People often prefer water that has been purified prior to drinking. Even when cooking with water not entirely purified, people can notice an unsatisfying taste imparted into the food by the unpurified water used to cook the food. Although water is usually purified at local municipality water treatment plants, the purified water can still have unwanted additives resulting in an off or unsatisfying taste. The treatment process itself often imparts small amounts of chlorine or other chemicals that affect taste of the water. In addition, as water travels through community supply pipes and household plumbing, alien particles can enter a stream of water, thereby altering taste and reducing purity. In many rural areas wells are used to supply household water. Minerals found within the water table can affect the taste of water and leave stains on items cleaned with the well water. For these reasons, water filters have become commonplace in households.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical connection of a filter 100 into a vertically running pipe. A vertical inlet pipe 102 provides a stream of liquid to a first T-fitting 104 that splits the liquid into a vertical stream and a horizontal stream. The vertical stream bypasses the filter 100 and proceeds on a vertical path exiting through an outlet pipe 106. The horizontal stream is directed to the filter 100 and passes through the filter 100 for processing. Once the liquid is filtered, the liquid is directed back to a second T-fitting 108, where the horizontal stream re-enters the vertical stream before exiting through the outlet pipe 106.
To control the flow of liquid through the filter 100, a set of valves is installed. A first valve 110 is placed between the first T-fitting 104 and second T-fitting 108. When the first valve 110 is open the stream is allowed to flow vertically to the outlet pipe 106 and bypass the filter 100. By closing the first valve 110 the stream is prevented from bypassing the filter 100 and is directed horizontally at the first T-fitting 104 and through the filter 100. A second valve 112 is placed between the first T-fitting 104 and the filter 100. By closing the second valve 112 the flow of incoming liquid is prevented from flowing into the filter 100 during periods of maintenance to the filter 100. A third valve 114 is placed between the filter 100 and the second T-fitting 108. By closing the third valve 114 the flow of exiting liquid is prevented from flowing into the filter 100 during periods of maintenance. When the filter 100 is in operation the first valve 110 is closed and the second valve 112 and third valve 114 are opened. The liquid is prevented from bypassing the filter 100 by directing it horizontally into the filter 100 and then returning the flow back to the vertical pipe 102. When the filter 100 is closed for repair or maintenance, the first valve 110 is opened and the second valve 112 and third valve 114 are closed. This allows the liquid to flow vertically, thereby bypassing the filter 100 and preventing the flow of liquid into the filter 100.
The addition of a filter 100 to a vertical run pipe can become cost prohibitive. To add the filter 100 as shown in FIG. 1 a variety of components must be installed. These components include two T-fittings, two elbows, three valves, and the necessary piping to connect the components. To install the filter, a portion of the vertical piping is removed. The two T-fittings and one of the valves are installed in place of the removed portion. The other two valves, two elbows, and filter are installed between the two T-fittings. Multiple sections of pipe are cut and soldered to individual components. This procedure often requires the skills of a professional plumber to install the components and filter. In addition, support brackets or other structures may be required to support the filter and additional plumbing components.
While filters 100 have been designed to connect onto a horizontally running section of pipe, many filters and other liquid processing devices cannot be used on spans of vertically running pipe. Some liquid processing chambers, by nature of their design, require that the processing chamber runs in a vertical direction. For example, a gravity filter may be required to run vertically to allow the sediment to settle at the bottom of the filter, or a chemical feeder may require the solids to settle at the bottom of the chamber, preventing too rapid of disbursement of the solid into the liquid stream. For these processing chambers, additional pipe may be required to provide a horizontal run of pipe to attach the filter. Issues such as space and accessibility of the processing chamber can often present problems in installation.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies, inconveniences, and inadequacies.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds