Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT (ORIGINAL) Name of Applicant: MANFRED VOLKER Actual Inventor(s): MANFRED VOLKER Address for Service: SANDERCOCK & COWIE 180B SLADEN STREET CRANBOURNE VICTORIA 3977 Invention Title: FLUID SYSTEM Priority Claimed: GERMAN PATENT APPLICATION NO. 10 2006 028 764.9 FILED: 23 JUNE, 2006 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 2007-06-05,Z \Filngxvolker-2 file wpd.I - la TITLE: FLUID SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 The present invention relates to a fluid system with flow paths for gases and/or liquids, comprising substantially prismatic functional/structural units including flow channels and connection openings in front faces for neighboring functional/structural units, and comprising a mounting plate for the functional/structural units which are arranged with their base on the mounting plate, the functional/structural units in the fastening position 10 resting with lateral surfaces on one another and being sealed relative to one another by FcJune 5, 2007.Z \Secificaions\volker cap2.wpd.I -2 sealing rings. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 In the fluid system, one ore more liquid and/or gaseous media are supplied along specific flow paths to fulfill a predetermined technical purpose. Different applications are possible, wherein for instance the distribution and/or combination of flowing media play a role, often accompanied by metrological monitoring and control engineering of the flowing media, in particular in the field of process engineering. The present fluid system 10 is particularly intended for applications in the field of water treatment, specifically as a part of a reverse osmosis facility. The system, however, is also suited for many other applications. DE 199 34 574 C2 discloses a fluid system of the above-mentioned type. Although the 15 already known fluid system has brought along improvements, it shows some drawbacks. In this system all of the functional/structural units are firmly screwed with their base onto the mounting plate. That is why the sealing rings, which sealingly rest on annular recesses surrounding the connection openings, must be pressed together by means of a clamping device, so that the fastening screws can be inserted through the mounting plate 20 into the bores of the functional/structural units. Whenever several block-shaped functional/structural units are to be mounted in series, it is not always possible to screw the screws properly into the functional/structural units because the 0-shaped sealing rings are pressed together to different degrees. Moreover, tolerances of the mounting plate bores that are arranged in a pattern may lead to leakage when the sealing rings are pressed 25 differently. A further drawback must be seen in the fact that for service purposes the system must also be accessible from the back side of the mounting plate because in a possibly needed individual exchange of one functional/structural unit, the screws must first be removed on the back side of the mounting plate. Moreover, the connection element inserted into the recesses surrounding the connection openings prevents an easy 30 removal of an individual functional/structural unit. A basic problem is that the sealing rings which are to establish tightness also under pressure load are not subjected to uniform pressing, which may result in leakage. FcJune 5. 2007,Z:\Speinatios\vokercp2 .wpd.2 -3 A further problem is the thermal load in the already known fluid system. Upon heating of the medium guided in the flow channels, the blocks fastened to the base plate cannot follow the expansion. The resulting strains also lead to leakage. Another drawback is that the blocks are only fastened at one side with their bottom surface to the mounting 5 plate. That is why under mechanical load due to increased pressures in the flow channels they press apart further at the top, which may again cause leakage. On the whole, the already known fluid system is complicated in its mounting, hardly feasible in service and inadequate in the pharmaceutical field with its demands for the 10 absence of dead space because the O-rings must often be supplemented by circumferential seals on the connection element. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 15 The apparatus aspect of the invention provides a fluid system with flow paths for gases and/or liquids with substantially prismatic functional/structural units, which have flow passages to and, in end surfaces, connection openings for adjacent functional/structural units, and a mounting plate for the functional/structural units whose base surface is in contact with the mounting plate, wherein the functional/structural units engage one 20 another with side surfaces in the fastened position and are sealed with respect to one another by sealing rings, characterised in that connecting elements for adjacent functional/structural units are locked to the mounting plate with lateral moveability and that the functional/structural units are releasably pushed onto the connecting elements. 25 Connection elements for neighboring functional/structural units may be fastened to the mounting plate to which the functional/structural units are releasably attached. When the functional/structural units are mounted, said units are mounted or attached after the connection elements have been fastened to the mounting plate, in a direction substantially extending in a direction perpendicular to the mounting plate, preferably in the manner of 30 a groove-and-tongue system, onto the connection elements, so that they can be removed again at the front side in case of need without the requirement that the back side of the mounting plate is accessible to this end, because the functional/constructional units, in FcOctober 1, 2012,C:\Users\Sharlene\Documents\SPECIFICATIONS\volker.cap2.wpd3 -4 turn, are fastened not directly to the mounting plate, but are e.g. screwed on. Rather, the connection elements hold the functional/structural units in the mounted position in which the functional/structural units rest with their base on the mounting plate. The connection elements can be configured in various ways to fix the associated functional/structural 5 units in the mounting position, as shall be explained further below with reference to two examples. Since the functional/structural units can be detachably attached at the front side to the connection elements, they can be removed and exchanged individually in a rapid and easy 10 way. With great advantage the connection elements are locked to the mounting plate with a lateral play. This means that the connection elements are arranged to be slightly displaceable, or in other words are floatingly supported, laterally, i.e. in parallel with the 15 plane of the mounting plate, relative to the position provided for fastening the two associated functional/structural units. The mechanical forces (pressures) are evenly distributed over the sealing elements by the surrounding edge contour of the connection elements. Thus, a thermal expansion of the mounting plate is inter alia without any effect on the sealing points between the functional/structural units, and these will no longer 20 bend or deform, with the consequence of micro leakages as may arise in the already known fluid system. This "floating locking" is preferably accomplished in that two pins provided with heads are embedded, preferably screwed, in the bottom of the connection elements which rests 25 in the fastening position in fixed sliding fashion on the mounting plate, and that two holes, spaced apart in accordance with the pins, are formed in the mounting plate at the intended places for the "floating locking" of the connection elements, each of the holes having a section with such a large diameter that the pin or screw head can be put through, and a subsequent elongated section of smaller width into which the pins/screws passed 30 through can be inserted or screwed. The projecting shaft length is here dimensioned such that the connection elements rest on the mounting plate in fixed sliding fashion. The smaller sections of the holes prevent a situation where the connection elements are FcJune 5, 2007,Z \Specificom\voIkercap2.wpd.4 -5 detachable at the front side in said position from the mounting plate (which is only possible after a rotational movement in the area of the larger diameter), but the smaller hole areas allow a slight displacement of the connection elements so that incorrect incremental dimensions in the formation of the holes or bores do not lead to an 5 excessively small or large pressing of a sealing ring, but the pressing measure of the sealing rings is substantially uniform because of the possibility of movement of the connection elements. It is suggested in a further configuration of the invention that the connection elements are 10 each formed as one part and are provided, in the two lateral surfaces resting on the facing front sides of recesses of the two functional/structural units, with O-rings which surround the connection openings of the associated functional/structural units. The O-rings are here located in annular recesses of the connection elements over which they first project slightly at the front side, so that when the functional/structural units are attached they are 15 firmly pressed against said units. It is here preferred that the O-rings are directly positioned on the edge of the connection openings, so that the system is very well suited for compact process controls in the pharmaceutical industry because of the minimal dead volume. 20 After the two neighboring functional/structural units have been attached onto the respective connection element, the fastening position can be secured by way of a screw or lock which engages from above into a thread or a lock of the connection element and rests with its screw head on the upper side of the two functional/structural units. 25 For removing a single functional/structural unit, the screws/lock of the connection elements at both sides must just be removed in this embodiment, whereupon the functional/structural unit can be removed at the front side, e.g. in a direction perpendicular to the mounting plate, from the connection elements. 30 In an alternative embodiment the connection elements may be composed of preferably two parts, one part being locked "floatingly", i.e. with a lateral play, to the mounting plate. FcJune 5, 2007,Z \SpecificationsWokercap2.wpd.5 -6 In this embodiment, the functional/structural units are provided in the area of the connection openings with annular attachments undercut in the manner of a wedge in cross section, which rest on one another with their front faces, with an 0-ring being embedded into a front face and being pressed against the opposite front face during assembly. 5 Furthermore, it is suggested with advantage that the two parts of the connection elements (in cross section) should with provided on their inner edge, which is circular on the whole, with an approximately V-shaped recess corresponding to the edge contour of the attachments adjoining one another, in such a manner that the parts of the connection 10 elements in the mounted state press the attachments against one another, whereby the sealing ring or 0-ring arranged on the edge of the connection opening is firmly pressed on. The other part of the connection element is inserted at the front side into the corresponding recess of the two functional/structural units (and presses the associated section of the attachments), with the two parts being subsequently screwed to one another 15 in an expedient manner. In this embodiment, too, individual functional/structural units can be removed and exchanged rapidly and easily by the measures that the screw union of the two parts of the connection elements is disengaged at the front side and the upper halves of the connection elements are removed, whereupon the associated functional/structural unit is exposed for removal at the front side. 20 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further details and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the system with reference to the drawings, of 25 which: Figure 1 is a top view on a first embodiment of the system according to the invention with three functional/structural units and a cross-section taken along line A-A. 30 Figure 2 is a front view of a functional/structural unit with a connection element and a perspective illustration of said arrangement. Fclune 5, 2007.Z:\SpecificationsWolker cap2wpd.6 -7 Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 on an enlarged scale. Figure 4 is a top view on a mounting plate with two pairs of holes for locking two connection elements. 5 Figure 5 is a top view on another embodiment of the system according to the invention and shows sectional views taken along lines A-A and B-B. DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH RESPECT TO THE DRAWINGS 10 Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is a top view showing three functional/structural units 3 arranged on a mounting plate 1. The functional/structural units 3 are composed such that their flow channels 2 are in alignment with one another. 15 In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3, one-part connection elements 4 are provided, each being equipped on its bottom side with two screws 8, the screw head of which is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the connection element 4, said spacing corresponding to the thickness of the mounting plate 1. 20 As shown in Figure 4, for the "floating locking" of the connection elements 4 two associated holes 14 are each time formed in the mounting plate 1, said pairs being composed of an approximately circular round large-diameter section 15 and an adjoining elongated small-width section 16. The connection elements 4 are secured to the mounting plate I such that the two screws 8 at the bottom side are passed through the 25 sections 15 of the holes 14, whereupon the fastening elements 4 are rotated such that the shafts of the screws 8 travel into the small-width sections 16. This bayonet-type fastening makes it possible that the fastening elements are movably locked in the illustration of Figure 4 in the fastening position in the direction of the double-headed arrow 17. 30 In both front sides of the connection element 4, at the edge of the flow channel 18 which is in alignment with the flow channels 2 at both sides, 0-rings 5 are embedded in grooves Fcune 5, 2007.Z \Specificionsolkecap2wpd.7 -8 that in the mounted state ensure a reliable sealing. After the connection element 4 has been floatingly locked with the mounting plate 1, the two functional/structural units 3 to be mounted are attached in the illustration of Figure 5 1 from above onto the connection element 4, with attachments 19 of the functional/ structural units 3 gripping over shoulder sections 20 of the connection element 4 such that the functional/structural units 3 are pressed with the front faces 21 firmly against the outer surfaces of the connection element 4 such that the O-rings 5 ensure a reliable sealing of the connection openings. 10 Subsequently, a screw/locking 6 is turned from above into lateral cutouts or locks of the connection element 4 or into a mating mounting embedded in the connection element 4 until the head of the screw/lock 6 rests on the upper side of the functional/structural units 3, whereby these are reliably held in their position. 15 In the second embodiment shown in Figure 5, two functional/structural units 13 are pressed together by means of a wedge-shaped clamping connection. The connection elements 9 consist in this embodiment of a lower part 22 which, in turn, is floatingly locked by means of two screws projecting from the bottom in the above-described 20 manner to the mounting plate 1 although this is not shown in the drawing, and of an upper part 23. The two parts 22 and 23 have a surrounding V-groove 24 on their inner edge. In the area of the connection openings 25, the two functional/structural units 13 have 25 annular attachments 11, undercut in the manner of a wedge, which with their front faces rest on one another, with an O-ring 26 being embedded in a front face. The compressed attachments 11 have a contour corresponding to the groove 24, so that whenever the upper part 23 of the connection element 9 is screwed to the lower part 22 30 by means of screws 27, the attachments 11 are firmly pressed against one another, with the O-ring 26 ensuring a reliable sealing. FcJune 5. 2007,Z:\Specications\volkecap2.wpd, -9 We have found the advantages of the above embodiment to be: 1. The connection elements ensure tightness as well as force closure between the block-shaped functional/structural units which mutually stabilize themselves in 5 the installed position. The system can be mounted very easily without any auxiliary tools such as screw clamps or other clamping tools. Leakage because of a faulty assembly is avoided, and there is no wrong O-ring pressing because the respective pressing measure is always related to the individual sealing point. 10 2. The fluid system remains tight under the arising thermal stresses and pressure conditions and can be mounted easily and rapidly. 3. Individual functional/structural units are exchangeable at the front side without disassembly of the whole system or a major part thereof. 15 FcJune 5. 2007Z:\Specifications\volker cap2.wpd,9