The present disclosure relates to a water filtration apparatus, and more specifically to a funnel-shaped water filtration apparatus with a drip stop valve.
Impurities in water are known to cause health related issues in users who consume such water. Many users prefer to treat the water to remove the impurities, before consuming the water. For example, many users boil water before consumption, use gravity based or reverse osmosis (RO) based water filters, etc., to treat the water. While treating the water using these conventional methods and systems does remove impurities from the water, implementing such methods or using conventional water filtering systems is not convenient. For example, conventional gravity-based water filters include bulky containers that are inconvenient for serving water. The users are required to pour the water from the bulky containers to a separate (and smaller) container to serve water, which causes inconvenience to the users. Further, because of their bulkiness and the fact that gravity filter water jugs are often made from inferior quality materials that break easily, they have limited utility when the users desire to treat water at different locations (vacation home, etc.) and not just in proximity to where it was originally placed (e.g., home kitchen).
Further, RO based water filters are expensive and complicated to install, and hence many users do not prefer to use such filters.
Further, such water filtering systems are not portable, and hence have limited utility when the users desire to treat water at different locations and not just in proximity to a water source (e.g., a tap).
Thus, there is a need for a water filtering system that is convenient to use, and that is portable enough to bring to different locations, away from home, where there may be a water tap.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference numerals may indicate similar or identical items. Various embodiments may utilize elements and/or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. Elements and/or components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Throughout this disclosure, depending on the context, singular and plural terminology may be used interchangeably.
The present disclosure is directed to a gravity-based water filtration apparatus (“apparatus”). The apparatus may be shaped as a funnel and may include a container, a drip stop valve assembly (“assembly”) and a filter. The container may be configured to receive and store water (or fluid) in a container interior portion, and may be configured to dispense the stored water from an opening present in a container bottom portion. The filter may be disposed in the container interior portion and may be configured to remove impurities from the water before the water may be dispensed from the opening. In some aspects, the filter may be a carbon-activated filter.
The assembly may be configured to disable water dispensation from the opening when the apparatus may be held vertically by a user and when the apparatus may not be placed on a water vessel. Further, the assembly may enable water dispensation from the opening when the apparatus may be placed on the water vessel or when the user manually enables water dispensation via the assembly. In some aspects, the assembly may include one or more fins/arms and the container bottom portion may include one or more elongated slits. An arm longitudinal axis may be aligned with an elongated slit longitudinal axis, and the arms may be configured to move in and out of the container interior portion via the elongated slits. In some aspects, the arms may be in extended positions when the arms may protrude out from the container interior portion via the elongated slits, and may be in retracted positions when the arms may be inserted into the container interior portion via the elongated slits.
The arms may move to the extended positions due to assembly or apparatus weight when the user holds the apparatus vertically and does not place the apparatus on the water vessel. Further, the arms may move to the retracted positions when the apparatus may be placed on the water vessel. Specifically, in this case, edges of a water vessel top end may “push” the arms into the container interior portion when the apparatus may be placed on the water vessel, thereby enabling arm movement to the retracted position. In some aspects, the assembly may disable water dispensation from the opening when the arms may be in the extended positions, and may enable water dispensation from the opening when the arms may be in the retracted positions.
The present disclosure discloses a water filtration apparatus that is shaped as a funnel. The funnel-shaped water filtration apparatus has an angular bottom portion that is symmetrical in shape, and hence can “rest” on any fluid vessel (e.g., bottle, carafe, etc.) that the user may have at user's home for serving water. Further, the water filtration apparatus does not include any protruding handles, and hence the apparatus rests symmetrically on the fluid vessel without tilting on any side. Specifically, the symmetrical funnel-shaped design, combined with the angled bottom portion, makes the apparatus guide itself and “rest in position” on top of the rim of the fluid vessel and stay upright (and not tilt) when the apparatus is placed on top of the fluid vessel. Furthermore, the drip stop valve assembly included in the apparatus prevents water from spilling/dispensing from the apparatus when the user may be filling the water into the container or when the user may be moving the apparatus from one location to another. In addition, the drip stop valve assembly may automatically enable water dispensation from the apparatus into the water vessel when the apparatus may be placed on the water vessel, thereby enhancing ease of apparatus usage for the user.
These and other advantages of the present disclosure are provided in detail herein.
The disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which example embodiments of the disclosure are shown, and not intended to be limiting.
The fluid may be, for example, water, and the fluid source 102 may be, for example, a water tap that supplies water received from a utility water source (not shown). The fluid vessel 104 may be any conventional bottle, container or vessel that may be configured to receive the fluid from an opening present at a vessel top end 106. Further, a fluid vessel interior portion may be configured to store the fluid received via the opening present at the vessel top end 106.
The apparatus 100 may have a hollow interior portion that may be configured to receive the fluid from the fluid source 102. Specifically, the apparatus 100 may include a container 108 that may have a hollow container interior portion and an open container top end/portion. The container 108 may receive the fluid from the fluid source 102 via the open container top portion, and the container interior portion may be configured to store the fluid received via the open container top portion. The container 108 may further include an opening (not shown in
The apparatus 100 may further include a drip stop valve assembly 110 (or drip valve assembly) that may be disposed at the container bottom portion. The drip stop valve assembly 110 may be configured to enable and disable fluid dispensation from the opening present in a container bottom portion. Stated another way, the drip stop valve assembly 110 may be configured to enable and disable flow of fluid from the container interior portion to outside via the opening present in the container bottom portion. In some aspects, the drip stop valve assembly 110 may include one or more drip stop valve fins or arms 112a, 112b (or arms 112) that may be configured to move between an extended position and a retracted position. The drip stop valve assembly 110 may disable flow of fluid from the container interior portion to outside when the arms 112 may be in the extended position, as shown in
In some aspects, the container wall may include one or more elongated slits 114a, 114b (or slits 114, which may be, for example, elongated through-holes) that may be disposed in proximity to the container bottom portion. Each slit 114 may be aligned with corresponding arm 112. The arms 112 may be in the retracted position when the arms 112 may be inserted into the container interior portion via the slits 114, and the arms 112 may be in the extended position when the arms 112 may be protruding out from the container interior portion and towards a container exterior portion via the slits 114.
In some aspects, the arms 112 may automatically move to the extended position due to gravitation force or drip stop valve assembly weight when the apparatus 100 may be held vertically (e.g., when the container top portion may face away from ground and the drip stop valve assembly 110 may face towards the ground) and when the apparatus 100 may not be placed on any fluid vessel or vessel, as shown in
In some aspects, when the user places the apparatus 100 on the vessel top end 106, edges of the vessel top end 106 may push the arms 112 “upwards” towards the container interior portion (due to fluid weight associated with the fluid stored in the container 108 and an apparatus weight), thereby causing the arms 112 to move to the retracted position via the slits 114. Responsive to the arms 112 moving to the retracted position, the drip stop valve assembly 110 may enable fluid dispensation from the opening present in the container bottom portion to the fluid vessel interior portion. In this manner, the user may conveniently transfer the fluid from the apparatus 100 into the fluid vessel 104 by simply placing the apparatus 100 on the fluid vessel 104, without risking fluid spillage.
Although the description above describes an aspect where the arms 112 move to the retracted position when the apparatus 100 is placed on the vessel top end 106, however, the present disclosure is not limited to such an aspect. In other aspects, the user may manually push the drip stop valve assembly 110 or the arms 112 upwards towards the container interior portion to move the arms 112 to the retracted position, thereby enabling fluid dispensation from the opening present in the container bottom portion.
In further aspects, the apparatus 100 may include a filter (not shown in
In this manner, the apparatus 100 enables the user to conveniently fill the container interior portion by receiving the fluid from the fluid source 102 (thereby enabling removal of impurities from the fluid by the filter), move the apparatus 100 away from the fluid source 102 towards the fluid vessel 104 without risking fluid spillage (because the drip stop valve assembly 110 may disable fluid dispensation from the apparatus 100 when the apparatus 100 may not be placed over the vessel top end 106), and place the apparatus 100 on the vessel top end 106 to enable transfer of “treated” or “clean” fluid from the apparatus 100 to the fluid vessel interior portion. The apparatus 100 may be made of light weight material, and hence may be portable and convenient for the user to carry and move from one location to another.
Structural and functional apparatus details (e.g., details associated with the drip stop valve assembly 110, the container 108, the filter, etc.) are described below in conjunction with the subsequent figures.
In some aspects, the filter 202 may be a carbon activated filter. In other aspects, the filter 202 may be any other type of filter including, but not limited to, a sediment filter, an ion exchange filter, an activated alumina filter, a ceramic filter, and/or the like. The filter 202 may include a filter top portion 204 and a filter bottom portion 206. The filter bottom portion 206 may include a male filter fastener 208 that may be, for example, a thumb screw, a nut and bolt fastener, a screw, a cylindrical protrusion with a threaded exterior surface (as shown in
In additional aspects, the filter top portion 204 may include a plurality of cavities 210 that may be formed on an external/exterior surface of the filter top portion 204. In an exemplary aspect, the filter top portion 204 may include 12 cavities that may correspond to different months of a year, and each cavity 210 may correspond to one month. For example, a first cavity may correspond to January, a second cavity may correspond to February, a third cavity may correspond to March, and so on. Further, a corresponding month name may be printed adjacent to each cavity 210, as shown in
A person ordinarily skilled in the art may appreciate that the pin 212 and the cavities 210 represent just one (and exemplary) system for tracking filter installation time. The apparatus 100 or the user may use any other tracking method/system to track filter installation time, without departing from the present disclosure scope.
Furthermore, although the filter 202 is depicted to be cylindrical in shape with circular filter top and bottom portions 204, 206 in
In some aspects, as shown in
In some aspects, as shown in
The container bottom portion 218 may have a tapered diameter that gradually decreases from an intersection point of the container bottom portion 218 and the container middle portion 216 towards a container bottom end 220. In some aspects, a diameter of a top end of the container bottom portion 218 may be equivalent to the container middle portion diameter, and a container bottom end diameter may be 10-20% of the container middle portion diameter. A container middle portion longitudinal axis “L1” (which may be same as a container longitudinal axis) may be inclined at a predefined (non-zero) angle “α” relative to a container bottom portion longitudinal axis “L2”. The angle “α” may be in a range of 30 to 60 degrees. Furthermore, the container bottom portion 218 may have any length, depending on the apparatus/container usage requirements. The angled bottom portion of the apparatus 100/container 108 is symmetrical in shape, and hence can “rest” on any fluid vessel (e.g., bottle, carafe, etc.) that the user may have at user's home for serving water. Further, the container 108 does not include any protruding handles, and hence the apparatus 100 can rest symmetrically on the fluid vessel 104 without tilting on any side. Specifically, the symmetrical funnel-shaped design of the apparatus 100/container 108, combined with the angled bottom portion, makes the apparatus 100 guide itself and “rest in position” on top of the rim of the fluid vessel 104 and stay upright (and not tilt) when the apparatus 100 may be placed on top of the fluid vessel 104.
As described above in conjunction with
In some aspects, the first elongated slit 114a may be disposed opposite to the second elongated slit 114b on the container wall at the container bottom portion 218. Stated another way, an angular displacement “β” (shown in
A first elongated slit length may be equivalent to a second elongated slit length. Further, the first elongated slit length and the second elongated slit length may in a range of 50 to 100% of a container bottom portion length. In some aspects, the first elongated slit 114a and the second elongated slit 114b may be disposed along the container bottom portion length such that distal ends of the first and second elongated slits 114a, 114b may be disposed at the container bottom end 220 and proximal ends of the first and second elongated slits 114a, 114b may be disposed anywhere between the container bottom end 220 and the intersection point of the container bottom portion 218 and the container middle portion 216. Further, the first and second elongated slits 114a, 114b may be linear or straight slits, and longitudinal axis associated with the first and second elongated slits 114a, 114b may be parallel to the container bottom portion longitudinal axis “L2”. Furthermore, in some aspects, a first elongated slit width may be equivalent to a second elongated slit width, which in turn may be equivalent to or greater than thicknesses of the arms 112a, 112b.
Although the description above describes an aspect where the container 108 includes two elongated slits 114, the present disclosure is not limited to such an aspect. The container 108 may include more or less than two elongated slits, without departing from the present disclosure scope. In this case, the assembly 110 may also include more or less than two arms 112.
In some aspects, an arm length may be equivalent to or less than the first and second elongated slit lengths. The assembly 110 may further include an elongated valve member 222 that may be attached to arm distal ends. The elongated valve member 222 may be shaped as a hollow cylinder and may have open top and bottom ends. The user may move the arms 112 to the retracted position (and into the container interior portion via the slits 114) by pushing the elongated valve member 222 upwards along the container longitudinal axis (“L1”) towards the container top portion 214/container middle portion 216. Since the elongated valve member 222 is attached to the arm distal ends, upward elongated valve member push results in an upward arm movement into the container interior portion via the slits 114, thus enabling the arms to move to the retracted position. As described above in conjunction with
In some aspects, the container 108 may further include a grip 224 (or a grip portion) that may be disposed along a container top portion circumference. Specifically, the container wall at the container top portion 214 may be curved outwards towards a container exterior portion to form the grip 224. The grip 224 may enable the user to conveniently hold the apparatus 100/container 108, when the user may be filling the container 108 with the fluid or when the user may be moving the apparatus 100 (with or without the fluid in the container 108) from one location to another.
As described above in conjunction with
The base 304 (and hence the container bottom portion 218) may include an opening 306 through which the fluid stored in the container 108 may be dispensed to outside the apparatus 100 (e.g., when the assembly 110 enables fluid dispensation from the apparatus 100).
As described above, the assembly 110 may be disposed at the container bottom portion 218 (as shown in
The first arm 112a may be in the extended position when the first arm 112a or the first arm width “W1” protrudes out towards a container exterior portion and away from the container interior portion 302 via the first elongated slit 114a, as shown in
Similar to the first arm 112a, the second arm 112b may be disposed in proximity to the second elongated slit 114b, and a second arm longitudinal axis may be aligned or parallel to a second elongated slit longitudinal axis. The second arm 112b may be configured to move between the retracted position and the extended position via the second elongated slit 114b. Specifically, the second arm 112b may be in the retracted position when the second arm 112b may be inserted into the container interior portion 302 laterally or along a second arm width “W2” via the second elongated slit 114b, as shown in
The second arm 112b may be in the extended position when the second arm 112b or the second arm width “W2” protrudes out towards the container exterior portion and away from the container interior portion 302 via the via the second elongated slit 114b, as shown in
In some aspects, the apparatus 100 may further include an opening connection member 308 that may be disposed at or in proximity to the opening 306, as shown in
The opening connection member 308 may include a top connection member portion 314 and a bottom connection member portion 316. In some aspects, a top connection member portion diameter may be greater than a bottom connection member portion diameter, as shown in
In some aspects, the male filter fastener 208 may be shaped as a cylinder and a male filter fastener diameter may be equivalent to an interior surface diameter associated with the top connection member portion 314, which enables secure attachment between the male filter fastener 208 and the top connection member portion 314.
In some aspects, an elongated valve member longitudinal axis may be parallel to the container longitudinal axis, and the elongated valve member 222 may be shaped as a cylinder having a hollow interior valve portion 318. As described above, the bottom connection member portion 316 may be disposed inside the elongated valve member 222. Specifically, an interior surface of the elongated valve member 222 may be disposed in proximity to or may touch an exterior surface of the bottom connection member portion 316. In some aspects, an interior surface diameter associated with the elongated valve member 222 may be equivalent to an exterior surface diameter associated with the bottom connection member portion 316. A bottom connection member portion length may be a portion (e.g., in a range of 40-70%) of an elongated valve member length.
The elongated valve member 222 may further include a valve proximal end 320 and a valve distal end 322 (which may be open ends that enable flow of fluid into and out from the elongated valve member 222). Distal ends of the arms 112 may be attached to an external surface of the valve proximal end 320, as shown in
In some aspects, the assembly 110 may further include an elongated rigid fastener 324 and an O-ring 326. The elongated rigid fastener 324 may be made of metal or plastic, and may be shaped as a cylindrical (or of any other shape) rod or shaft. The elongated rigid fastener 324 may have a fastener proximal end 328 and a fastener distal end 330. In some aspects, a fastener proximal end diameter may be greater than a fastener distal end diameter. In other aspects, the fastener proximal end diameter may be equivalent to the fastener distal end diameter.
The elongated rigid fastener 324 may be enclosed in or between the hollow interior valve portion 318 and hollow interior portions of the top connection member portion 314 and the bottom connection member portion 316, as shown in
Furthermore, the O-ring 326 may be circumferentially attached to (i.e., attached along a periphery of) the fastener proximal end 328. The O-ring 326 may be attached to the fastener proximal end 328 and may have dimensions such that the O-ring 326 may “rest” on an intersection point 332 of the top connection member portion 314 and the bottom connection member portion 316 when the arms 112 may be in the extended positions, as shown in
During operation, when the user holds the apparatus 100 vertically and/or fills the fluid in the container interior portion 302 (e.g., by using the fluid source 102), the arms 112 may move to the extended position (as shown in
When the user places the apparatus 100 on the vessel top end 106 or manually pushes the assembly 110 or the arms 112 “upwards” towards the container top portion 214, the arms 112 may move to the retracted position. Upward arm movement may cause the elongated valve member 222 to also move upwards along the container longitudinal axis, which in turn results in an upward elongated rigid fastener movement. When the elongated rigid fastener 324 moves upwards, the O-ring 326 also moves upwards, thereby unblocking the flow opening 402, as shown in
When the flow opening 402 may be unblocked, the fluid may flow from the container interior portion 302 to the opening 306 (via the filter 202), and then towards the hollow interior portion/part of the top connection member portion 314. The fluid may further flow from the hollow interior portion/part of the top connection member portion 314 towards the hollow interior portion/part of the bottom connection member portion 316, via the unblocked or “open” flow opening 402, as shown by arrows 404 in
In the above disclosure, reference has been made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, which illustrate specific implementations in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It is understood that other implementations may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, one skilled in the art will recognize such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
It should also be understood that the word “example” as used herein is intended to be non-exclusionary and non-limiting in nature. More particularly, the word “example” as used herein indicates one among several examples, and it should be understood that no undue emphasis or preference is being directed to the particular example being described.
With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating various embodiments and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claims.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent upon reading the above description. The scope should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the technologies discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the application is capable of modification and variation.
All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their ordinary meanings as understood by those knowledgeable in the technologies described herein unless an explicit indication to the contrary is made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “said,” etc., should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary. Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments could include, while other embodiments may not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments.