Dosing mechanism to feed germicide or disinfectant into a...

Liquid purification or separation – Processes – Including controlling process in response to a sensed condition

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C210S752000, C210S764000, C210S096100, C210S101000, C210S136000, C210S143000, C210S198100, C422S003000, C422S028000, C422S110000, C422S256000, C433S088000, C433S098000, C433S229000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06177018

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a dosing device for introducing germicide or disinfectant into a water-supplied supply device for making aseptic or disinfected water available to users.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is generally known to disinfect water by addition of certain chemical substances. In these cases it is conventional to add germicides or disinfectants in tablet form or, in larger amounts, as solutions to the water to be disinfected in order to achieve a better mixing of the water to be disinfected. Independent of the type of addition, for the desired germicidal or disinfecting action attention must be given to make sure that a good mixing of the water with the germicide or disinfectant occurs.
A common environment of use is in the disinfecting of water needed by patients for dental hygiene in dental practices, for example for rinsing out the mouth.
Conventionally, dosing devices are employed for this, with which the water is periodically injected or inoculated. This means that the disinfectant is added at regular periods, since this device largely works on the basis of clocked magnets, which are associated with the pumps and/or valves employed therefor.
These types of components allow only large switch intervals, so that the intervals between the individual injections are correspondingly large. This results in substantial fluctuations in the concentration of the disinfectant in the water.
A further known device includes a supply container for disinfectant charged with compressed air, which is connected with a receiver via an appropriate pipe or hose conduit. In this delivery path a remote operable inlet valve for the disinfectant is provided, which controls the introduction of the disinfectant into the flow path of the water which goes to the receiver. Upon activation of the receiver this supply valve opens and in inactive times it is closed.
A particularly high volume concept of the water is not envisioned in this device. The mixing in of the disinfectant occurs with the help of a periodic magnet valve, of which the opening occurs periodically cyclically, as soon as the dispenser, for example pouring water into a glass for rinsing the mouth, is switched on, that is, as upon activation of the outflow. Here also fluctuations on concentration are unavoidable.
Finally there is known from DE 34 03 640 A1 a dosing device, which is the starting point of the present invention. In this device the disinfectant is introduced into the water in a special mixing chamber, which is incorporated in the supply conduit. The pressure conduit of a disinfectant conveying piston pump discharges into this mixing chamber.
For the purposes of dosing a control device is provided, which acts upon the piston pump in correspondence to the flow amount or, as the case may be, the flow velocity in the supply conduit, so that the desired amount of disinfectant is conveyed out of the supply container. The control of the piston pump can be achieved either by the rotation count of the drive motor or the transmission relationship of the reduction gear mechanism, in order to appropriately adapt the pressure stroke of the pump.
It has been found to be a disadvantage herein that the disinfecting action of the germicide is substantially limited in range to the mixing chamber itself. With longer periods of inactivity, as are conventional in the dental practice for example during two sequential days of the weekend, there exits the danger that the disinfecting action is reduced and impermissibly high contamination values occur. Further there occurs the problem, that in the course of the normal useage dead bacteria and other organic substances adhere as the so-called bio-film in the area of the supply conduit and in the downstream water conveying paths, which is an ideal nutrient supply for further germ growth. It is thus necessary to undertake a complete sterilization (basic- or intensive disinfecting) at regular intervals.
To do this the device must be taken out of commission. Thereafter the various hose connections must be released and there follows the connection to a separate pump system, which is specially provided for the complete disinfecting and the treatment with a 100% concentration of disinfectant introduced with the objective of removing the bio-film and sanitizing the water supply elements. Thereafter the conduit system must be rinsed with clean water, in order to avoid a subsequent unacceptably high concentration of disinfectant at the resumption of operation. A cleansing process of this type is time and cost consuming.
Further, the construction cost for this type of device is substantial, since besides the mixing chamber to be employed in the supply line, the piston pump in particular inclusive of its controls is relatively complicated. Besides the necessity to influence the rotation and/or the transmission relationship of the drive there must be provided special precautions in the form of over-pressurization valves and return conduits, in order to assure functional safety.
Finally, there occurs also in this device the undesirable fluctuations in concentration of germicide in the water, since the piston pump cyclically introduces the germicide corresponding to the stroke volume of the piston pump.
Beginning with this state of the art it is the task of the invention to provide a dosing device of the above-described type, which is simple in construction and easy to operate and which insures an addition of germicide corresponding to the requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In invention is based upon the idea of completely dispensing with the pump inclusive of its complicated control, and in place of this to provide a simple supply container which can be charged with compressed air, and to achieve the addition of germicide/disinfectant via a proportional valve controlled by a control unit. Besides the simplified construction associated therewith, there results a constant addition of germicide/disinfectant material into the water flowing by. Concentration fluctuations, as had been presumed to be unavoidable in all previous dosing devices, no longer occur here. Herewith there can be achieved a secure and reliable disinfecting with reduced amounts of germicide/disinfectant.
The required conveyance pressure, with which the supply container is to be charged, can most economically be found in the environment in which this type of dosing device is to be operated. As an example, there can be mentioned the pressure air connection for the drive means for a drill turbine of a dental unit.
Beyond this, the mixing chamber can be completely dispensed with since the disinfectant can preferably be introduced directly into the supply line via the proportional valve. Because of the small space requirement of the proportional valve it is possible to provide the introduction point immediately adjacent the work place, so that contamination hardly ever occurs even in the case of longer periods of nonuse.
As proportional valve, preferred is a piezoelectric valve, which can be constructed particularly compactly and besides this is reliably controllable.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention the proportional valve is controllable through the control device such that the concentration of disinfectant is adjustable variably between 0% and 100%. Therewith it is possible to carry out the intensive sanitation which is required from time to time without any particular or supplemental measures. The proportional valve is so controlled in connection with the supply valve for the water, that the water supply can be completely blocked and subsequently disinfectant can be released. For the subsequent rinsing process it is essentially only necessary that the introduction of disinfectant halted, so that pure water can flow. The switching of these operating conditions occurs by the control device, wherein no further construction components or reconfiguration is necessary.
According to a further preferred embodiment a device is provided for determination of th

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Dosing mechanism to feed germicide or disinfectant into a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Dosing mechanism to feed germicide or disinfectant into a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Dosing mechanism to feed germicide or disinfectant into a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2528289

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.