Water filter abstract
A laminated modular water filter includes a top plate, an intermediate
plate, and a bottom plate, which are annular. Each of the top and
intermediate plates has a bottom surface with an annular lower groove.
Each of the intermediate and bottom plates has a top surface with
an annular upper groove. Each adjacent pair of the upper and lower
grooves in the top, intermediate, and bottom plates constitute a
filter-receiving chamber for receiving a filter unit, which includes
two filtering films disposed between two rotatable nets.
Water filter claims
I claim:
1. A laminated modular water filter comprising: an intermediate
plate having a central hole formed therethrough, a top surface with
an annular upper groove formed around said central hole in said
intermediate plate, a bottom surface with an annular lower groove
formed around said central hole, and a through hole formed through
said intermediate plate, said upper and lower grooves in said intermediate
plate being located between said central hole in said intermediate
plate and said through hole in said intermediate plate; a top plate
connected removably to said intermediate plate and having a bottom
surface that abuts against said top surface of said intermediate
plate so as to establish a liquid-tight seal between outer peripheries
of said top and intermediate plates and that is formed with an annular
lower groove adjacent to said upper groove in said intermediate
plate, a central hole that is formed through said top plate and
that is aligned with and that is in fluid communication with said
central hole in said intermediate plate, and a through hole that
is formed through said top plate and that is in fluid communication
with said through hole in said intermediate plate, said through
hole in said top plate being adapted to permit introduction of dirty
water therethrough; a bottom plate connected removably to said intermediate
plate and having a top surface that abuts against said bottom surface
of said intermediate plate in such a manner that a liquid-tight
seal is established between an outer periphery of said bottom plate
and said outer periphery of said intermediate plate and that is
formed with an annular upper groove adjacent to said lower groove
in said intermediate plate, a central hole that is formed through
said bottom plate and that is in fluid communication with said central
hole in said intermediate plate, and a through hole that is formed
through said bottom plate and that is in fluid communication with
said through hole in said intermediate plate, said through holes
in said top, intermediate, and bottom plates constituting a through
hole unit, said central holes in said top, intermediate, and bottom
plates constituting a central hole unit, each adjacent pair of said
upper and lower grooves in said top, intermediate, and bottom plates
defining an annular filter-receiving chamber that is in fluid communication
with said central hole unit and said through hole unit so as to
permit flow of the dirty water from said through hole unit into
said central hole unit through said filter-receiving chamber; and
two filter units received respectively and fittingly within said
filter-receiving chambers, each of said filter units including a
film unit including two adjacent parallel filtering films that define
a filtered water passage formed therebetween and that are adapted
to prevent solid particles suspended within the dirty water from
flowing into said filtered water passage through said filtering
films, each of said filtering films having a central hole that is
in fluid communication with said filtered water passage and said
central holes in said top, intermediate, and bottom plates, and
two rotatable nets parallel to and rotatable relative to said filtering
films, said film unit being disposed between said rotatable nets,
each of said rotatable nets having a central hole that is in fluid
communication with said central hole unit, and an inner side proximate
to said film unit and formed with a plurality of projections.
2. The laminated modular water filter as claimed in claim 1 wherein
said projections of each of said rotatable nets of said filterunits
are arranged along a plurality of angularly equidistant curved lines,
each of which extends from an inner periphery of a corresponding
one of said rotatable nets to an outer periphery of the corresponding
one of said rotatable nets.
3. A laminated modular water filter comprising: a plurality of
superposed intermediate plates arranged one above another in such
a manner that a liquid-tight seal is established between outer peripheries
of each adjacent pair of said intermediate plates, each of said
intermediate plates having a central hole formed therethrough, a
top surface with an annular upper groove formed around said central
hole in a corresponding one of said intermediate plates, a bottom
surface with an annular lower groove formed around said central
hole, and a through hole formed through the corresponding one of
said intermediate plates, said upper and lower grooves in said intermediate
plates being aligned with one another and being located between
said central holes in said intermediate plates and said through
holes in said intermediate plates; a top plate connected removably
to said intermediate plates and having a bottom surface that abuts
against said top surface of anuppermost one of said intermediate
plates so as to establish a liquid-tight seal between an outer periphery
of said top plate and said outer periphery of said uppermost one
of said intermediate plates and that is formed with an annular lower
groove adjacent to said upper groove in said uppermost one of said
intermediate plates, a central hole that is formed through said
top plate and that is aligned with and that is in fluid communication
with said central hole in said uppermost one of said intermediate
plates, and a through hole that is formed through said top plate
and that is in fluid communication with said through hole in said
uppermost one of said intermediate plates; a bottom plate connected
removably to said intermediate plates and having a top surface that
abuts against said bottom surface of a lowermost one of said intermediate
plates in such a manner that a liquid-tight seal is established
between an outer periphery of said bottom plate and said outer periphery
of said lowermost one of said intermediate plates and that is formed
with an annular upper groove adjacent to said lower groove in said
lowermost one of said intermediate plates, a central hole that is
formed through said bottom plate and that is in fluid communication
with said central hole in said lowermost one of said intermediate
plates, and a through hole that is formed through said bottom plate
and that is in fluid communication with said through hole in said
lowermost one of said intermediate plates, said through holes in
said top, intermediate, and bottom plates constituting a through
hole unit, said central holes in said top, intermediate, and bottom
plates constituting a central hole unit, each adjacent pair of said
upper and lower grooves in said top, intermediate, and bottom plates
defining an annular filter-receiving chamber that is in fluid communication
with said central hole unit and said through hole unit so as to
permit flow of the dirty water from said through hole unit into
said central hole unit through said filter-receiving chambers; and
a plurality of filter units received respectively and fittingly
within said filter-receiving chambers, each of said filter units
including a film unit including two adjacent parallel filtering
films that define a filtered water passage formed therebetween and
that are adapted to prevent solid particles suspended within the
dirty water from flowing into said filtered water passage through
said filtering films, each of said filtering films having a central
hole that is in fluid communication with said filtered water passage
and said central holes in said top, intermediate, and bottom plates,
and two rotatable nets parallel to and rotatable relative to said
filtering films, said film unit being disposed between said rotatable
nets, each of said rotatable nets having a central hole that is
in fluid communication with said central hole unit, and an inner
side proximate to said film unit and formed with a plurality of
projections.
4. The laminated modular water filter as claimed in claim 3 wherein
said projections of each of said rotatable nets of said filter units
are arranged along a plurality of angularly equidistant curved lines,
each of which extends from an inner periphery of a corresponding
one of said rotatable nets to an outer periphery of the corresponding
one of said rotatable nets.
Water filter description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to a water filter, and more particularly
to a laminated modular water filter.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] A conventional laminated modular water filter includes a
plurality of filtering films. When dirty water is forced to flow
through the filtering films in a forward direction, solid particles
suspended within the dirty water are prevented from flowing through
the filtering films. When it is desired to clean the filtering films,
washing water is forced to flow through the filtering films in a
reverse direction so as to remove the solid particles from the filtering
films. However, impact of the washing water with respect to the
solid particles is too small for effectively removing the latter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The object of this invention is to provide a laminated modular
water filter that includes a plurality of filtering films, which
can be cleaned effectively.
[0006] According to this invention, a laminated modular water filter
includes a top plate, at least one intermediate plate, and a bottom
plate, which are annular. Each of the top and intermediate plates
has a bottom surface with an annular lower groove. Each of the intermediate
and bottom plates has a top surface with an annular upper groove.
Each adjacent pair of the upper and lower grooves in the top, intermediate,
and bottom plates constitute a filter-receiving chamber for receiving
a filter unit. Each of the filter units includes two filtering films
disposed between two rotatable nets. When washing water is forced
to flow from central holes in the top, intermediate, and bottom
plates into the chambers, the rotatable nets rotate within the chambers
so that solid particles are removed from the filtering films by
projections on the rotatable nets.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] These and other features and advantages of this invention
will become apparent in the following detailed description of a
preferred embodiment of this invention, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[0008] FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of the preferred
embodiment of a laminated modular water filer according to this
invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred
embodiment;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment,
illustrating flow paths of dirty water and washing water;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred
embodiment, illustrating how two filter units are disposed within
an assembly of a top plate and two intermediate plates; and
[0012] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rotatable net of a filter
unit of the preferred embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Referring to FIGS. 1 2 3 and 4 the preferred embodiment
of a laminated modular water filter according to this invention
is shown to include a plurality of superposed intermediate plates
10 a top plate 20 abottom plate 30 and a plurality of filter
units 40.
[0014] Each of the intermediate plates 10 has a central hole 11
formed therethrough, an outer peripheral portion 12 with four through
holes 13 and four fastener holes 14 a top surface with an annular
upper groove 15 formed around the central hole 11 and between the
central hole 11 and the through holes 13 a bottom surface with
an annular lower groove l6 aligned with the upper groove 15 an
upwardly projecting ring 17 disposed between the central hole 11
and the upper groove 15 a downwardly projecting ring 18 disposed
between the central hole 11 and the lower groove 16 and two annular
outer slots 19 formed respectively in the top and bottom surfaces
of the outer peripheral portion 12 and between the through holes
13 and the fastener holes 14. Eachof the rings 17 18 is formed
withan annular inner slot 171 181 for receiving an inner seal ring
172 182. The outer slots 19 are used to receive a plurality of
outer seal rings 191 so as to establish a liquid-tight seal between
outer peripheries of each adjacent pair of the intermediate plates
10.
[0015] The top plate 20 has a bottom surface that abuts against
the top surface of the uppermost intermediate plate 10 and has
a central hole 21 formed therethrough, an outer peripheral portion
with four through holes 22 formed therethrough, a bottom surface
23 with an annular lower groove 24 formed around the central hole
21 four fastener holes 25 formed through the outer peripheral portion
of the top plate 20 a downwardly projecting ring 26 disposed between
the central hole 21 and the lower groove 24 and an annular outer
slot 27 formed in the outer peripheral portion of the top plate
20 and between the through holes 22 and the fastener holes 25. The
downwardly projecting ring 26 is formed with an annular inner slot
261 for receiving an inner seal ring 262. The outer slot 27 and
the outer slot 19 in the top surface of the uppermost intermediate
plate 10 cooperate to receive an annular outer seal ring 271 so
as to establish a liquid-tight seal between an outer periphery of
the top plate 20 and the outer periphery of the uppermost intermediate
plate 10.
[0016] The bottom plate 30 has a central hole 30' formed therethrough,
atop surface 31 that abuts against the bottom surface of the lowermost
intermediate plate 10 and that is formed with an annular upper groove
32 formed around the central hole 30', an outer peripheral portion
with four through holes 33 and four fastener holes 34 an upwardly
projecting ring 35 disposed between the central hole 30' and the
through holes 33 and an annular outer slot 36 formed in the top
surface of the outer peripheral portion of the bottom plate 30 and
between the through holes 33 and the fastener holes 34. The upwardly
projecting ring 35 is formed with an annular inner slot 351 for
receiving an inner seal ring 352. The outer slot 36 and the outer
slot 19 in the bottom surface of the uppermost intermediate plate
10 cooperate to receive an annular outer seal ring 361 so as to
establish a liquid-tight seal between an outer periphery of the
bottom plate 30 and the outer periphery of the lowermost intermediate
plate 10.
[0017] The central holes 21 11 30' in the top, intermediate,
and bottom plates 20 10 30 constitute a central hole unit. The
throughholes 22 13 33 in the top, intermediate, and bottom plates
20 10 30 constitute a through hole unit. Each adjacent pair of
the top, intermediate, and bottomplates 20 10 30 define a filter-receiving
chamber 6 (see FIG. 4) therebetween that are formed from a lower
groove 24 16 in an upper one of the adjacent pair of the top, intermediate,
and bottom plates 20 10 30 and an upper groove 15 32 in a lower
one of the adjacent pair of the top, intermediate, and bottom plates
20 10 30 and that are in fluid communication with the central
hole unit and the through hole unit.
[0018] Four bolts 70 extend the fastener holes 25 14 34 in the
top, intermediate, and bottom plates 20 10 30 to engage four nuts
71 (see FIG. 2), respectively.
[0019] The filter units 40 are disposed respectively and fittingly
within the filter-receiving chambers 6. Each of the filter units
40 includes a film unit consisting of two adjacent parallel filtering
films 41 42 each of which has a central hole 43 that is aligned
with and that is in fluid communication with the central hole unit,
a filtered water passage 44 defined between the filtering films
41 42 and in fluid communication with the central hole 43 and
a support net layer 45 sandwiched between the filtering films 41
42 so that filtered water can flow from the corresponding filter-receiving
chamber 6 into the central hole unit through the filtered water
passage 44.
[0020] Each of the filter units 40 further includes two rotatable
nets 50 60 parallel to and rotatable relative to the filtering
films 41 42. In each of the filter-receiving chambers 6 the filtering
films 41 42 are disposed between the rotatable nets 50 60. Each
of the rotatable nets 50 60 has a central hole 51 61 that is in
fluid communication with the central hole unit, and an inner side
proximate to the film unit and formed with a plurality of projections
52 62 (see FIG. 5), which are arranged along a plurality of angularly
equidistant curved lines, each of the curved lines extending from
an inner periphery of the corresponding rotatable net 50 60 to
an outer periphery of the corresponding rotatable net 50 60 as
shown in FIG. 5.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 3 when it is desired to filter dirty
water, the lower ends of the through holes 33 in the bottom plate
30 are closed, and the dirty water is forced into the upper end
of the through holes 22 in the top plate 20. The dirty water flows
from the through hole unit into the central hole unit through the
filter-receiving chambers 6 along flow paths shown by the solid
arrowheads. When the dirty water flows into the filtered water passages
44 through the filtering films 41 42 solid particles suspended
within the dirty water are prevented from flowing through the filtering
films 41 42.
[0022] When it is desired to clean the filtering films 41 42
the lower end of the central hole 30' in the bottom plate 30 is
closed, and washing water is forced into the upper end of the central
hole 21 in the top plate 20. The washing water flows from the central
hole unit into the filter-receiving chambers 6 along flow paths
shown by the broken lines, thereby rotating the rotatable nets 50
60 relative to the filtering films 41 42 such that the solid particles
are removed from the filtering films 41 42 by the projections 52
62.
[0023] When the amount of the solid particles suspended within
the dirty water is comparatively small, the number of the intermediate
plates 10 can be reduced correspondingly. In some conditions, it
is likely that only one intermediate plate 10 is sufficient to filter
the dirty water.
[0024] With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that
numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing
from the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended
that this invention be limited only as indicated by the appended
claims. |