Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Potable water or ice compositions or processes of preparing... – Having incorporated gas
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-12
2001-09-04
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Potable water or ice compositions or processes of preparing...
Having incorporated gas
C426S423000, C426S475000, C210S652000, C210S666000, C210S749000, C210S754000, C210S752000, C210S753000, C210S755000, C210S756000, C261S004000, C261S076000, C261S083000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06284293
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCES
There are no applications related to this application filed in this or any foreign country.
BACKGROUND
A number of devices have been developed for processing drinking water. These include filtration devices and oxygenating devices. The need for filtration devices to remove impurities is obvious. In particular, as pollution and overpopulation puts greater strains on the available supplies of drinking water, there is a general tendency for municipal water supplies to degrade, and consequently, for bottled water and filtered water to become more popular.
Additionally, it has more recently become known that increasing the oxygen content in water has health benefits. As a result, a method and apparatus for generating oxygenated water is known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,287, issued to Hough et al. in 1998, discloses a method of oxygenating water with electrolytic cells. The disclosure includes means for supplying a varying amount of water with at least a selected level of oxygen. In spite of this advance, technology is limited in its ability to raise the levels of oxygen concentration within water. Because the demand for higher levels of oxygen concentration in water exceeds the ability of current technology, there remains a need for a new and novel method and apparatus for generating oxygenated water.
Similarly, the popular medical press has indicated that antioxidants may be instrumental in preventing disease and in protecting cells from damage that can result in premature aging. As a result, it is widely known that certain vitamins have an antioxidant potential. However, because the availability of antioxidants is limited to certain foods and food supplements, it is not the case that all people consume an adequate supply of antioxidants. Therefore, additional availability of antioxidants would result in an increase in the health of many people.
SUMMARY
The present invention is directed to an apparatus that satisfies the above needs. A novel method and apparatus for generating oxygenated water is disclosed that provides greater water purity and higher levels of oxygen than is possible using previous technology.
The method and apparatus for generating oxygenated water of the present invention provides some or all of the following structures and procedural steps.
(A) The water is purified by use of a carbon filter.
(B) The water is softened, i.e. mineral content removed, by a generally conventional water softening process, in that salt is used to form brine which is used in a process that removes minerals from the water.
(C) The water is processed by a reverse osmosis unit, which further reduces the particulate level, mineral level and chloride level.
(D) A blender adds sodium bicarbonate (or alternatively sodium carbonate) to the water at a rate of approximately ⅛ cup sodium bicarbonate per 100 gallons of water.
(E) In one application of the method and apparatus of the invention, the water is transferred to a storage tank. This is particularly useful where the reverse osmosis unit is operated over a period of time, such as overnight, to obtain a sufficient quantity of water.
(F) Where a storage tank is used, a recirculating pump keeps the water in the storage tank moving, and thereby keeps the sodium bicarbonate in solution. Keeping the water moving allows the use of the minimal amount of sodium bicarbonate required to result in sufficient electrical conductivity of the water.
(G) The water is then passed through an electrolytic cell, where a small amount of water is separated into its constituent parts of hydrogen and oxygen. At this point in the procedure, the dissolved oxygen level will typically be approximately 20 to 25 parts per million (ppm). The oxidation reduction potential (ORP) level is substantially lowered, resulting in a level of +50 to −350 mV, thereby making the water functional as an antioxidant.
(H) The water then enters a sparging unit. In the sparging unit, the water moves downwardly on a spiraling concourse in a manner which results in a large surface area of contact with oxygen gas. Enough oxygen enters into solution during the sparging process to raise the level of oxygen to 50 to 60 parts per million.
(I) The water is then bottled for later consumption as drinking water.
It is therefore a primary advantage of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for generating oxygenated water which achieves a synergistic combination of higher levels of oxygen concentration and greater antioxidant potential than is possible with known technology.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus for generating oxygenated water having a substantial antioxidant potential which uses a combination of carbon filters, water softeners, reverse osmosis, electrolysis and sparging to result in water having a high oxygen concentration and an antioxidant potential.
A still further advantage of the present invention is to provide a sparging unit with a novel spiral structure which results in greater oxygen absorption by water contained within the sparging unit.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification and the accompanying drawings.
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Crandall Jeffery J.
Mantz Brian W
Martz Edward C
Bhat Nina
Thompson David S.
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