1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aquarium, and more particularly to an aquarium having a bottom tank, a middle tank in communication with the bottom tank via a filtering tank and a top tank in communication with the middle tank via a filtering plate. A pump is provided inside the bottom tank so that water in the bottom tank is able to be circulated upward to the top tank where the fish are kept. Because the filtering assembly is provided under the top tank (the fish tank), the overall appearance and the cleanliness of the aquarium are maintained.
2. Description of Related Art
Aquariums are popular all over the world and bring a lot of pleasure to the owners. However, it is necessary to keep the aquarium in a very clean condition for the sake of the health of the fish, as well as making the aquarium attractive. In order to maintain the cleanliness of an aquarium, it is equipped with a filtering system to filter out organic waste from the fish which are kept in the aquarium. The filtering system is normally mounted on top of the aquarium and has a pump to circulate the water and to increase aeration of the water and a filtering board provided on the middle of the waterway of the filtering system so that when the water containing contaminants such as organic waste and microorganisms are able to be removed by the filtering board. However, the filtering board is easily blocked due to the accumulation of the contaminants after a period of time. Thus regular cleaning of the filtering board is necessary otherwise not only will the aquarium become polluted, the fish in the aquarium will become ill due to the contaminants in the water.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved aquarium to mitigate the aforementioned problems.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an aquarium having a bottom tank, a middle tank in communication with the bottom tank via a filtering tank and a top tank in communication with the middle tank via a filtering plate. A pump is provided inside the bottom tank so that water in the bottom tank is able to be circulated to the top tank where the fish are kept. Because the filtering assembly is provided under the top tank (the fish tank), the attractive overall appearance and the cleanliness of the aquarium are maintained.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The bottom tank (10) has a pump (11) provided therein so that water in the bottom tank (10) is able to be circulated to the top tank (30) via a first pipe (12) and water flowing out of the first pipe (12) and splashing into the top tank (30) is able to increase aeration of the water in the top tank (30). The bottom tank (10) has a first drainage pipe (14) provided on top of the bottom tank (10) to maintain a water level in the bottom tank (10) at a predetermined level.
The middle tank (20) is mounted on top of the bottom tank (10) and has an opening (200) defined in a bottom plate (21) of the middle tank (20), a filtering box (22) mounted on top of the opening (200) to block the opening (200), a collecting pipe (23) mounted on top of the filtering box (22) and having an inlet (231) defined away from the filtering box (22), a receiving box (24) mounted on an outer periphery of the collecting pipe (23) and having a second pipe (241) extending out of the middle tank (20), a lid (25) mounted on top of the collecting pipe (23) to cover the inlet (231) of the collecting pipe (23) and a funnel (26) in communication with the lid (25) via a conduit (27) having a valve (271) mounted therein to control the communication between the funnel (26) and the lid (25).
The top tank (30) is provided with a bottom (31) having a through hole (300) defined therethrough, a filtering plate (32) mounted on top of the bottom (31) to cover the through hole (300) and having multiple apertures (33) defined through the filtering plate (32), a top board (40) mounted on top of the top tank (30) to cover the top tank (30), an illuminating device (50) to illuminate the top tank (30) and a feeding device (60) mounted on top of the top board (40) to supply food to the fish in the top tank (30).
When the aquarium of the present invention is in application, the organic waste from the fish or the microorganisms in the water in the top tank (30) will exit via the apertures (33) in the bottom (31) of the top tank (30) and are collected by the funnel (26). By means of the opening of the valve (271) of the conduit (27), the organic waste originally collected by the funnel (26) is flushed through the lid, the inlet (231) of the collecting pipe and delivered to the filtering box (22). Those waste materials not going through the inlet of the collecting pipe (23) will be collected by the receiving box (24). After going through the filtering process in the filtering box (22), clean water again flows to the bottom tank (10) for reuse. The contaminants collected by the filtering box (22) will be cleaned later and those contaminants trapped by the receiving box (24) are then drained out of the middle tank (20) via the second pipe (241).
Furthermore, a ball actuator (35) is provided in the top tank (30) so that the ball actuator (35) is able to maintain an appropriate water level inside the top tank (30) via a third pipe (34) which is connected to a water source. A second drainage pipe (36) is also provided to the top tank (30) so that when excess water enters the top tank (30) from the first pipe (12), the second drainage pipe (36) is able to maintain that the water level in the top tank (30) is fixed.
With reference to
With reference to
When the vibrator (62) is actuated, the base (600) is driven to vibrate. Due to the at least one spring (61) under the base (600), the food container (67), the first bowl (65) and the second bowl (66) are also vibrated. Because the food container (67) is in communication with the second bowl (66) via the second apertures (661) and the first bowl (65) via the first apertures (651), food such as grains or the like is able to be shaken to fall through the second apertures (661), the first apertures (651) and to the dispersing pipe (631). Eventually the food falls into the top tank (30). Because the vibration frequency and strength of the vibrator (62) is programmable, the quantity of food falling to the dispersing pipe (631) is able to be determined previously. Thus the user is able to control the food quantity to be scattered in the top tank (30).
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060138034 A1 | Jun 2006 | US |