Liquid purification or separation – With alarm – indicator – register – recorder – signal or...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-16
2001-05-01
Drodge, Joseph W. (Department: 1723)
Liquid purification or separation
With alarm, indicator, register, recorder, signal or...
C210S232000, C210S238000, C210S475000, C210S482000, C210S282000, C368S010000, C206S459100, C222S023000, C222S189070
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224751
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a water purifying device with a collecting jug for purified water, in which a funnel with a filter cartridge filled with purifying medium is fitted in a removable manner and which can be closed at the top with a lid, wherein means for removing the lid and means for indicating the exhaustion of the purifying medium are arranged on the lid.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A water purifying device of the type described hereinabove is already known from German patent 38 14 683. It is also known from this that often the consumer and user of such a water purifying device does not replace the purifying medium in good time. For example, the ion exchangers often used to have a capacity to purify approximately 60 to 100 litres of water. In a normal household a water purifying device or preparation device of the type described in the introduction can be used perfectly well in a hygienic manner for a period of, for example, one month with one and the same purifying means. For reasons of hygiene, however, the purifying means, for example the ion exchanger or a mixture including it, should not be in use for very much longer than the lifetime indicated. The purifying medium should be replaced thereafter. It would thus be desirable to provide an indication at that time, showing a time reference, and to be able to replace the purifying medium in good time.
With previous filter cartridges, and also those of the type described in the patent described hereinabove, the problem of ventilation was significant, so a cap-like top part was provided by means of which the consumer could, at least in a mechanical way, be given a means for said consumer to recognise when a pre-determined time had elapsed, that is to say when it is expected that the purifying medium in the filter cartridge is exhausted. The top part, configured in a cap-shape, was provided with a perforated plate, wherein each hole was assigned to a month of the year. The consumer can place a pointer, for example a stopper attached to a band, in a specific hole at the beginning of use, in order to later remind himself of the time when, at the latest, the purifying medium in the filter cartridge ought to be exhausted. Disadvantageously, however, it was left to the consumer to place the stopper in one of the many holes. Disadvantageously, the stopper could also be knocked out of the previously correctly specified hole (for example, during use) and then the actual time for replacement of the filter cartridge was not known.
Tests have also already been carried out replacing these mechanical means with electronic indicators. A reed switch was built into an indicator, which switch interacts with a magnet arranged on the rim of the collecting jug or the like to the effect that each time the lid is removed, the magnetic field is interrupted and the reed switch actuated, so a kind of indirect volume measurement, optionally also linked to a time measurement, can provide information about the state of exhaustion of the purifying medium. Disadvantageously, the time remaining until the purifying medium is exhausted is reduced each time the lid is lifted off and put on, that is to say the indicator in this test also counts when movements of the reed switch relative to the magnets take place. Even when the lid is rotated, unintentional counting can result. With this test apparatus, the indicator with the reed switch must also be arranged in operating distance of the magnet. In one embodiment, fixing of the indicator in the edge of the lid was provided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to be free of these limitations, the object of the invention is to improve the water purifying device of the type described in the introduction to the effect that an inexpensive, easily recognisable and reliably functioning indication of the state of exhaustion of the purifying medium is provided.
In accordance with the invention, this object is solved in that the means for indicating exhaustion is an indicator fitted in an aperture in the surface of the lid, the indicator panel of which can be seen from above from the exterior, and which, by means of an electronic, battery driven circuit, shows only the respective time elapsed, without cooperating with a separate signalling means. Without errors caused by irrelevant movements of the lid with respect to the funnel or the collecting jug, using the novel water purifying device an indication of the state of exhaustion of the purifying medium is provided which is solely time-related. The manufacturer of the purifying medium knows from its composition and the amount or, for example, the degree of hardness of the water, the time period during which the purifying medium in the given filter cartridge has the desired effect. If this is a month, the indicator according to the novel invention then shows one month, for example, divided into a plurality of segments in order to signal to the viewer that a specific and recognisable fraction of this time has elapsed.
Using the electronic circuit in the indicator, with the water purifying device according to the invention, there is no dependence upon mechanical parts and the wear and tear to these, wherein mechanical timers or shifters already exist which count, dependent on the opening of the pourer of the collecting jug, and display the result of this counting. According to the invention this is more easily and inexpensively solved by electronic means. In addition, no signalling means separate from the indicator are needed. The arrangement of the indicator according to the invention is moreover unrestricted.
With many known water purifying devices, a knob is provided on the top surface of the lid, mostly at its centre. This is partly used for ventilation purposes, and partly simply for taking hold of the lid. In the case of a round lid, its centre is particularly logical, easily visible and consequently particularly attractive for the consumer. Many known water purifying devices therefore have the knob in the middle of the lid. An arrangement of a reed switch in the middle of the lid is out of the question with older devices, as the distance from a magnet arranged outside the rim of the collecting jug would be too great.
According to the invention, by omitting separate signalling means such as, for example, magnets, and by representing only the time, the technical limitations described hereinabove can be overcome. According to the invention it is provided that the indicator panel fitted at the top of the indicator is located in the centre of the surface of the lid, and the means for removing the lid from the funnel and/or the collecting jug are arranged in the area of the edge of the lid surface. In this embodiment of the invention, the arrangement of the indicator with its indicator panel in the middle of the surface of the lid is clearly visible and easily understandable for the consumer. Any distance of the indicator from a separate signalling means does not have to be taken into account. In this embodiment, the knob can be omitted as a means for removing the lid as differently configured means are provided at the edge area of the surface of the lid for removing said lid. For example, the surface of the lid above the funnel, or the upper rim of the collecting jug, can be configured so as to project. The consumer can then grip the lid and remove it over the projecting rim. It is also conceivable to have grip handles projecting alternately from the rim which the consumer can also take hold of easily or also find by the sense of touch in order to then remove the lid. On the one hand, these measures provide practical and easy handling of the water purifying device which, on the other hand, also has the indicator panel of the indicator clearly visible in the important central position.
It is furthermore advantageous according to the invention when the means for removing the lid is arranged in the rear area of the lid in the form of gripping recesses on both sides. “Above” and “below” will be mentioned hereinafter. By this it is understood that wa
Fischer Erik
Hofmann Uwe
Brita GmbH
Cecil Terry K.
Drodge Joseph W.
Dunn Michael L.
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