EP1742879A1

EP1742879A1 - Device for purifying water

Info

Publication number: EP1742879A1
Application number: EP05715660A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christoph Götz; Peter Paardekooper
Original assignee: AQUA SELECT GmbH
Current assignee: AQUA SELECT GmbH
Priority date: 2004-03-06
Filing date: 2005-03-02
Publication date: 2007-01-17
Also published as: WO2005085139A1; RU2006135231A; RU2342325C2; DE102004011066A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a device for purifying water, comprising a pan, a filter cartridge which contains purifying material which can be inserted into the pan and a vessel which is used to receive the pan and receive purified water which is poured therein and which passes through the filter cartridge when the pan which is provided with a filter cartridge is inserted. An electronic display, which can be connected to an electric battery, is provided. Said display produces an externally recognizable sign for replacing the purifying material with new, non-charged purifying material. The display comprises an intelligent, electronic component (9) having a storage function, said component being able to be connected to the battery (10). An electric element (12), independent from the position of the vessel, is arranged in an electric circuit containing the battery (10). When the vessel is arranged with a vertical axis, said electric element is ineffective. When the vessel is tilted and the axis (A2) thereof has a predefined minimum inclination, the electric element provides an electric variable which can be detected by the electronic component (9). The electronic component (9) provides a variable which is proportional to the amount of water which is discharged from the vessel when it is poured out and the display is fitted with a see-through vision panel which can be recognized from the outside, wherein added amounts of purified water poured out of the vessel are displayed as numeric values upon utilization of the vessel which is fitted with a new filter cartridge full of purifying material.

Description

Device for cleaning water

description

The invention relates to a device for cleaning water, which has a pot, a filter cartridge which can be inserted into the pot and contains cleaning material and a vessel for receiving the pot, in which, when the pot fitted with a filter cartridge is inserted, it is poured into the pot and through it Filtered cartridge passed purified water, which has an electronic display that can be connected to an electrical battery, which generates an externally recognizable sign for replacing the cleaning material with new, non-contaminated cleaning material, in which the display has an intelligent electrical component with memory function, which is connectable to the battery, and in which an electrical element which is dependent on the position of the vessel and which is ineffective when the vessel is arranged with a vertical axis and in the case of a tilted vessel with a predetermined one is arranged in a circuit containing the battery Minimum slope of its axis provides an electrical variable that can be detected by the electronic component (DE 101 43 884 AI).

Such a device is used, for example, to purify water that is to be used for the preparation of tea or coffee. When using the device, the water to be cleaned is poured into the pot after opening any lid that may be present. It then passes through the cleaning material in the filter cartridge and reaches the vessel as purified water. The one in the filter cartridge Cleaning material, which is, for example, ion exchange material, is only effective for a limited time. It should then be replaced by a new one. This can be done by the user of the device at his own discretion. Decisive for this is, for example, the number of days during which the cleaning material of a filter cartridge was in use. The number of days in which the cleaning material is effective is specified in many cases by the manufacturer of the filter cartridge or the cleaning material contained therein. The user can thus write down when he should or wants to change the cleaning material. This is made easier for him with an arrangement for setting a date or day according to a device according to DE 93 06 849 IM. This device has an edge with markings on which an adjustable tab is attached.

DE 198 19 098 A1 discloses a device in which a lid attached to a pot has an electronic display device which can be activated in a targeted manner and which, when activated, generates a signal which is recognizable from the outside after a predetermined period of time, for example one month. For this purpose, for example, a liquid crystal display is gradually changed in its appearance. The display device should work automatically and also show the expiry of the specified time after its activation. However, it also works if the device is used only once or twice after activation of the display device. In this case, the cleaning material has not yet been used up after a month, but is replaced by new cleaning material in accordance with the prescribed use rule of the device.

The known device according to the aforementioned DE 101 43 884 AI only shows with great accuracy the total period in which the cleaning material is actually used or was. The intelligent component, which can be a microprocessor or a microcontroller, only registers a measured value to be processed if that Vessel for pouring purified water is placed in an appropriate inclined position. The time period to be registered and possibly added depends on the amount of purified water poured out of the vessel during a tipping process, which corresponds overall to the amount of water that has passed through the cleaning material. For example, after a maximum predetermined total time period as a total size, a clearly recognizable signal can then be triggered, so that the user is prompted to renew the cleaning material. In order to be able to carry this out, the user must have appropriate cleaning material in stock or at least be able to obtain it relatively quickly.

The invention has for its object to improve the device described above so that the user can recognize the point in time at which he needs new cleaning material.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by

- That the electronic component with each pouring of purified water from the vessel delivers a size proportional to the amount of water poured out and

- That the display is equipped with a field of vision that is recognizable from the outside, in which, from the use of the vessel equipped with a new filter cartridge filled with cleaning material, the added amounts of purified water poured out of the vessel are displayed as numerical values.

This device works largely independent of the time that has passed since the use of new or fresh cleaning material in the vessel. Rather, in this arrangement, the amount of water actually cleaned is detected and displayed, that is, the amount of water that has passed through the cleaning material and leads to its contamination. The maximum amount of water contained in a filter cartridge Cleaning material can be cleaned is known. This maximum value can be attached or set in a clearly visible manner in the field of vision or in its vicinity. At the latest when the numerical value corresponding to the added amounts of purified water poured out of the vessel has reached the specified maximum value, the user is prompted to replace the used cleaning material with new one. The cleaning material can thus be replaced very precisely when it is actually no longer usable. When using this device, it is largely ruled out that cleaning material which is still usable per se is disposed of.

So that the user of the device has his own storage or storage of unloaded cleaning material available in good time, the display can also be equipped with a counting counter that indicates the number of days on which the cleaning material in use is still effective is. The user of the device then has new cleaning material available at the right time if he follows the numerical information given in the field of vision on the one hand and in the counting field on the other hand and procures new cleaning material in good time, for example in the form of a filled filter cartridge.

The quantity of water actually cleaned and poured out of the vessel is recorded very precisely by the electronic component which is only effective when the water is poured out. This takes into account the fact that the amount of a vessel that is well filled with purified water is poured out within a period of time of, for example, five seconds, which is set within narrow limits. This time, which corresponds to a quantity of water which can be predetermined as the maximum value, is impressed on the electronic component, which contains, for example, a microprocessor, with an associated characteristic curve. Shorter pouring times correspond to smaller amounts of water. They are covered by the characteristic curve. The counting field advantageously shows numerical values only towards the end of the usage time of the respective cleaning material. It begins, for example, by displaying the number "6" when there are still six days left until the cleaning material in use has expired.

Embodiments of the subject matter of the invention are shown in the drawings.

Show it:

Fig. 1 shows the device according to the invention in the position of use.

2 and 3 two different displays attached to the device.

Fig. 4 shows a characteristic.

Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of a usable in the device

Display.

Fig. 6 shows a circuit with a battery and a switch as an electrical

Element.

Fig. 7 shows a switch used in the device in more detail.

Fig. 8 is an axis diagram.

1, the device consists of a vessel 1 for receiving purified water, to which a handle 2 is attached for its handling. The vessel 1, which in a preferred embodiment consists of transparent material, such as glass, can have a pouring spout 3 in order to facilitate the pouring out of purified water. 1, a pot 4 is inserted into the vessel 1, in the bottom of which a replaceable filter cartridge 5 is attached, which contains, for example, cleaning material present as granules. The filter cartridge 5 is designed and arranged in the pot 4 in such a way that water poured into it must pass through the same and enter the vessel 1 as purified water. The pot 4 is closed by a lid 6 in the illustrated embodiment. It also has a handle 7 for handling it. The cover 6 can be pivotally attached to the pot 4 or to the handle 7 thereof by means of a bracket 8. According to FIG. 2, the device is provided with a field of view S referred to as “display”, by means of which numerical characters can be used to provide information about when the cleaning material contained in the filter cartridge 5 is exhausted and should be replaced. Such fields of vision are part of the stand They work, for example, as so-called LCDs. A detailed explanation of the field of view S is therefore not necessary here. The field of view S is attached to the device in a moisture-proof manner, and in such a way that it can be easily recognized from the outside or be arranged on the handle 2 or on the pot 4 or on the lid 6 of the pot 4 or on the handle 7. The greatest accuracy of the display is given when the field of view S is attached to the vessel 1 or to the handle 2. The display 3 can additionally be equipped with a counting field Z.

5 is equipped with an intelligent electronic component 9 with a storage function. The component can be, for example, a microprocessor or a microcontroller. It is hereinafter referred to uniformly as “microprocessor 9”. The display also includes an electrical battery 10. These two components are preferably attached to a circuit board 11 with a printed circuit and are thus connected to one another by current paths. To the circuit board's printed circuit 1 1 is also connected to an electrical element 12, indicated by a box in Fig. 5. It is in a circuit with the battery 10 and the microprocessor 9. The microprocessor 9 can be provided with a timing element 13, which is shown in Fig. 6 by a separate one Box is indicated.

According to FIG. 6, the electrical element 12 can be an electrical switch 14, the position of which depends on the position of the vessel 1. It is open when the vessel 1 is arranged with the vertical axis AI, that is, for example, on a table. The switch 14 is then closed when the vessel 1 is tilted, specifically from a predeterminable minimum bevel of the axis AI of the vessel 1. This minimum bevel preferably corresponds to an angle at the purified water begins to flow out of a well-filled vessel 1 via its pouring spout 3. A well-filled vessel 1 is preferably filled with purified water up to the height “H”, that is to say approximately to the lower edge of the filter cartridge 5. This height can be identified by a mark that is recognizable from the outside. It corresponds, for example, to a quantity of two liters of purified water However, the switch 14 is also closed when purified water is poured out of a vessel 1 which is only or only partially filled with purified water, and remains closed as long as the vessel 1 is tilted by at least one position corresponding to the minimum inclination is.

As already mentioned, the position of the switch 14 depends on the position of the vessel 1. For its actuation according to FIG. 7, it can have, for example, an adjustable contact element 15. The same is forcibly guided in the illustrated embodiment in an arrangement connected to the circuit board 11 and movable between two end positions. The switch 14 is open in one end position and closed in the other. The contact element 15 is preferably a metallic ball, which is electrically highly conductive at least on its surface. For example, to achieve the highest possible weight, it can consist of iron or steel and be gold-plated all around. The contact element 15 - hereinafter referred to as "ball 15" for short - is accommodated, for example, in a tubular container 16. The container 16 is closed by a base at one end. In the area of its other, likewise closed end, there are electrical contacts 17 of the top described circuit (Fig. 6), which can be closed or opened by the ball 15.

In the rest position, the vessel 1 is preferably arranged with a vertical axis AI. The field of view S is attached to the device such that the axis A2 of the container 16, which is rigid in its position with respect to the vessel 1 according to FIG. 8, forms an acute angle a with the axis AI of the vessel 1. The ball 15 is then on the bottom of the container 16. The switch 14 is thus open in this position of the vessel 1.

If the vessel 1 is tilted for pouring out purified water, the axes AI and A2 are moved, for example, to the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 8. In this position, corresponding to the minimum inclination of the tilted vessel 1, the ball 15 slides or falls in the container 16 in the direction of the end face thereof facing away from the floor. It then lies in the corresponding end position on the contacts 17, which are thus connected to one another in an electrically conductive manner. The circuit is closed. The timer 13 of the microprocessor 9 detects the time period during which the switch 14 is closed.

The microprocessor 9 is "calibrated" by the manufacturer of the device with respect to the quantities of water to be recorded. For this purpose, the time recorded by the microprocessor 9 or its timer 13 is used, which is to pour out a maximum quantity of water corresponding to a level H from the vessel 1 In accordance with this time period of, for example, five seconds, a characteristic curve is impressed on the microprocessor 9, by means of which a smaller but also a larger amount of purified water than the determined maximum amount is also recorded or defined, which is, for example, a linear characteristic curve shown in Fig. 4. A quantity of water with a level which is only half as high as the maximum level H is therefore poured out of the vessel 1 in 2.5 seconds if - as already mentioned - the maximum quantity of water is poured out in five seconds becomes.

The device according to the invention works, for example, as follows:

If new, unloaded cleaning material is filled into the filter cartridge 5 or a prefilled new filter cartridge 5 has been inserted into the pot 4, the display and thus its microprocessor 9 will be used the next time of the vessel 1 is activated, for example, by pressing a button (not shown). Such a button can, for example, be attached to the field of view S in a clearly visible manner. The switch 14 initially remains open. If there is a sufficient amount of purified water filled into the pot 4 and passed through the cleaning material of the filter cartridge 5 in the vessel 1, the same can be poured out by tilting the vessel 1. As soon as the axis AI of the vessel 1 assumes the position corresponding to the minimum slope, shown in broken lines in FIG. 8, the ball 15 in the container 16 falls on the contacts 17. The circuit shown in FIG. 6 is thereby closed. The timer 13 detects the time period explained above, during which the purified water is poured out of the vessel 1. In this case, the vessel 1 does not have to be completely emptied, since the time period when pouring out partial quantities is also recorded.

As soon as the switch 14 is closed, the timer 13 of the previously activated microprocessor 9 begins to work. It detects the period of time during which purified water is poured out of the vessel 1, displays it in the field of view S and stores it. The respective time period corresponds to a certain amount of purified water in liters according to the characteristic of the microprocessor 9. After each pouring process, the corresponding number of liters is displayed numerically in the field of view. In the illustrated embodiment according to FIGS. 2 and 3, 10.2 liters of purified water have therefore been poured out of the corresponding vessel 1. In this way, the timer 13 records and stores each time period in which the switch 14 is closed. Each individual time period corresponds to a process for pouring purified water out of the vessel 1. The individual time periods are added by the microprocessor 9. In the field of view S, the total amount of the purified water poured out of the vessel 1 is then displayed as a numerical value. This numerical value only needs to be displayed briefly. The field of view S can then be switched off again, so that the battery 10 is not loaded. It is reactivated with every pouring process.

At the same time as the microprocessor 9, the counting field Z can also be activated, which works regardless of the amount of purified water. The counting field Z and its numerical specification count down the number of days during which a cleaning material can be used effectively. This additional information can be useful, for example, to rule out bacterial contamination of the cleaning material if it has been in use for more than six weeks, for example. In this case, the counting field Z begins with the number 42 and jumps back by an integer every day. However, these figures do not have to be given continuously. It is advantageously sufficient if the counting field Z begins to display the number “6” only six days before the end of the period of use of the cleaning material, as is shown in FIG. 3.

The user of the device thus has the option of replacing the cleaning material with new cleaning material either in accordance with the actual amount of purified water or in accordance with the period of use thereof. In both cases, the display can also be equipped with an optical signal transmitter, for example with a red light bulb or LED, which emits its signal when the set amount of water is reached or when the specified number of days has elapsed.

The maximum amount of water that is to be cleaned with the cleaning material can be set in the field of vision S or in its immediate vicinity in an adjustable or adjustable manner. A corresponding separate window is also shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The maximum amount of water can therefore be, for example, 100 l. It can also be set to 120 I or 150 I or any other amount. This allows different Water types to be cleaned with different concentrations of impurities are taken into account.

The contact element 15 is described in the foregoing as a positively guided ball 15. However, it can also have a different geometric shape. It is only necessary to ensure that the contacts 17 are electrically conductively connected to one another in the closed position of the switch 14. In contrast to the illustration in FIG. 7, the contacts 17 can also be attached directly to the circuit board 11 as additional current paths. A device other than the tubular container 16 can also be used for the positive guidance of the contact element 15. However, it should always be as moisture-tight as possible.

Claims

claims

1. Device for cleaning water, which has a pot, a filter cartridge that can be inserted into the pot and contains cleaning material, and a vessel for receiving the pot, into which, when the pot with a filter cartridge fitted, is poured into the same and passed through the filter cartridge, cleaned Water arrives, which has an electronic display that can be connected to an electric battery, which generates an externally recognizable symbol for replacing the cleaning material with new, unloaded cleaning material, in which the display has an intelligent electronic component with a storage function that can be connected to the battery is, and in which in a circuit containing the battery a dependent on the position of the vessel electrical element is arranged, which is ineffective in the case of a vessel arranged with a vertical axis and in the case of a tilted vessel with a predeterminable minimum bevel of its axis one of de m provides an electrical quantity that can be detected by the electronic component, characterized in that - the electronic component (9) supplies a quantity proportional to the amount of water poured out during each pouring of purified water from the vessel (1), and - that the display shows an external value recognizable field of view (S), in which the added amounts of purified water poured out of the vessel (1) are displayed as numerical values when the vessel (1) equipped with a new filter cartridge (5) filled with cleaning material is used.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the display is additionally equipped with a counting field (Z) which, counting down, indicates the number of days as a numerical value which remain until new cleaning material is inserted.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that numerical values are displayed in the counting field (Z) only shortly before reaching a maximum predeterminable number of days for the use of the cleaning material, preferably starting with the number “6”.