WO2004047529A1

WO2004047529A1 - Apparatus for filtering and pumping water, in particular for aquariums, provided with a thermoheater

Info

Publication number: WO2004047529A1
Application number: PCT/IT2003/000724
Authority: WO
Inventors: Valerio Bresolin
Original assignee: Hydor Srl
Priority date: 2002-11-26
Filing date: 2003-11-07
Publication date: 2004-06-10
Also published as: AU2003288723A1; ITTV20020145A1

Abstract

In an apparatus (10) for filtering and pumping water, in particular for aquariums, comprising a casing (20) which contains a pump (80) and a biological cartridge filter (90), a channeling element (40) is housed inside the casing (20) and is connected to the delivery of the pump (80) and can be connected both to the chamber (92, 94) containing the biological cartridge filter (90), and, through a hole (28) made in the casing (20), to a filtering device (100) provided with a biological rotating filter (106). The apparatus (10) is also provided with a thermoheater (70).

Description

Apparatus for filtering and pumping water, in particular for aquariums, provided with a thermoheater.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for filtering and pumping water, in particular for aquariums.

Similar apparatuses usually consist of a casing inside which a pump is located, which has to suck the water of the aquarium in order to filter it through a filter also housed inside the casing. Once filtered, water is re-pumped into the aquarium. These apparatuses are mounted to the upper edge of the aquarium, inside or outside it.

In this case, we refer to apparatuses which are mounted inside an aquarium which have a water intake in the lower part of the casing connected to the pump and a water drain made on the upper part of the casing, thus allowing the filtered water to return inside the aquarium by overflowing. More precisely, a chamber is made inside the casing wherein a filter is inserted, so that the chamber is divided in two chambers: a first chamber where the water to be filtered and sucked by the pump arrives, and a second chamber, opposite to the first one, where the filtered water is collected to be put back into the aquarium. In summary, the water of the aquarium is taken away from the water intake by the pump and sent to the first chamber, it passes through the filter and goes into the second chamber and, finally, comes out from the apparatus and returns into the aquarium.

Usually, biological filters are used, that is filters made up of a cartridge which is completely immersed in water. The cartridge is composed of two layers of porous and fibrous material containing inside active carbon or similar substances. The two layers of porous and fibrous material make a mechanical filtering function, whereas the active carbon facilitates the development of microorganisms which are able to eliminate the harmful substances contained in the water and, therefore, they have a chemical/biological filtering function. Since the filter is completely immersed in water, it is an essentially anaerobic filter, namely the development of the microorganisms practically occurs without, or almost without, oxygen. Although these apparatuses work well, they have considerable limitations due to the fact that, when the amount of the water to be filtered increases and, then, when the dimensions of the aquarium increase, the apparatuses become bigger and bigger since the size of the filters considerably increases.

Otherwise, if the apparatus is not substituted with a bigger one, it is in any case necessary to add a second filtering device to be coupled to the one already contained in the apparatus.

Considering that the required dimension of the apparatus to be used varies depending on the dimension of the aquarium, it is necessary to use apparatuses with different sizes in order to satisfy the different needs. Moreover, this filtering and pumping apparatus does not allow for the water temperature to be regulated and controlled, nor does it create a sufficient circulation of the water in order to assure optimal conditions for the survival of animals and plants contained in the aquarium.

Such apparatuses are not at all versatile and they satisfy only few needs, therefore they are not adaptable to extremely delicate environments, such as those reproduced inside an aquarium wherin both animals and plants live, that are often very sensitive to environmental conditions.

The aim of the present invention is therefore to create an apparatus which does not have the limitations described with reference to the apparatuses of the prior art or, rather, it has the necessary and desiderable flexibility both to satisfy the different requirements of the client and to be able to maintain and assure the better conditions of life inside the aquarium.

These aims are reached by an apparatus of the initially described type, namely an apparatus for filtering and pumping water, in particular for aquariums, comprising a casing which contains a pump and a chamber housing a biological cartridge filter which divides said chamber into a first chamber where the water to be filtered arrives, and a second chamber where the filtered water is collected to be put back into the aquarium, said casing is provided with a water intake for the suction of said pump, the delivery of said pump putting water inside said first chamber, the water passes through said biological cartridge filter and goes into said second chamber and, at last, comes out from said casing, characterizing in that it comprises a channeling element housed inside said casing and connected to the delivery of the pump and it has an outlet which can be connected to said first chamber so as to form a water passage from said pump to said first chamber. In particular, said channeling element is also connected to a hole made in said casing and able to be hold a filtering device which has a biological rotating filter positioned so that it is partly immersed in water and partly outside water, so as to constitute an aerobic filter. In such a way, the filtering and pumping apparatus can work in different ways.

If the pump delivery is connected only to the first chamber, only the biological cartridge filter operates. Otherwise, in case the hole is used by mounting a filtering device, the biological rotating filter begins to work and, since it is an aerobic filter, it is more powerful and efficient, thus allowing the same apparatus to be used also in bigger aquariums.

According to further characteristics of the present invention, it is also possible to vary the water flow both which flows through the aerobic cartridge filter and also the water flow which comes out from the filtering device provided with the aerobic rotating filter. Since the last one is considerably more efficient, it is possible to vary the power of the apparatus in order to adapt it to the different dimensions of aquariums.

Preferably, the filtering device comprises a water distributor integrated with said rotating filter and, therefore, it is also rotating and able to generate a water jet with a continuously changing direction. In so doing, conditions similar to those which occur in nature are reproduced in the aquarium, such as those caused by the currents, thus producing a useful effect for all the organisms contained inside.

Preferably, the apparatus contains a thermoheater able to heat and control the water temperature. Therefore, it is possible to set a prefixed temperature inside the aquarium depending on the kind of animals and plants contained therein, and to maintain it. Consequently, the apparatus is very flexible and even multi-functional, and can be used for different needs and/or requests. These and other advantagious characteristics of the present invention will be more evident by the following detailed description of one of its embodiments made for an illustrative and not limitative purpose with reference to the following enclosed drawings, wherein: - figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of an apparatus for filtering and pumping water of an aquarium according to the present invention; figure 2 is a perspective exploded view of an apparatus of figure 1 to which an external filtering device has been added;

- figure 3 is a perspective rear view of the casing of the apparatus of figures 1 and 2;

- figure 4 is a top view of the apparatus of figures 1 and 2.

In figures 1 and 2, an apparatus 10 for filtering and pumping water, in particular for aquariums, is represented.

The apparatus 10 comprises a casing 20 which has an essentially parallelepipedic shape, open at the top so defining an upper edge 20a, and which has also a bottom 20b, a front wall 20c, a rear wall 20d, and two sidewalls 20e,20f. A hook support 21 is made on the upper edge 20a which allows for the positioning of the apparatus 10 inside the aquarium by simply hooking up the hook support 21 to the free end of the aquarium. The casing 20 contains inside a channeling element 40 which is composed of a long box-like member 42 which has a bottom 42a, a top 42b and three longitudinal side walls defining a longitudinal opening 44 directed towards the front wall 20c of the casing 20. In the box-like member 42 there is a longitudinal partition wall 46 which divides the innner part in two portions respectively defining a water passage 48 and a seat 50 for the thermoheater 70.

The thermoheater 70 is inserted through an opening 52 made in the top 42b of the box-like member 42. The upper part of the thermoheater 70, which comes out from the box-like member 42, is provided with adjusting means for the temperature. An outlet 54 is made in the partition wall 46 which connects the water passage 48 to the seat 50 of the thermoheater 70. The outlet 54 may be closed, partially or completely, by a pivotted small door 56.

A pump 80 is mounted outside the bottom 42a of the box-like member 42, which is operated by an electric motor and has a delivery duct 82 which, through the bottom 42a comes inside the water passage 48. A housing 58 is made on the longitudinal side wall of the box-like member 42 and in front of the seat 50 of the thermoheater 70, wherein an electric cable 84 is inserted ending with an electric plug 86 which allows for the supply of the electric motor of the pump 80. Turning now to the casing 20, an essentially semi-cylindrical protrusion 22 is made on the bottom 20b so as to form a housing chamber for the pump 80. A water intake 24 for the pump 80 is made on the semi-cylindrical surface of the protrusion 22, the water intake 24 is made up of a plurality of semi-circumferential slots 26 parallel to each other. The semi-circumferential slots 26 carries out a mechanical filtering, thus preventing occasional impurities contained in the water from penetrating inside the apparatus 10. Moreover, the semicylindrical shape prevents, in the worst case, impurities, such as leaves, from completely blocking the passage of water. As shown in figure 4, a longitudinal guide 34 is made inside the casing 20 on the sidewall 20f, wherein a biological cartridge filter 90 is inserted equidistant to the front wall 20c and the rear wall 20d and it divides the inner space of the casing 20, left free from the box-like member 42, into two chambers: a first chamber 92 comprised between the biological cartridge filter 90 and the rear wall 20d wherein the water sent by the pump 80 arrives, and a second chamber 94 comprised between the biological cartridge filter 90 and the front wall 20c wherein the filtered water is collected. The upper edge 20a of the front wall 20c of the casing 20 has a lowered portion 32 from which water, filtered by the apparatus 10, comes out by overflowing and returns into the aquarium. Obviously, the lowered portion 32, where the filtered water is put back into the aquarium, is made at the second chamber 94.

The biological cartridge filter 90 is composed of two layers made up of fibrous and porous material which enclose a layer of granular material, such as active carbon able to develop, with water, microorganisms which carry out a chemical/biological filtering. The two layers are made up of porous material in order to allow the water to pass through them and then to be filtered also mechanically. Since the biological cartridge filter 90 is completely immersed in water, it has an essentially aerobic function, because the development of the microorganisms occurs almost without oxygen. As shown in figure 1, there is a hole 28, which can be closed with a cap 30, made in the front wall 20c at the water passage 48, so as to connect the water passage 48 with the inside of the aquarium.

For operating the apparatus 10 shown in figure 1, it is necessary to insert the thermoheater 70 into the seat 50 of the box-like member 42 through the opening 52 made in the top 42b, open the small door 56, close the hole 28 of the casing 20 with the cap 30, insert the box-like member 42 inside the casing 20 so that, the longitudinal opening 44 is directed towards the front wall 20c of the casing 20, and the pump 80 is housed inside the housing chamber defined by the protrusion 22. The biological cartridge filter 90 is inserted inside the longitudinal guide 34 and all the apparatus 10 is placed inside the aquarium by hooking up the support 21 onto the free upper edge of the aquarium.

By connecting the electric plug 86 to an electric supply source, the pump 80 and then the filtering and pumping apparatus 10 begin to operate. Water is taken from the aquarium through the semi-circumferential slots 26 forming the water intake 24 of the pump 80. Water through the delivery duct 82 comes into the water passage 48 of the box-like member 42 and, since the hole 28 is closed with the cap 30, water passes through the outlet 54 so penetrating into the seat 50 of the thermoheater 70 where it is heated to a controlled and adjustable temperature and, thereafter, it arrives in the first chamber 92 defined between the biological cartridge filter 90 and the rear wall 20d of the box-like member 42. Water passes through the biological cartridge filter 90 and it collects into the second chamber 94 defined between the biological cartridge filter 90 and the front wall 20c of the casing 20 and, finally, it comes out from the lowered portion 32 of the upper edge 20a. Turning now to figure 2, it can be noted that the cap 30 is removed from the hole 28 and in its place a filtering device 100 is mounted. The filtering device 100 comprises a fixed element to be inserted into the hole 28 and a rotating element 102 which is put in rotation by motor means operated by the water jet which comes out and is generated by the pump 80. The rotating element 102 ends with a distributor 104 oriented in a slanting direction which generates a water jet having a continuously changing direction. A biological filter 106 is mounted onto the rotating element 102 and it has a cylindrical shape and rotates together with the rotating element 102. More details about the filtering device 100 can be found in the Italian patent application N. NE2002A000023 filed on 10 July 2002 in the name of Hydor srl. The filtering device 100 is mounted so that the distributor 104 is placed just below the water surface and that the biological rotating filter 106 is placed partially immersed in water and partially outside water, so as to carry out its biological filtering function when it is immersed in water and its aerobic regeneration when it is outside water. In fact, during the rotation of the rotating element 102, the biological rotating filter 106 is alternatively immersed in water, where it carries out the microbiologial function and then it biologically purifies the water and, subsequently, it is outside the water where the aerobic bacteria of the filter may regenerate. For the mounting and the functioning of the apparatus 10, as illutrated in figure 2, besides mounting the filtering device 100 onto the aquarium, it is sufficient to carry out the operations already previously described with reference to figure 1. In particular, if the apparatus has to be operated only with the biological rotating filter 106 and not with the biological cartridge filter 90, it is sufficient to close the outlet 54 with the small door 56 so that all the water, taken by the pump 80 and which enters into the water passage 48, comes out through the hole 28, and then passes through the filtering device 100.

In this condition, the filtering power of the apparatus remarkably increases because, considering that the biological rotating filter 106 regenerates by the air contact, it is notably more efficient than the anaerobic cartridge filter 90.

In case the required filtering power is bigger, it is not necessary to substitute all the apparatus 10 or to add a second cartridge filter.

Moreover, by adjusting the opening rate of the small door 56, it is possible to make, part of the water which arrives from the pump 80, to flow through the biological cartridge filter 90, and the remaing part through the biological rotating filter 106, so gradually varying the filtering power which can be obtained.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that the seat 50 wherein the thermoheater 70 is inserted makes the pumping and filtering apparatus 10 also an apparatus able to heat and mantain the temperature of the water. In the case shown in figure 2, as already above said, the filtering device 100 has to be positioned so that the distributor 104 is placed just below the surface of water. In order to achieve this purpose, there are means which allow for the adjusting of the apparatus 10 in height which, as better shown in figure 3, comprise a wedge-shaped element 110 having a base 112 from which two cuneiform profiles 114a, 114b and a pin 116 raise. The base 112 of the wedge-shaped element 110 is interposed between the free edge of the aquarium and the hook support 21 made on the upper edge 20a of the casing 20. In the support 21 of the casing 20 there are two grooves 36a,36b wherein the cuneiform profiles 114a, 114b of the wedge-shaped element 110 engage and there is also a slot 38 wherein the pin 116 of the wedge-shaped element 110 slides. By manually moving the pin 116, the cuneiform profiles 114a, 114b are interposed between the free edge of the aquarium and the support 21 in different positions, so as to adjust the position of the casing 20 in height and then of the entire apparatus 10. Therefore, the many advantages of the apparatus of the present invention are evident, which scope extends also to any conceptually or functionally equivalent variants. For example, the filtering device 100 or the hole 28 of the casing 20 may have adjustable closing means, so as to vary the water flow which comes out from the filtering device 100.

Claims

1. An apparatus (10) for filtering and pumping water, in particular for aquariums, comprising a casing (20) which contains a pump (80) and a chamber housing a biological cartridge filter (90) which divides said chamber into a first chamber (92) where the water to be filtered arrives, and a second chamber (94) where the filtered water is collected to be put back into the aquarium, said casing (20) is provided with a water intake (24) for the suction of said pump (80), the delivery of said pump (80) putting water inside said first chamber (92), the water passes through said biological cartridge filter (90) and goes into said second chamber (94) and, at last, comes out from said casing (20), characterizing in that it comprises a channeling element (40) housed inside said casing (20) and connected to the delivery of the pump (80) and it has an outlet (54) which can be connected to said first chamber (92) so as to form a water passage (48) from said pump (80) to said first chamber (92).

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said channeling element (40) can be also connected to a hole (28) made in said casing (20) and able to hold a filtering device (100) whcih has a biological rotating filter (106) positioned so that it is partly immersed in water and partly outside water, so as to constitute an aerobic filter.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said biological rotating filter (106) is rotated by motor means operated by the water jet which comes out

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said filtering device (100) comprises a distributor (104) integrated with said biological rotating filter (106) and then it is rotatable, so as to generate a water jet with a continuously variable direction.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said hole (28) made in said casing (20) is closed with a cap (30) when the filtering device (100) is not mounted.

6. An apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises adjustable closing means so as to vary the opening rate of said hole (28) or the passage of water in said filtering device (100).

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said outlet (54) of said channeling element (40) is provided with closure means (56).

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that said closure means (56) are adjustable, so as to vary the opening rate of said outlet (54).

9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that said closure means for said outlet (54) consists of a small door (56).

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said casing (20) contains a thermoheater (70) able to adjust the temperature of water.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that said channeling element (40) has a seat (50) wherein said thermoheater (70) is inserted.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that said seat (50) for said thermoheater (70) is connected to said outlet (54) so as to receive water from the delivery of said pump (80), said seat (50) being connected also to said first chamber (92) so as to send water, which arrives from said pump (80), to said first chamber (92).

13. An apparatus according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said channeling element (40) has a housing (58) to lodge an electric cable (84) which feeds said pump (80).

14. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said casing (20) has a housing chamber for said pump (80) and in said chamber there is said water intake (24) for the suction of said pump (80).

15. An apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that said housing chamber for said pump (80) is made on the bottom (20b) of said casing (20) and it is projecting so as to form an essentially semi-cylindrical protrusion (22) and said water intake (24) consists of a plurality of narrow slots (26) made on the semi- cylindrical surface of said protrusion (22).

16. An apparatus according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said pump (80) is mounted onto the bottom (42a) of said channeling element (40).

17. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a support (21) at the upper end of said casing (20) in order to mount said apparatus (10) on the upper edge of an aquarium or the like, said support (21) being provided with adjusting means (110) of the apparatus (10) in height with respect to the free upper edge of said aquarium.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17, characterized in that said adjusting means of said apparatus (10) in height comprise at least one wedge-shaped element (110) which is interposed between the free edge of said aquarium and said support (21), so that by moving said at least one wedge-shaped element (110) the thickness of the element interposed between the free edge and said support (21) varies, thus varying the position of the apparatus (10) in height.

19. An apparatus according to claim 17, characterized in that at least one groove (36a,36b) is made on said support (21) wherein the triangular profile of said at least one wedge-shaped element (110) slides.

20. An apparatus according to claim 18, characterized in that a slot (38) is made on said support (21) wherein a pin (116) slides which is fixed to said wedge-shaped element (110) and allows for the manual movement of the wedge-shaped element (110) and then the adjusting of said apparatus (10) in height.

21. An apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that said at least one wedge- shaped element (110) is only one in number and it has two cuneiform profiles (114a,114b) which are engaged respectively in two grooves (36a,36b) made in said support (21).

22. Use of the apparatus (10) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said closing means of said hole (28) made in said casing (20) are in the closed position and that said closure means (56) of said outlet (54) of said channeling element (40) are in the openend position, so that water supplied by the pump (80) is sent only to said first chamber (92).

23. Use of the apparatus (10) according to any of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that said closing means of said hole (28) made in said casing (20) are in the opened position and that said closure means (56) of said outlet (54) of said channeling element (40) are in the closed postion, so that water supplied by the pump (80) is sent only to said filtering device (100).

24. Use of the apparatus (10) according to any of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that said closing means of said hole (28) made in said casing (20) are partially opened and that said closure means (56) of said outlet (54) of said channeling element (40) are partially opened and that said filtering device (100) is connected to said hole (28), so that the water supplied by the pump (80) is sent both to said first chamber (92) and to said filtering device (100).