Pump assembly for an emergency eyewash station

Abstract

A pump assembly for an emergency eyewash station and method of retrofitting a plumbed emergency eyewash station is disclosed. The pump is configured into two parts, an impeller assembly and a drive assembly, that are configured to couple together. The impeller assembly is isolated from the drive assembly and can be easily replaced to ensure a sterile fluid path is maintained for the eyewash fluid. The drive assembly can be fluid powered or an electric motor as desired. The present invention allows a plumbed eyewash station to be retrofitted to use a sterile eyewash fluid. The present invention can also be used in portable eyewash station units too.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] The present application claims priority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 729,526, filed Oct. 24, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to emergency eyewash stations, and more particularly to an impeller assembly for such stations. [0004] 2. Background of the Related Art [0005] Emergency eyewash stations take many forms, including plumbed stations, self-contained fixed-mounted units and portable units. Generally speaking, these stations are designed to dispense eyewash fluid (typically water) upon demand. [0006] The plumbed eyewash stations are generally connected to the water supply pipes of an existing sink or are installed as a stand-alone emergency eyewash station with the water supply and draining connected to the regular building water systems. An example of a plumbed eyewa...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] In one embodiment, the drive mechanism comprises a second impeller wheel driven by a source of moving fluid, such as running water. This embodiment utilizes the available source of tap water as a drive mechanism to pump the sterile fluid from the source to the spray nozzles, obviating the need for any electrical power source or complicated gravity feed systems to move the sterile fluid.

[0021] Yet, another object of the present invention is the provision for an impeller assembly for an emergency eyewash station that maintains a constant steady flow of eyewash fluid.

Problems solved by technology

Although plumbed eyewash stations generally provide instant availability of a washing spray they suffer from the disadvantage of relying on ordinary tap water as the cleansing agent.

For example, tap water may carry bacteria and other unknown chemicals and contaminants that could cause infection of the eyes.

Although the force of gravity offers several other advantages, it lacks the advantage of being able to maintain a constant and steady flow of eyewash fluid from the dispensing head of the station.

In fact, the pressure steadily dwindles as the reservoir empties.

However, newer ANSI and OSHA regulations have created additional issues that will need to be addressed, and will require improvements to the existing designs to maintain compliance.

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