Title of Invention

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING HIGHLY EFFICIENT GRANULAR CARBON BLOCK FILTER

Abstract There is provided a method for manufacturing a granular carbon block filter with high discharge capacity and high filtration power through compression molding, using novel granular activated carbon and specific high molecular granular PE binders as main material, instead of a conventional carbon block filter which is installed in a water purifier and filters various impurities contained in tap water, such as iron, rust, organic matters and the like. The method comprises steps of: mixing evenly granular activated carbon, a first granular PE binder and a second granular PE binder, which are in a granular form; filling a metal mold with the mixed materials and applying pressure to the metal mold using a compression press so that a granular carbon block filter is shaped by compression molding; applying heat-treatment to the whole metal mold; cooling the heated metal mold; and removing the granular carbon block filter from the metal mold.
Full Text CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0035236, filed on April 22, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a granular carbon block filter which is installed in a water purifier and filters various impurities contained in tap water, such as iron, rust, organic matters and the like, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a granular carbon block filter with high discharge capacity and excellent filtration power through compression molding using granular activated carbon and a granular polyethylene (PE) binder.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a filter installed at a water purifier has the function of filtering various impurities contained in tap water, such as iron, rust and organic matters among the others, and the function of sanitizing germs/microbes and inactivating viruses.
Various water filters have been proposed. Specifically, a carbon block filter includes a carbon block in a filter container, thereby purifying water when it passes through the carbon block.
In a conventional method for manufacturing the carbon block filter, the filter is manufactured in a very restrictive shape through a compression press method or an extruding method using powdered activated carbon and a general

PE binder as main materials. Accordingly, discharge capacity and water-purifying efficiency are considerably lowered.
Furthermore, to improve the water-purifying efficiency of the carbon block filter, the carbon block filter needs to be manufactured in a large size. Consequently, as the carbon block filter bulks up, it is uneasy to be handled and the whole water purifier increases in volume.
To solve the aforementioned problems, the applicant of the present invention earlier filed an application for an invention entitled "Method for Manufacturing Highly Efficient Carbon Block Filter", which has been decided to be patented as Patent Registration No. 785686.
The above-mentioned invention is to manufacture the highly efficient carbon block filter through a compression press method. According to this previously registered invention, the water-purifying efficiency is significantly improved and the discharge capacity is high, providing a useful effect of prolonging the lifetime of the filter.
However, according to the previously registered invention, the carbon block filter is manufactured by using the powdered activated carbon which has a fine particle size and a high molecular PE binder as main materials. As a result, since a vacant space is small, the discharge capacity is lowered in the area where pressure is low or water quality is not good, and therefore, the efficiency of the filter is not shown.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To positively solve the aforementioned problems of the conventional method for manufacturing a carbon block filter, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a granular carbon block filter with high discharge capacity and high filtration power through compression molding using granular

activated carbon and a specific high-molecular granular PE binder as main materials.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a granular carbon block filter, steps of:
mixing evenly materials, i.e., granular activated carbon, a first granular PE binder and a second granular PE binder which are in a granular form;
filling a metal mold with the mixed materials and applying pressure to force the mixed materials by using a compression press to make the granular carbon block filter through compression molding; and
applying heat-treatment to the whole mold, cooling the metal mold and removing the granular carbon block filter from the mold.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a granular carbon block filter according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view illustrating that a core is inserted inside a metal mold according to the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view illustrating that the granular carbon block filter is molded by operating a press after pouring mixed materials into the mold.

[Brief description of reference numbers of major elements]
1: granular carbon block filter 3: mold
4: core 8: presser
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Unlike a conventional method for manufacturing a carbon block filter using powdered activated carbon and a PE powder binder, the characteristic gist of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a granular carbon block filter with high discharge capacity, thereby making even the tap water of low pressure or bad quality to smoothly pass through the filter so as to be purified.
The method for manufacturing the granular carbon block filter according to the present invention to achieve the aforementioned characteristic gist will be described by processes:
1) Process of mixing materials
Granular activated carbon as a component material is added to a first granular PE binder and a second granular PE binder being different from each other with respect to elongational stress, particle size and bulk density. These materials are poured into an industrial mixer and evenly mixed at 460 RPM for 30 minutes, to prepare the mixed materials to mold the granular carbon block filter.

The granular activated carbon used for the present invention removes chlorine and smell of water, removes volatile organic chemical compounds and some heavy metals and improves the taste of water. For the present invention, Shin Kwang activated carbon (produced by Shin Kwang Co., Ltd.) is used. The Shin Kwang activated carbon as a product commercially used has the characteristics given in Table 1 below:

The first granular PE binder and the second granular PE binder used for the present invention function as an adhesive agent to form a link chain of the granular activated carbon, to mold the filter in a block form in a heat treatment process. GUR X 155 (the first granular PE binder) and GUR4022-6 (the second granular PE binder) are used. These are products of Ticona Engineering, which are commercially used and have the characteristics given in Table 2 below:

The mixed materials may be generated according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention to manufacture the granular carbon block

filter having pores being 10-20 urn in size by mixing the granular activated carbon, the first granular PE binder and the second granular PE binder in an adequate ratio. These various embodiments will be described.
First exemplary embodiment
In the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, granular activated carbon (main material) / first granular PE binder (sub-material) / second granular PE binder (sub-material) are evenly mixed in the weight ratio of 10:3:3, to form the mixed materials.
When the first granular PE binder being 585 urn in particle size and the second granular PE binder being 340 urn in particle size are mixed in the equal weight ratio, the pore size of the granular carbon block filter to be finally completed is about 30 urn and therefore the discharge capacity is very excellent.
Second exemplary embodiment
In the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, granular activated carbon (main material) / first granular PE binder (sub-material) / second granular PE binder (sub-material) are evenly mixed in the weight ratio of 10:2:4, to form the mixed materials.
Unlike the first exemplary embodiment, in this exemplary embodiment, the proportion of the first granular PE binder being 585JLUTI in particle size decreases while the proportion of the second granular PE binder being 340|nm in particle size increases. As the proportion of the second granular PE binder, which is smaller than the first granular PE binder in particle size, increases, the pore size of the granular carbon block filter to be finally completed is reduced to about 20|am.
Therefore, since the pore size of the granular carbon block filter is freely controlled depending on the proportions of the first granular PE binder and the second granular PE binder, the present invention provides the effect of

manufacturing diverse granular carbon block filters with different discharge capacity.
Third exemplary embodiment
In the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, granular activated carbon (main material) / first granular PE binder (sub-material) / second granular PE binder (sub-material) are evenly mixed in the weight ratio of 10:1:5, to form the mixed materials.
Unlike the second exemplary embodiment, in this exemplary embodiment, the proportion of the first granular PE binder more decreases while the proportion of the second granular PE binder more increases.
Therefore, as the proportion of the second granular PE binder, which is smaller than the first granular PE binder in particle size, more increases, the pore size of the granular carbon block filter to be finally completed is more reduced to about 10|j.m. Consequently, the discharge capacity of the granular carbon block filter according to the third exemplary embodiment is lower than that of the second exemplary embodiment.
2) Process of molding a filter
The present invention molds a granular carbon block filter 1 in a cylindrical shape as illustrated in FIG. 1, using the mixed materials which are generated by evenly mixing the granular activated carbon, the first granular PE binder and the second granular PE binder.
In the process of molding the filter, an inner core 4 to form a discharge water opening 2 of the granular carbon block filter 1 is inserted to be positioned in an aluminum mold 3 with a top and bottom being open.

A sealing plate 5 is formed at the lower end of the core 4. The core 4 is positioned in the center inside the mold 3 so that the sealing plate 4 seals the bottom of the mold 3.
After the core 4 is completely positioned in the aforementioned manner, the standard quantity of mixed materials 6 is checked in a container using a precise electronic scale, and the mixed materials 6 are poured to fill the inside of the mold 3.
When a press 7 is operated, a presser 8 installed in the press 7 moves down to be put inside the mold 3, thereby pressurizing the mixed materials 6 to mold the cylindrical granular carbon block filter 1.
3) Process of applying heat treatment
The process of applying heat treatment in the present invention is characterized in that, the whole mold 3 is put into a heat treatment furnace so as to be applied with the whole heat treatment, without separating the molded granular carbon block filter 1 from the mold 3.
During the process of high temperature heat treatment, the mold 3 maintains the shape of the granular carbon block filter 1 as it is, to provide the product with its excellent appearance, and superior compressibility and rigidity.
This heat treatment is performed in an electric furnace in a size which is capable of applying the heat treatment to several hundred filters simultaneously at the temperature condition of 200 ..
In a conventional carbon block filter manufactured by an extruding method, as high molecular PE is instantaneously melted by heat, the surface of the carbon block is coated to lower its filtration power. However, the process of applying the heat treatment according to the present invention solves the aforementioned

problems of the conventional art and provides the effect of more and more improving the filtration powder.
4) Process of cooling and separating
When the process of applying the heat treatment is completed, each heated mold is taken out from the furnace and is cooled by a cold wind.
A special jig is used to separate and take out the inner core 4 from the mold 3. Then, the cylindrical granular carbon block filter 1 is manufactured to have very high discharge capacity and excellent filtration power, compared to a conventional carbon block filter.
5) Process of cutting and packaging
The granular carbon block filter manufactured by the above described method is cut at standard sizes by using a cutting machine and packaged to be a final product.
In accordance with the present invention, since the granular carbon block filter is manufactured by mixing evenly the materials (granular activated carbon and specific high molecular granular PE binder) and applying pressure to the mixed materials using a compression press, it has high discharge capacity and excellent filtration power.
Therefore, the granular carbon block filter according to the present invention has the effect of providing the excellent water-purifying function even in the areas where the quality of tap water is not good, the water supply facilities are old and decrepit or water pressure is low.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made

therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

WE CLAIM :
1. A method for manufacturing a highly efficient granular carbon block
filter, comprising:
a process of mixing evenly materials composed of granular activated carbon, a first granular polyethylene (PE) binder and a second granular PE binder;
a process of molding a filter by filling in a metal mold into which an inner core is inserted with the mixed materials and operating a compression press so that a presser pressurizes the mixed materials to be shaped as a cylindrical granular carbon block filter;
a process of applying heat treatment to the whole of the metal mold inside which the granular carbon block filter is shaped, in an electric furnace;
a process of cooling the heat-treated metal mold and separating the inner core from the metal mold by using a jig, to take out the granular carbon block filter from the metal mold; and
a process of cutting the granular carbon block filter at standard sizes and packaging it as a final product,
wherein the granular activated carbon is 30~60^m in mesh size, 0.52g/cm3 and below in bulk density and 1050mg/g and more in iodine adsorption; the first granular PE binder is 0.25 Mpa in elongational stress, 585(am in particle size and 0.46g/cm3 in bulk density; and the second granular PE binder is 0.5+/-0.3 Mpa in elongational stress, 340 μm in particle size and 0.45g/cm3 in bulk density.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mixed materials are formed by adding and mixing the granular activated carbon / first granular PE binder / second granular PE binder in the weight ratio of 10:3:3.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mixed materials are formed by adding and mixing the granular activated carbon / first granular PE binder / second granular PE binder in the weight ratio of 10:2:4.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mixed materials are formed by adding and mixing the granular activated carbon / first granular PE binder / second granular PE binder in the weight ratio of 10:1:5.

There is provided a method for manufacturing a granular carbon block filter with high discharge capacity and high filtration power through compression molding, using novel granular activated carbon and specific high molecular granular PE binders as main material, instead of a conventional carbon block filter which is installed in a water purifier and filters various impurities contained in tap water, such as iron, rust, organic matters and the like.
The method comprises steps of: mixing evenly granular activated carbon, a first granular PE binder and a second granular PE binder, which are in a granular form; filling a metal mold with the mixed materials and applying pressure to the metal mold using a compression press so that a granular carbon block filter is shaped by compression molding; applying heat-treatment to the whole metal mold; cooling the heated metal mold; and removing the granular carbon block filter from the metal mold.

Documents:

959-KOL-2005-(24-10-2011)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(06-09-2013)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(15-07-2013)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(23-01-2013)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(23-01-2013)-OTHERS.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(23-01-2013)-PA.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(24-10-2011)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(29-01-2013)-AMANDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION.pdf

982-KOL-2009-(29-01-2013)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

982-kol-2009-abstract.pdf

982-kol-2009-claims.pdf

982-KOL-2009-CORRESPONDENCE 1.1.pdf

982-KOL-2009-CORRESPONDENCE-1.2.pdf

982-kol-2009-correspondence.pdf

982-kol-2009-description (complete).pdf

982-kol-2009-drawings.pdf

982-kol-2009-form 1.pdf

982-KOL-2009-FORM 18.pdf

982-kol-2009-form 2.pdf

982-kol-2009-form 3.pdf

982-kol-2009-form 5.pdf

982-KOL-2009-PA.pdf

982-kol-2009-priority document.pdf

982-kol-2009-specification.pdf

abstract-982-kol-2009.jpg


Patent Number 258057
Indian Patent Application Number 982/KOL/2009
PG Journal Number 48/2013
Publication Date 29-Nov-2013
Grant Date 29-Nov-2013
Date of Filing 20-Jul-2009
Name of Patentee HANDOK CLEAN TECH CO., LTD.
Applicant Address #690 KWANPYUNG-DONG, YUSEONG-GU, DAEJEON CITY
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 KO, IN SUN KARAM APT. 8-604, DUNSAN 3-DONG, SEO-GU DAEJEON CITY
PCT International Classification Number B01J20/20
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 10-2009-0035236 2009-04-22 Republic of Korea