Liquid purification or separation – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-05
2003-11-25
Popovics, Robert J. (Department: 1724)
Liquid purification or separation
Combined
C210S264000, C210S437000, C210S446000, C210S502100, C210S503000, C210S691000, C210S908000, C114S18300R
Reexamination Certificate
active
06652750
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to filtering fluids and is particularly directed to removing contaminants from bilge water being discharged from a water-going vessel such as a boat or ship.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, federal, state and local governments have dramatically increased the amount of time spent solving environmental problems. Some of these environmental concerns involve the boating industry and efforts to maintain oceans, lakes, ponds, rivers and streams in a condition suitable for animals and humans alike. Recently, the United States government enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly referred to as the “Clean Water Act,” which provides regulations for maintaining clean waters in the United States of America. Some of the regulations set forth in the Clean Water Act are directed to the discharge of contaminants, such as oil and other petroleum-based products, into the waters of the United States. As a result, boaters, boat dealers and boating service centers are now strictly regulated regarding the potential for discharging contaminates from boats into U.S. waters. One particular concern regards bilge water that must periodically be discharged from the hulls of boats. Such discharge may occur during operation of the boat or when the boat is removed from the water for storage or maintenance. As is well known to those skilled in the art, bilge water generally collects in the low point's of a boat's hull and is frequently contaminated by a wide variety of pollutants, including petroleum-based products, gasoline, oil, transmission and power steering fluids, cleaning solvents and paint.
There are presently many different systems used to remove bilge water from boats and to filter the bilge water before it is discharged overboard. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,839 to Pedone discloses reusable oil absorbent pads that may be placed in the hull of a boat. Each pad has an absorbent filler material which repels water and which attracts oil so that it will draw oil from the outside of the bag toward the inside of the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,760 to Leach discloses an oil filtering system for bilge water including an oil filter having an elongated tubular housing and a discharge end wall having an outlet fitting adapted to be connected to an outlet conduit. The opposite end of the tubular housing has an access flange having a circular sealed recess within which is received a circular sealing gasket. The access flange is provided with connection apertures on opposite sides thereof. The filter includes a tubular filter support that is secured to the external surface area of a perforated filter support tube. An elongated filter media is positioned about the perforated filter support tube. The filter media is made of an oil absorbing material such as a polyolefin hydrocarbon. During operation, bilge pump forces bilge water through a central passage of the perforated filter support tube, through the perforations of the filter support tube and through the filter media. As a result, any oil or other particles in the bilge water is captured by the filter media.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,168 to Woog discloses a filtering assembly for removing hazardous particles from a fluid. The filtering assembly includes a cylindrical housing having an outlet spaced from the inlet. Adjacent the inlet, a metal precipitate chamber is provided having rolled fiberglass for capturing the hazardous particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,253 to Hearn discloses a three layer hydrocarbon filter for removing hydrocarbons and synthetic hydrocarbons (e.g. oil) from water by adsorption and/or absorption. The filter has at least three layers of filter media that extend outwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the filter. The layers of filter media are placed within a casing. The first and third layers of filter media include a first material that is hydrophobic and which removes hydrocarbons from contaminated water through adsorption or absorption. The second layer of filter media includes a mixture of the first filter media material with a second material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,881 to Miller et al. discloses a bilge water filtration system for removing petroleum-based liquid contaminates from bilge water as the bilge water is pumped from the bilge area of a boat to a discharge outlet in the hull of the boat. The system uses filtration media enclosed in a modular unit equipped with a filter tube so that the filter media can be easily installed in the system and removed to allow for destruction or recycling of the contaminants trapped by the filter media. The bilge water filtration system is designed to be installed “in-line” with an existing bilge pumping system on boats or yachts.
In spite of the above efforts, there remains a need for a simplified and cost-effective method for removing contaminated bilge water from boats and ships.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with certain preferred embodiments of the present invention, a bilge water filter externally mountable to a bilge water discharge outlet of a vessel, such as a boat or a ship, includes a casing having a first end, a second end remote therefrom and at least one sidewall extending between the first and second ends. The bilge water filter also preferably includes an inlet extending through the first end of the casing and an outlet extending through the second end of the casing. The filter has a hydrophobic filter media disposed in the casing between the inlet and the outlet, the filter media being adapted to absorb contaminants present in the bilge water while allowing substantially contaminant-free bilge water to be discharged from the outlet. The inlet of the bilge water filter is desirably adapted to be externally mountable to the bilge water discharge outlet of the vessel for draining bilge water from the vessel. In certain preferred embodiments, the inlet of the bilge water filter includes an inlet tube that is connected to the first end of the casing. The inlet tube may have external threads formed thereon so that the inlet tube may be screwed into the bilge water discharge outlet of the vessel. In other preferred embodiments, the inlet tube may have an outer radial surface engagable with the bilge water discharge outlet of the vessel. In this latter embodiment, the inlet tube may be snap-fit or friction-fit into the bilge water discharge outlet of the vessel.
The hydrophobic filter media preferably absorbs contaminants present in the bilge water, including but not limited to petroleum-based products, oil, gasoline, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, cleaning solvents and paint. The hydrophobic media, which may include a fibrous material, absorbs the contaminates in the bilge water while allowing the contaminant-free portion of the bilge water to pass therethrough. The bilge water filter may also include a coarse material, such as gravel or charcoal, disposed in the casing between the hydrophobic filter media. The coarse material is adapted to control the flow rate of the bilge water passing through the filter casing. In certain preferred embodiments, the coarse material forms a continuous, circuitous path between the inlet and the outlet of the casing. The path of the coarse material may include a series of legs extending between the first and second ends of the casing, whereby the filter media is disposed between the legs of the coarse material. The casing may have a longitudinal axis extending between the inlet and the outlet of the filter, whereby the casing has at least one sidewall that is substantially cylindrical. The casing may be made of a durable material such as stainless steel or plastic.
In other preferred embodiments, the inlet tube is substantially hollow, has a first axial opening outside the casing, a second axial opening inside the casing, a sidewall extending between the first and second axial openings and a plurality of peripheral openings extending through the sidewall of the inlet tube. As a result, bilge water enteri
Libertell Gary
Pica Samuel
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP
Popovics Robert J.
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