Water filter abstract
A water filter includes a pressure switch in order to sense inlet
water pressure of the water filter, a solenoid valve for controlling
water inlet of the water filter, the solenoid valve is disposed
after the pressure switch and is acted in response to the pressure
switch. A central processing unit is coupled to the pressure switch
and the solenoid valve for delaying action of the solenoid valve
in response to the pressure switch. The pump is stopped when the
pressure is actuated intermittently and continuously and when the
pump runs over a predetermined time interval continuously.
Water filter claims
I claim:
1. Apparatus comprising a water filter assembly, the assembly comprising:
a first pressure switch for sensing inlet water pressure of said
water filter assembly,
a first filter operative to entrap large waterborne particles and
connectable in flow communication with a source of the water,
a first solenoid valve for controlling flow through a water inlet
of said water filter assembly, said first pressure switch being
disposed before said first solenoid valve in order to sense said
inlet water pressure, said first solenoid valve being activated
in response to said first pressure switch,
a pump coupled to said first solenoid valve for pumping water into
said water filter assembly,
a second filter including activated carbon material and arranged
to receive first effluent from said first filter,
an ultrafiltration film operative to entrap fine waterborne particles
and arranged to receive second filter effluent from said second
filter,
a second solenoid valve coupled to said ultrafiltration film and
being operative to remove said fine waterborne particles from said
ultrafiltration film,
a second pressure switch coupled to said ultrafiltration film for
discharging third filter effluent from said ultrafiltration film,
a reverse osmosis film operative to entrap micro particles and
arranged to receive the third filter effluent from said ultrafiltration
film,
a third solenoid valve coupled to said reverse osmosis film and
being operative to flush said micro particles from said reverse
osmosis film,
a water tank,
a third pressure switch for sensing water pressure in said water
tank, and
a central processing unit coupled operatively to said first pressure
switch and to said second pressure switch and to said third pressure
switch and to said first solenoid valve and said second solenoid
valve and to said third solenoid valve and to said pump; respectively;
in controlling relationship therever and operative for delaying
action of said first solenoid valve in response to actuation of
said first pressure switch and said second pressure switch and said
third pressure switch,
said central processing unit being further operative to measure
working time of said first pressure switch and connected operatively
to actuate said first solenoid valve and said second solenoid valve
and said third solenoid valve and said pump for flushing said ultrafiltration
film and/or said reverse osmosis film, respectively, when working
time of said ultrafiltration film and/or said reverse osmosis film,
respectively, reaches a predetermined time interval,
said central processing unit being further operative to stop said
pump when said first pressure switch and said second pressure switch
and said third pressure switch each is actuated intermittently and
continuously,
said central processing unit further being operative to measure
operation time of said pump and for stopping said pump when said
operation time of said pump teaches a predetermined value, the apparatus
also comprising,
at least one sensor coupled to said central processing unit and
disposed below said water filter assembly in order to sense water
leakage of said water filter assembly, said at least one sensor
sending a signal to said central processing unit when sensing water
leakage in order to cut off electric power supplied to said water
filter assembly.
Water filter description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water filter assembly for drinking
water.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Various kinds of water filters have been developed and used, generally,
the water filters comprise at least one filter disposed in the front
portion for filtering the larger particles and at least one activated
carbon filter for absorbing chemical materials; some of the water
filters further comprise "ultrafiltration film" (hereinafter
refer to as UF film) or "reverse osmosis film" (hereinafter
refer to as RO film) disposed after the filter for filtering micro
particles, such as the bacteria. The filtered particles or bacteria
are accumulated on the outside of the films.
In order that the water may flow through the filter members, a
pump is required to be disposed in the beginning of the water filter
assembly, a solenoid valve is provided to control the water inlet
of the water filter assembly, and a pressure switch is provided
to sense the inlet water pressure, when the inlet water pressure
is lower than a predetermined value, the solenoid valve will be
closed in order to close the water inlet to the water filter assembly,
and to shut off the pump. However, when the inlet water pressure
is close to the predetermined value and may sometimes higher and
sometimes lower than the predetermined value, the pressure switch
may be opened and closed repeatedly, the solenoid valve will also
be opened and closed repeatedly within a short period of time, such
condition is the so-called "jump" condition; this makes
a large noise during the night.
A water flow is controlled at a predetermined time interval for
cleaning the accumulated particles. However, the flushing of the
water is actuated whether there are accumulated particles or not.
This may waste water when no particles are accumulated.
The check valves of the water filters may become failure and water
leaking may be occurred in the coupling portions of the pipes, such
that water may not fully pumped into the container and such that
the pump will run forever or will run intermittently and continuously,
the pump will thus be easily damaged, and other serious disasters
will follow.
For conventional water filters, in some circumstances, the pump
will not stop and will run forever such that the pump may be damaged,
and other serious disasters will follow.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the
afore-described disadvantages of the conventional water filters.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a
water filter assembly which includes a central processing unit for
controlling the pressure switch in order to avoid the jump condition.
The other objective of the present invention is to provide a water
filter assembly which includes a CPU for effectively controlling
the flushing operations of the water filter.
The further objective of the present invention is to provide a
water filter assembly in which the CPU may sense water leakage so
as to turn off the electric power supplied to the water filter assembly
and to cut off the water supplied into the water filter assembly.
The still further objective of the present invention is to provide
a water filter in which the central processing unit may sense the
operating time of the pump and for turning off tile pump when the
pump runs continuously for a predetermined time interval.
The other objective of the present invention is to provide a water
filter assembly which includes one or more sensors for sensing water
leakage so as to turn off the electric power supplied to tile water
filter and to cut off the water supplied into the water filter.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a water filter assembly comprising a first pressure switch
for sensing inlet water pressure of the water filter assembly, a
solenoid valve for controlling water inlet of the water filter assembly,
the first pressure switch being disposed before the solenoid valve
in order to sense the inlet water pressure, the solenoid valve being
activated in response to the first pressure switch, a pump for pumping
water through the filter assembly assembly, a water tank, a second
pressure switch for sensing water pressure in the water tank, a
central processing unit coupled to the first pressure switch, the
second pressure switch, the solenoid valve and the pump respectively
for delaying action of the solenoid valve in response to the actuation
of the first pressure switch and the second pressure switch, the
central processing unit calculating working time of the first pressure
switch and actuating the solenoid valve and the pump for flushing
the filtering film when the working time of time filtering film
reaches a predetermined time interval, the pump being stopped when
the pressure switch is actuated intermittently and continuously,
the central processing unit being coupled to the pump for measuring
operation time of the pump and for stopping the pump when the operation
time of the pump reaches a predetermined value. One or more sensors
are coupled to the central processing unit and disposed below the
water filter assembly in order to sense water leakage of the water
filter assembly. The sensors send a signal to the control means
when sensing water leakage in order to cut off electric power supplied
to the water filter assembly.
Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description
provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating part of a water filter
assembly in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the water filter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings, a water filter assembly in accordance
with the present invention comprises a pressure switch 10 for sensing
the pressure of the inlet water, a first filter 20 for filtering
larger particles, a solenoid valve 30 for controlling the flow of
the water through the filter assembly, a pump 40 for pumping water
through the filter assembly, an activated carbon filter 50 a second
filter 60 for filtering smaller particles, a filtering film, such
as a UF film 70 for filtering micro particles, such as bacteria,
a solenoid valve 71 for controlling the flushing operations of the
UF film 70 a check valve 72 and a pressure switch 73 coupled to
the UF film 70 another filtering film, such as a RO film 80 disposed
after the UF film 70 a solenoid valve 82 for controlling the flushing
operations of the RO film 80 a check valve 83 and a pressure switch
84 and an activated carbon filter 100 coupled to the RO film 80
and a water tank 90 disposed after the check valve 83 for collecting
filtered water.
It is to be noted that the water leaving via the solenoid valve
71 has also been filtered by the filters 20 60 and the activated
carbon filter 50 such that the water is cleaner than the water
flowing into the water filter. The filtered water leaving via the
check valve 72 and the pressure switch 73 is cleaner than that leaving
via the solenoid valve 71. The water leaving via the solenoid valve
82 is much cleaner than the water leaving of the pressure switch
73 and the water collected in the water tank 90 and the water leaving
through the activated carbon filter 100 is much cleaner than that
leaving via the solenoid valve 82 and is the so called "pure
water".
A central processing unit 95 is further provided and coupled to
the solenoid valves 30 71 82 the pressure switches 73 84 the
pump 40 and the pressure switch 10. When the inlet water pressure
is lower than a predetermined value, for example, 10 psi, the pressure
switch 10 and thus the solenoid valve 30 have a tendency to be opened
and closed repeatedly as the conventional water assembly do, however,
the central processing unit 95 controls the solenoid valve 30 in
order not to act right away in response to the operation of the
pressure switch 10 i.e., the central processing unit 95 delays
the response of the solenoid valve 30 for a predetermined period
of time, for example, 1 minute, then, if the pressure switch 10
is stopped and is activated again within one minute, the solenoid
valve 30 will not be activated again. However, if the pressure switch
10 starts again after one minute, the solenoid valve 30 can therefore
be activated. The solenoid valve 30 thus will not be activated right
away in response to the action of the pressure switch 10. No "jump"
conditions will be occurred again.
The pressure switch 84 is provided to sense the water volume or
the water pressure of the water tank 90 when the water volume of
the water tank 90 is decreased, the pressure switch 84 may transfer
a message to the central processing unit 95 in order to activate
the solenoid valve 30 and to start the pump 40 in order to filter
water or to "make" pure water. Similarly, the pressure
switch 84 may also "jump" when the water pressure is close
to a critical value, the solenoid valve 30 will also "jump"
in response to the pressure switch 84. Similarly, the central processing
unit 95 may also delay the responding action of the solenoid valve
30 in response to the pressure switch 84; the noise will no longer
occur.
It is to be noted that the UF film 70 works for filtering purposes
when the pressure switch 73 is actuated and the RO film 80 works
when the pressure switch 84 is actuated, such that the working time
of the films 70 80 can be calculated by the central processing
unit 95 via the pressure switches 73 84. It is to be noted that
the CPU may sense and calculate the working time of the films 70
80. When the working time reaches a predetermined time interval,
for example, one half of an hour, the solenoid valve 71 and/or the
solenoid valve 82 is actuated in order to flush and clean the film
70 and/or the film 80 such that the flushing operations can be done
according to the actual working time of the films. For example,
the first working time of the film is 15 minutes, the second working
time is 10 minutes, when the film works another 5 minutes, the solenoid
71 or 82 is actuated to do the flushing and cleaning operations.
When the pressure switches 73 or 84 are actuated intermittently
and continuously, for example, when either of the pressure switches
73 or 84 is actuated and stopped for three times within three minutes,
or when any of the pipe couplings have water leakage, the CPU 95
will turn off the electric power supplied to the water filter assembly,
switch off the pump 40 and switch off the valve 30 in order to shut
off the water supplied into the water filter assembly. Some of the
warning means, such as buzzer or flash light, may be provided and
coupled to the CPU in order to send out a warning signal when water
leakage occurs.
The central processing unit 95 is coupled to the pump 40 and may
sense the operation time of the pump, when the pump 40 continuously
runs for a predetermined period of time, for example, one hour,
the pump 40 will be stopped directly by the central processing unit
95. The so-called predetermined period of time is preferably equal
to the time required for filling water within the water tank 90.
One or more sensors 5 are further provided and coupled to the CPU,
and are provided in the lower portion of the water filter assembly
in order to sense the water leaked out from the water filter assembly.
When a water leaking is sensed by the sensors 5 the sensors 5 sends
out a signal to the CPU 95 the CPU 95 will then turn off the electric
power supplied to the water filter assembly, switch off the pump
40 and switch off the valve 30 in order to shut off the water supplied
into the water filter assembly. Some of the warning means, such
as buzzer or flash light, may be provided and coupled to the CPU
in order to send out a warning signal when water leakage occurs.
Accordingly, the water filter assembly in accordance with the present
invention includes a central processing unit for controlling the
actions of the pressure switches and the solenoid valve in order
to delay the response action of the solenoid valve in response to
the pressure switches. The flushing operations of the water filter
assembly can be controlled according to the actual working time
of the films such that the films can be effectively cleaned. The
CPU may sense water leakage for controlling the operation of the
pump and for controlling the solenoid valve 30 in order to switch
off the pump 40 and the valve 30 such that the pump 40 and the valve
30 can be prevented from damage. The pump may also be stopped when
the pump 40 continuously runs for a predetermined period of time.
One or more sensors are further provided for sensing water leakage
in order to switch off the pump and the valve when sensing leaking.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree
of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure
has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in
the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of
parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope
of the invention as hereinafter claimed. |