Liquid purification or separation – Structural installation – Closed circulating system
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-11
2002-10-08
Simmons, David A. (Department: 1724)
Liquid purification or separation
Structural installation
Closed circulating system
C210S170050, C210S232000, C210S275000, C210S290000, C210S291000, C210S416100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06461501
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to the general subject matter of maintaining artificial aquatic systems and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for skimming and filtering or purifying the water in an aquatic life support system such as an ornamental pond.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ornamental pools, ponds, and similar water-filled structures are familiar fixtures in many homes and businesses. These bodies of water provide a pleasant environment for the occupants of the adjacent structure and, in some cases, create habitats for birds, small mammals, and various reptiles and amphibians. However, because these bodies of water are closed systems, some mechanism must be established to keep the water that is contained therein from becoming fouled and stagnant.
One such apparatus that is frequently found used in connection with captive pools is a an in-ground skimmer. Broadly speaking, a skimmer is designed to draw surface water from an adjacent body of water into its interior where it can be filtered to remove its larger debris before that same water is returned to the source from which it was drawn or to a down-stream filter as discussed hereinafter. The filtering function of the skimmer typically takes the form of passing the indrawn water through a coarse net or basket to catch the largest pool contaminants, such as leaves, twigs, and the like. It is customary to use a submersible pump to draw water into the skimmer.
It is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that skimmers of the sort that are typically used in an ornamental ponds are designed to be installed outside of the pond perimeter. In a typical arrangement, an externally situated skimmer will be buried in the ground adjacent to the pond with the skimmer mouth at the same level as the expected water level. The word “expected” was used in the previous sentence in order to emphasize the fact that the water level in these sorts of ponds is usually not static and might fluctuate up and down for any number of reasons, among which are draught, evaporation, rainfall, leaks (in the pool liner or equipment), and many other factors. Therein lies a problem with conventional skimmer/pond arrangement. When the water level falls below the level of the mouth of the skimmer, the submersible pump therein will continue to pump water out of the enclosure with no concomitant replacement by in-flowing liquid. This has two obvious deleterious effects.
First, absent a continuous source of pond water the pump may empty the skimmer interior, thereby exhausting its source of fluid which can cause the pump to cavitate, which can possibly damage the pump. In such a circumstance—and assuming that operating the pump in the absence of fluid has not damaged it to the point of inoperability—it may be necessary to prime the pump before it can be made operable again, which is, at minimum, an inconvenience.
A second problem that may be faced when the water level drops is that the skimmer enclosure after being emptied of water tends to float upward out of the ground. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the shape of prior art skimmers is at least partially responsible for this problem, as the conventional skimmer is a bucket-like or box-like structure made of plastic and is typically tapered inwardly toward its base, which shape is a convenience for purposes of manufacture, transportation, and storage. As might be expected, a generally smooth outer surface coupled with an inwardly tapered lower terminus tends to make conventional skimmers susceptible to floating when they are emptied of water.
The conventional arrangement, i.e., one where the skimmer is placed outside of the pool, gives rise to additional problems. For example, it is customary to line artificial ponds with a thin plastic or rubber pond liner to separate the impounded water from the earth beneath, thereby improving water clarity and decreasing water loss through the contact with the ground. Of course, this liner must somehow be brought up to the mouth of the skimmer and sealed thereto. As is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, this seal between the liner and the skimmer is subject to failure through poor installation, subsequent failure of the sealing adhesive due to exposure to sunlight or weather extremes, movement of the skimmer within its cavity in the ground, and many other possible factors As a consequence, water leaks through an imperfect seal between the skimmer and the pond liner are a frequent source of water loss and resultant aggravation to the owner.
Additionally, in larger pools it is often desirable to include a bottom drain of some sort, a bottom drain being a draining orifice that is preferably positioned near the deepest point of the pool. A bottom drain is useful for many purposes including draining the pool and cleaning. Of course, this drain must penetrate the pond liner which can become problematic if it begins to leak.
Finally, one of the principle functions of the skimmer is to remove large debris such as leaves from the surface of the pond water. However, matter of this sort is prone to cover the available filtering surface within the skimmer, thereby retarding the passage of water therethrough. A typical skimmer utilizes a catch basin in the form of a net that hangs or is positioned on a lip or ledge of the skimmer mouth as an initial filtering mechanism. However, nets can be difficult to remove and clean and, because of their lack of rigidity, are prone to becoming tangled or twisted. Of course, when debris clog the net water will somehow find a path that avoids the net/clogs and will carry contaminants along with it into the filtering media and submersible pump. Further, nylon nets, which are conventionally used as filters, can be difficult to clean as debris tend to catch in its fibers.
Another device that is frequently used in an ornamental pond setting is the water filter (which may be configured in the form of a small waterfall in some circumstances). The pond filter takes water from the pond and subjects it to a filtering process before returning it to the pond from whence the water was drawn. Preferably, the filter will be outfitted with filtering media (such as lava rocks, coarse nylon mesh filter mats, etc.) and water will be passed through the filtering media before it is returned to the pond. Additionally, the filter may be adapted to return water to the pond in the form of a waterfall, which waterfall has both aesthetic as well as functional (e.g., aerating the pond water) value.
However, these sorts of filters are subject to a number of problems. First, these devices have heretofore not provided sufficient sedimentation opportunities for the pond water. That is, water that is drawn into the filter will usually contain a variety of heavier waste particles (e.g., fish waste, uneaten fish food, leaves, etc.) that tend to clog the filter media when they are entrapped thereby, which necessitates cleaning the media earlier than might otherwise be desired. Each time such a filter is cleaned, however, the bio-activity that is taking place within the media is placed at risk. However, if a proper sedimentation environment were present within the filter, i.e., if the flow of water therethrough were slowed to the point where these sorts of heavier waste particles were allowed to settle to the bottom of the filter before the water reached the filtering media, the filtering media would need to be cleaned less often.
Finally, the problems associated with integrating the waterfall/filter with the body of water are well known. For example, since the filter conventionally sits outside of the pond it must somehow be attached to the pond liner in a way such that water is not leaked around the periphery of the liner. Conventionally, the pond liner is brought up to and attached to the filter beneath its “snout” through some combination of adhesives and mechanical fasteners, including screws, bolts, etc, which mechanical fasteners are usually designed to pierce the liner. However, that arrangement is almost universally subject to leak
Fellers Snider Blankenship Bailey & Tippens, P.C.
Hardscape Materials, Inc.
Prince Fred
Simmons David A.
LandOfFree
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