Liquid purification or separation – Filter – With residue removing means or agitation of liquid
Patent
1996-07-17
1998-02-03
Lithgow, Thomas M.
Liquid purification or separation
Filter
With residue removing means or agitation of liquid
210355, 210266, 210415, 2104973, 210501, 210510, 55296, 55523, B01D 2964, B01D 29085
Patent
active
057140650
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a filter unit for fluids, said filter unit a filter housing and filters seated therein, at least one fluid feed line, one outlet line for the purified fluid and one outlet line for unpurified fluid, all of which are provided with valves.
2. Description of Prior Art
Filter units of this type have been commercially known for years. Included are the various filter structures for drinking water of Katadyn Produkte AG in CH-8304 Wallisellen. A filter is known from DE-A-30 27 997 which is equipped with a moveable brush. In these drinking water filters the actual filtration is performed with filter elements embodied as hetero-capillary ceramic filters, and having a cylindrical shape. The hollow-cylindrical filter is operated such that the unfiltered drinking water is disposed against the outside of the cylinder surface and flows through the hetero-capillary cylinder wall into the hollow cylinder. The hollow cylinder is filled with silver quartz granules and closed on the top and bottom by a cap, wherein the lower cap has an outlet for the purified drinking water. One or more such ceramic filter elements are fastened on an intermediate plate which is sealingly maintained in the filter housing. Thus, the untreated water is located above this intermediate plate and purified drinking water is located below it. The untreated water contains organic as well as inorganic impurities, which settle on the surface of the ceramic filter element during filtration. So that the filter elements do not become clogged and so that no climate for extreme bacterial growth is created, it is necessary to clean the individual filter elements in regular timed intervals. To do this, it is necessary to stop the filtration operation and hand clean each individual filter element. Accordingly, such drinking water filters are provided with a separate, hydraulically operated cleaning brush mounted on a flexible tube outside the filter housing. When the filter housing is open, the brush is manually placed over each filter element and brushing and rinsing is then performed. Depending on the size of the drinking water filter, it may be necessary to clean up to fifty individual filter elements. This is normally done during normal working hours and therefore leads to corresponding breaks in operation in restaurants, hotels and bottling plants.
The same problems also apply to other fluids. Thus, this invention is not limited to drinking water filtration. Although the structure is described as a drinking water filtration installation in the following description, it can also be utilized without modifications for other fluids.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a drinking water filtration unit which permits a simple cleaning while in operation.
This and other objects of this invention are achieved by a filter unit comprising a filter housing and at least one filter seated therein, at least one fluid feed line, one purified fluid outlet line and one unpurified fluid outlet line, each of said lines being provided with a valve. The filter is sealingly seated in the housing in the area between the fluid feed line and the purified fluid outlet line. The shape of the filter is a conical cylinder, the wide end of which faces the fluid feed line, while the underside with the narrower opening sealingly rests in an intermediate plate in the filter housing. A dirt funnel with an outlet line for untreated fluid is disposed below the intermediate plate. A cleaning element is rotatably seated inside the filter housing and can be lowered inside the conical filter from a filtration position to a cleaning position.
In accordance with one embodiment, purely manual function is provided for use particularly in remote areas and third world countries, where a dependable electrical supply is not assured.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention fully automatic operation, which permits a purely time-controlled cleaning is provided.
REFERENCES:
patent: 502690 (1893-08-01), Andre
patent: 1130725 (1915-03-01), Getts
patent: 1382056 (1921-06-01), Bontemps
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patent: 1993214 (1935-03-01), Hass
patent: 2606663 (1952-08-01), Blackman
patent: 2678732 (1954-05-01), Banks
patent: 4347134 (1982-08-01), Suehaug
patent: 5316685 (1994-05-01), Stein
patent: 5569383 (1996-10-01), Vander Arks, Jr.
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