis water purifiers at the same time, and users can only choose one according to their actual situation. 
     At present, in order to meet normal use of users, the non-electric drive reverse osmosis water purifiers and most of the electric drive reverse osmosis water purifiers need to be provided with one pressure bucket to store the purified water, and the pressure bucket is an air pressure bucket provided with an airbag therein. Storing and discharging water depends on changes in the airbag pressure. Due to existence of the airbag, the purified water cannot fill the entire pressure bucket, which results in a large volume of the pressure bucket and a longer storage time for the water in the pressure bucket, thereby causing a waste of space resources. 
     Therefore, how to improve current state in the prior art that household water purifiers have certain requirements on water pressure or power, resulting in poor adaptability of household water purifiers, has become an urgent problem for those skilled in the art. 
     SUMMARY 
     An objective of the present embodiment is to provide a dual-purpose household water purifier to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art and improve the adaptability and convenience of use of the household water purifier. 
     In order to achieve the above objective, the present disclosure provides a dual-purpose household water purifier, including: 
     a main unit including a pressure bucket and a filter assembly; the pressure bucket includes a purified water chamber and a tap water chamber, and a partition membrane is arranged between the purified water chamber and the tap water chamber, and the partition membrane is capable of deforming to change volumes of the purified water chamber and the tap water chamber, the tap water chamber is configured for being in communication with a faucet, the purified water chamber is in communication with an outlet of the filter assembly, and the filter assembly is capable of filtering tap water; 
     an expansion unit including a booster pump; 
     the main unit is detachably connected to the expansion unit, and when the main unit is connected with the expansion unit, the booster pump is capable of pressurizing the tap water entering the filter assembly. 
     In some embodiments, the main unit further includes a four-side valve arranged between the pressure bucket and the filter assembly, and a check valve is arranged between the outlet of the filter assembly and the four-side valve. 
     In some embodiments, the filter assembly includes a first-stage filter core, a second-stage filter core and a third-stage filter core arranged in series in sequence, and an outlet of the third-stage filter core is in communication with the purified water chamber. 
     In some embodiments, when the expansion unit is connected with the main unit, the booster pump is located between the first-stage filter core and the second-stage filter core. 
     In some embodiments, the expansion unit further includes a low pressure switch and a water inlet solenoid valve which are communicated with the booster pump. The low pressure switch is arranged close to the first-stage filter core, the boost pump is arranged close to the second-stage filter core, and the water inlet solenoid valve is located between the low pressure switch and the booster pump. 
     In some embodiments, the second-stage filter core is connected with a concentrated water solenoid valve, and filtered concentrated water is discharged through the concentrated water solenoid valve. 
     In some embodiments, the expansion unit is connected with the main unit, a high pressure switch is further provided between the outlet of the filter assembly and the purified water chamber. 
     In some embodiments, the main unit includes a reserved connector and a pipe plug, and the pipe plug is detachably connected to the reserved connector; the expansion unit includes a switching plug adapted to the reserved connector. When the main unit is connected with the expansion unit, the reserved connector is connected to the switching plug; sealing elements are arranged between the reserved connector and the pipe plug, as well as between the reserved connector and the switching plug, respectively. 
     In some embodiments, when the main unit is connected with the expansion unit, the reserved connector is plug-connected to the switching plug. 
     In some embodiments, the expansion unit further includes a controller; and the faucet is a multi-channel switching faucet. 
     Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure has achieved the following technical effects. The dual-purpose household water purifier of the present disclosure includes the main unit and the expansion unit. The main unit includes the pressure bucket and the filter assembly, and the pressure bucket includes the purified water chamber and the tap water chamber. The partition membrane is arranged between the purified water chamber and the tap water chamber. The partition membrane can deform to change volumes of the purified water chamber and the tap water chamber. The tap water chamber is configured for being connected to the faucet, and the purified water chamber is connected to the outlet of the filter assembly. The filter assembly can filter tap water. The expansion unit includes the booster pump; the main unit and the expansion unit can be detachably connected, and when the main unit is connected with the expansion unit, the booster pump can pressurize the tap water entering the filter assembly. 
     In the dual-purpose household water purifier of the present disclosure, the main unit can be used as a non-electric drive water purifier. After the tap water enters the filter assembly and is filtered, the purified water flows into the purified water chamber of the pressure bucket. When the volume of the purified water in the purified water chamber increases, the tap water in the tap water chamber is squeezed out. When the tap water is injected into the tap water chamber of the pressure bucket, the purified water is discharged under the pressure of the tap water chamber, and the user takes the purified water. The filter assembly may adopt forms, such as reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, nano-filtration, and ion exchange, with fewer restrictions on installation of the main unit. In the present disclosure, it is further provided the expansion unit. The expansion unit is detachably connected to the main unit. When the main unit is connected to the expansion unit, the booster pump can pressurize the pipeline, reducing application environmental restrictions on the water purifier. Through arrangement of the expansion unit, the water purifier can be operated in two operation modes of non-electric drive mode and electric drive mode, thereby improving the adaptability and convenience of use of the water purifier. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to explain the embodiments of the present disclosure or the technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, the drawings in the embodiments will be described briefly below. Apparently, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. Other drawings, for those of ordinary skill in the art, can be obtained based on these drawings, without creative efforts. 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic structural diagram of a dual-purpose household water purifier in an assembled state according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic structural diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier in a disassembled state according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic structural diagram of an interior of the dual-purpose household water purifier in the assembled state according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic structural diagram of an interior of the dual-purpose household water purifier in the disassembled state according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  5    is a working principle diagram for a main unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  6    is a working principle diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier when the main unit and an expansion unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier are assembled, according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  7    is a partial structural diagram of the main unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  8    is a partial structural diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier before the main unit and the expansion unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier are connected, according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  9    is a partial structural diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier after the main unit and the expansion unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier are connected, according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  10    is a schematic structural diagram of a pressure bucket of the dual-purpose household water purifier according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  11    is a schematic structural diagram of the pressure bucket of the dual-purpose household water purifier during operation, according to the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     List of reference numbers:  1  main unit,  110  pressure bucket,  111  purified water chamber,  112  tap water chamber,  113  partition membrane,  120  filter assembly,  121  first-stage filter core,  122  second-stage filter core,  123  third-stage filter core,  130  four-side valve,  140  concentrated water solenoid valve,  150  check valve,  160  reserved connector,  170  pipe plug,  180  faucet,  2  expansion unit,  210  booster pump,  220  low pressure switch,  230  water inlet solenoid valve,  240  high pressure switch,  250  switching plug, and  260  controller. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure. 
     The present disclosure is aimed to provide a dual-purpose household water purifier to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art and improve the adaptability and convenience of use of the household water purifier. 
     In order to make the above objectives, features and advantages of the present disclosure more obvious and understandable, the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1 - 11   ,  FIG.  1    is a schematic structural diagram of a dual-purpose household water purifier in an assembled state according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  2    is a schematic structural diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier in a disassembled according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  3    is a schematic structural diagram of an interior of the dual-purpose household water purifier in the assembled state according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  4    is a schematic structural diagram of an interior of the dual-purpose household water purifier in the disassembled state according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  5    is a working principle diagram for a main unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  6    is a working principle diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier when the main unit and an expansion unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier are assembled, according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  7    is a partial structural diagram of the main unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  8    is a partial structural diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier before the main unit and the expansion unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier are connected, according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  9    is a partial structural diagram of the dual-purpose household water purifier after the main unit and the expansion unit of the dual-purpose household water purifier are connected, according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  10    is a schematic structural diagram of a pressure bucket of the dual-purpose household water purifier according to the present disclosure;  FIG.  11    is a schematic structural diagram of the pressure bucket of the dual-purpose household water purifier during operation, according to the present disclosure. 
     The present disclosure provides a dual-purpose household water purifier, which includes a main unit  1  and an expansion unit  2 . The main unit  1  includes a pressure bucket  110  and a filter assembly  120 . The pressure bucket  110  includes a purified water chamber  111  and a tap water chamber  112 . A partition membrane  113  is provided between the purified water chamber  111  and the tap water chamber  112 . The partition membrane  113  can deform to change volumes of the purified water chamber  111  and the tap water chamber  112 . The tap water chamber  112  is in communication with the faucet  180 . The purified water chamber  111  is communicated with an outlet of the filter assembly  120 , and the filter assembly  120  can filter the tap water. The expansion unit  2  includes a booster pump  210 ; the main unit  1  and the expansion unit  2  are detachably connected with each other. When the main unit  1  is connected with the expansion unit  2 , the booster pump  210  can pressurize the tap water entering the filter assembly  120 . 
     In the dual-purpose household water purifier of the present disclosure, the main unit  1  can be used as a non-electric drive water purifier. After the tap water enters the filter assembly  120  and is filtered, the purified water flows into the purified water chamber  111  of the pressure bucket  110 . When the volume of the purified water in the purified water chamber  111  increases, the tap water in the tap water chamber  112  is squeezed and discharged. When the tap water is injected into the tap water chamber  112  of the pressure bucket  110 , the purified water is discharged under the pressure of the tap water chamber  112 , and the user takes the purified water. The filter assembly  120  may take the form, such as reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, nano-filtration, and ion exchange, and the main unit  1  has fewer installation restrictions. It is noted that the partition membrane  113  is arranged between the purified water chamber  111  and the tap water chamber  112 . The partition membrane  113  may be made of an elastic material or a flexible material. When the partition membrane  113  is made of an elastic material, and when the purified water in the purified water chamber  111  or the tap water in the tap water chamber  112  increases, the partition membrane  113  can be squeezed to deform toward a side with less pressure. The partition membrane  113  may be made of flexible material. When the partition membrane  113  is made of a flexible material, an area of the partition membrane  113  is larger than the cross-sectional area of the purified water chamber  111  or the cross-sectional area of the tap water chamber  112 . When the volume of the purified water or the tap water increases, the partition membrane  113  deforms to expand toward the side with less pressure. The volumes of the purified water chamber  111  and the tap water chamber  112  change. When the pressure in the purified water chamber  111  is equal to that in the tap water chamber  112 , the partition membrane  113  is located between the purified water chamber  111  and the tap water chamber  112 , and the partition membrane  113  is formed with wrinkles. 
     In the present disclosure, an expansion unit  2  is provided together with the main unit  1 . The expansion unit  2  is detachably connected to the main unit  1 . When the main unit  1  is connected with the expansion unit  2 , the booster pump  210  can pressurize the pipeline, thereby reducing application environmental restrictions on the water purifier. The expansion unit  2  is provided in the present disclosure, and the water purifier can operate in two working modes of non-electricity working mode and electric drive working mode, thereby improving adaptability and convenience of use of the water purifier. It should also be noted that the pressure bucket  110  of the present disclosure adopts a water drive mode, has a small volume, and improves water storage efficiency. 
     The main unit  1  further includes a four-side valve  130 , the four-side valve  130  is arranged between the pressure bucket  110  and the filter assembly  120 , and a check valve  150  is arranged between the outlet of the filter assembly  120  and the four-side valve  130 . After the tap water enters the main unit  1 , it first passes through the four-side valve  130 , and then through the filter assembly  120 . The purified water passes through the check valve  150 , and then flows into the purified water chamber  111  of the pressure bucket  110  through a purified water pipeline of the four-side valve  130 . The check valve  150  can prevent the water in the pressure bucket  110  from returning, and achieve an effect of holding the pressure inside the pipeline, so as to ensure that the four-side valve  130  can work normally. The four-side valve  130  is configured to cut off raw water supply through its internal mechanical structure when the pressure in the purified water pipeline reaches a certain pressure, so as to achieve the effect of stopping when the water is full. 
     In this embodiment, the filter assembly  120  includes a first-stage filter core  121 , a second-stage filter core  122 , and a third-stage filter core  123  arranged in series in sequence. An outlet of the third-stage filter core  123  is connected to the purified water chamber  111 , and the purified water enters the purified water chamber  111 . In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the structure and type of the filter assembly  120  may be set according to actual purification requirements. 
     Specifically, when the expansion unit  2  is connected to the main unit  1 , the booster pump  210  is located between the first-stage filter core  121  and the second-stage filter core  122 . When the main unit  1  is connected with the expansion unit  2 , a direction of the water path is changed and the booster pump  210  is configured to pressurize the pipeline, so that the water purifier can be operated in an electric drive mode, thereby no requirements on the water pressure of the raw water. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, when the expansion unit  2  is connected to the main unit  1 , the booster pump  210  may be arranged in front of the first-stage filter core  121  or between the second-stage filter core  122  and the third-stage filter core  123 , which can be selected according to purification demand, thereby improving the flexibility and adaptability of the water purifier. 
     More specifically, the expansion unit  2  further includes a low pressure switch  220  and a water inlet solenoid valve  230 . The low pressure switch  220  and the water inlet solenoid valve  230  are both communicated with the booster pump  210 . The low pressure switch  220  is arranged close to the first-stage filter core  121 , and the booster pump  210  is arranged close to the second-stage filter core  122 , and the water inlet solenoid valve  230  is located between the low pressure switch  220  and the booster pump  210 . After the expansion unit  2  is installed, a purified water process is changed. The water purifier is changed as an electric drive water purifier. In addition to the booster pump  210 , a low-pressure switch  220  and a water inlet solenoid valve  230  are provided to ensure normal operation of the electric drive water purifier. After the water flows out of the first-stage filter core  121 , it passes through the low pressure switch  220  and the water inlet solenoid valve  230 , is pressurized by the booster pump  210 , and flows into the second-stage filter core  122  and the third-stage filter core  123  to be further filtered. 
     At the same time, the second-stage filter core  122  is connected with a concentrated water solenoid valve  140 , and the filtered concentrated water can be discharged through the concentrated water solenoid valve  140 . A main function of the concentrated water solenoid valve  140  is to open or close the water path through the on-off of the circuit, so as to achieve flushing function of the reverse osmosis membrane (in this embodiment, as an example, the filter assembly  120  adopts the reverse osmosis filtration mode). The concentrated water solenoid valve  140  is different from the conventional solenoid valve, it is a special solenoid valve for reverse osmosis concentrated water. The concentrated water solenoid valve  140  is provided with a through hole inside thereof. When the concentrated water solenoid valve  140  is closed, some water still flows through the concentrated water solenoid valve  140 , thereby achieving a function of a concentrated water proportioner required by normal reverse osmosis operation. It should also be noted that when the main unit  1  is used alone, the concentrated water solenoid valve  140  is out of electric drive control. At this time, the concentrated water solenoid valve  140  is used as a concentrated water proportioner to ensure normal operation of the system. When the main unit  1  is connected with the expansion unit  2 , the concentrated water solenoid valve  140  can not only fulfill the role of the concentrated water proportioner, but also control flushing and prolong the service life of the reverse osmosis membrane. Correspondingly, the concentrated water solenoid valve  140  is also connected with a check valve  150  to prevent the concentrated water from flowing back. 
     In addition, when the expansion unit  2  is connected to the main unit  1 , a high pressure switch  240  is further provided between the outlet of the filter assembly  120  and the purified water chamber  111 , and the purified water filtered by the filter assembly  120  flows into the purified chamber  111  of the pressure bucket  110  through the high pressure switch  240 . 
     Further, the main unit  1  includes a reserved connector 160  and a pipe plug  170 , and the pipe plug  170  is detachably connected to the reserved connector  160 . The expansion unit  2  includes a switching plug  250  that is adapted to the reserved connector  160 , and the reserved connector  160  is detachably connected with the switching plug  250 . When the main unit  1  is connected with the expansion unit  2 , the reserved connector  160  is connected with the switching plug  250 . When the main unit  1  is operated independently, the pipe plug  170  blocks the reserved connector  160 , and when the main unit  1  is connected with the expansion unit  2 , the pipe plug  170  is removed, and the reserved connector  160  is connected to the switching plug  250  to change the flow direction of the pipeline. Sealing elements are provided between the reserved connector  160  and the pipe plug  170  as well as between the reserved connector  160  and the switching plug  250  respectively to avoid leakage. In actual operation, a sealing element may be provided at the reserved connector  160  for sealing in two conditions, which is economical. 
     In other embodiments of the present disclosure, when the main unit  1  is connected with the expansion unit  2 , the reserved connector  160  is plugged and connected with the switching plug  250 , which is convenient and quick to disassemble and assemble, and further improves the adaptability of the water purifier and facilitates operation. 
     Furthermore, the expansion unit  2  further includes a controller  260 , which is connected to the concentrated water solenoid valve  140  to control the working state thereof. In addition, the low pressure switch  220 , the water inlet solenoid valve  230 , the booster pump  210 , the high-voltage switches  240  are all connected to the controller  260 . The faucet  180  is a multi-channel switching faucet, and a C channel is a purified water pipeline. When the faucet  180  is closed, the C channel is closed, and the water is not discharged from the faucet  180 . When the faucet  180  is in an opened state, the C channel is opened and the purified water is discharged from the faucet  180 . Furthermore, when the faucet  180  is closed, an A channel is communicated with a D channel, the A channel is disconnected from a B channel, and the C channel is closed. At this time, the purified water produced by the water purifier enters the purified water chamber  111  of the pressure bucket  110 . The tap water flows along the A channel to the D channel, and then is directly discharged to a sewer along the concentrated water pipeline of the water purifier until the tap water in the tap water chamber  112  is emptied, and the purified water completely fills the entire pressure bucket  110 . When the faucet  180  is opened, the A channel is communicated with the B channel, the A channel is disconnected with the D channel, and the C channel is opened. At this time, the tap water flows through the A channel along the B channel, and then enters the tap water chamber  112  of the pressure bucket  110 ; under action of the tap water, the purified water is discharged from the outlet of the faucet  180  along the C channel, and the user can directly take the purified water. 
     The dual-purpose household water purifier of the present disclosure includes a main unit  1  and an expansion unit  2 , and the main unit  1  and the expansion unit  2  are detachably connected with each other. When the main unit  1  is used independently, the water purifier is a non-electric drive water purifier. When the water purifier needs to be expanded to an electrically driven water purifier, only the pipe plug  170  is removed and the reserved connector  160  is connected with the switching plug  250  so as to change the direction of the water path of the water purifier. The tap water enters the two-stage filter core  122  through the E and F pipelines. The purified water filtered by the filter assembly  120  enters the purified water chamber  111  of the pressure bucket  110  through the G and H pipelines. When the main unit  1  needs to be reused, the switching plug  250  is removed to separate the main unit  1  and the expansion unit  2 , and the reserved connector  160  is still blocked by the pipe plug  170 . The main unit  1  can still be used as a non-electric drive water purifier, thereby improving the adaptability and convenience of the water purifier. 
     In the present disclosure, specific examples are used to illustrate the principles and implementation of the present disclosure. The description of the above examples is only used to help understand the method and core idea of the present disclosure. Furthermore, for those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the idea of the disclosure, the changes will be made in the implementation and the scope of application. In summary, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure.