Electric resistance heating devices – Heating devices – Tank or container type liquid heater
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-08
2001-01-23
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)
Electric resistance heating devices
Heating devices
Tank or container type liquid heater
C392S447000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178290
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns a water filter device having a collecting pot with a spout which is disposed at the top front, a handle which is disposed at the rear in opposite relationship, and an electrical heating element which is arranged in the lower boiling region of the collecting pot, wherein the collecting pot is closable at the top by a lid and provided in the interior is a filter insert in which a filter cartridge which can be filled with a purification agent is arranged so that untreated water can be poured by way of the filter cartridge into the filter insert and can pass due to the force of gravity to at least below the filter cartridge, wherein the filter insert is arranged in an insulating insert in such a way that provided between the boiling region in the collecting pot and the filter insert with the filter cartridge is a partition wall which is generally arranged at a spacing from the filter insert and which is at least in part in the form of a substantially horizontally extending plate, and wherein provided in the lower region of the insulating insert is a through opening for the communication between the discharge end of the filter cartridge and the collecting pot.
There are various water filter devices with an electrical heating element, in which the water is urged by way of a motor-driven pump through the handle and thus also through the filter insert disposed in the handle and is then conveyed into the collecting pot. Such devices frequently have an excessively bulky handle and the overall design configuration is also complex and from time to time temperamental in operation as it involves a pressurised system. Descaling is also difficult and there are problems with indication of the filling level. Those systems are used nonetheless because the filter cartridge in the handle, with the purification agent, is not exposed to the effect of the heat of the heating element, with consequential harm thereto.
A water filter device which is similar to the kind described in the opening part of this specification is also already known, in which however the filter insert is formed in one piece with the funnel and a shaft-like depression in front region of the funnel is arranged at the bottom beside the spout. A further cup-shaped wall configuration is also disposed as an insulating insert on the funnel at the bottom around the shaft-like depression of the filter insert, in order to prevent the heat of the heating element or the heated water from having a damaging influence on the filter cartridge. It is only the bottom region of the insulating insert that has a small. substantially horizontally extending plate which at the centre, like the filter insert, has a through opening so that the purified water issuing from the filter cartridge can pass through that through opening into the boiling region.
This last-described water filter device can only be dismantled by a procedure whereby, together with the filter insert in the form of the funnel, the insulating insert and the filter cartridge are also removable. Both the filter cartridge and also the through opening are disposed in the front region of the collecting pot beside the spout so that, when pouring out water, a back-up accumulation can occur and particular measures must be taken so that heated water is not urged back out of the boiling region into the filter cartridge. Apart from the difficulties involved in manufacture of such a device, there are also no measures for feeding on the one hand relatively small and on the other hand relatively large amounts of water to the heating element. On the contrary, it is always the same amount of untreated water that will pass through the filter cartridge and the through opening into the boiling region.
Therefore the object of the present invention is so to simplify a water filter device of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification that the filter insert in which the filter cartridge is disposed can be separately removed from the insulating insert, possibly freshly fitted with a filter cartridge, in which case the inserts can be better cleaned, the pouring properties of the pot are improved, and operation of the water filter device can be better adapted to different amounts of water to be purified.
In accordance with the invention that object is attained in that the through opening is arranged in the rear region of the collecting pot which is in opposite relationship to the spout and the substantially horizontally extending part of the partition wall is inclined downwardly towards the through opening and extends “at the level above the boiling region” in the sense of “above the boiling region” at least partially over the cross-section of the collecting pot. The arrangement of the through opening in the rear region of the collecting pot affords better pouring properties, the centre of gravity is desirably closer to the handle, and a back-flow of heated boiled water into the filter cartridge is also substantially excluded. The partition wall mechanically and thermally separates the boiling region from the untreated water region and is above the boiling region, unlike the case with the known devices. Due to the system being operated by the force of gravity, the volume flow is advantageously afforded by virtue of the geometry of the inserts and the volume flow can be well matched to the kinematics of the ion exchanger. That gives good purification properties. When dealing with a mixture of the purification agent of for example 30% carbon and 70% ion exchanger, it is possible to remove substances affording taste and smell from the water due to the action of the carbon while the ion exchanger provides for radical decarbonisation with the desired filtering speed.
These per se known basic functions of a water filtration unit can be implemented with the water purification device according to the invention even when the heating element is switched off. In accordance with the invention this filter capability can be fully maintained in accordance with the invention when the use is expanded in the described manner by the heating element and at the same time water to be purified is also additionally heated. By virtue of the provision of the thermal insulation the filter cartridge and its purification agent contained therein can be kept for example at room temperature. That makes it possible to promote and stabilise the filtration kinematics.
In a corresponding configuration, it is possible for the filter insert to be removably connected in the insulating insert so firmly that untreated water which is poured on over the filter cartridge certainly cannot pass directly to the bottom of the insulating insert and thus also the through opening but must first pass through the filter cartridge. That therefore affords a practical dismantling option and the inserts can be easily satisfactorily cleaned.
Apart from the possibility of fitting filter cartridges of different configurations in a water filter device of the kind described hereinbefore and thus already adapting the operation involved to different amounts of water to be purified, it is particularly desirable in accordance with the invention if the through opening is provided with a closure device. More specifically, it is then possible for the untreated water region above the filter cartridge to be completely filled with water and nonetheless for only a desired amount of purified water which has flowed out of the filter cartridge to be passed through the through opening into the boiling region. When that amount is reached, the further through flow can be terminated by the closure device. It is known to be harmless if the purification agent in the filter cartridge is in water or also if untreated water remains above the filter cartridge.
If there is a wish for the total amount of untreated water to be passed to the boiling region, then the inclination of the substantially horizontally extending part of the partition wall towards the through opening makes it possible for no undesired residual amounts to be left in the insulating in
Henke Holger
Weyrauch Detlev
Brita GmbH
Campbell Thor
Paul & Paul
Walberg Teresa
LandOfFree
Water filter device having a collecting pot and a heating... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Water filter device having a collecting pot and a heating..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Water filter device having a collecting pot and a heating... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2537383