Aquatic vessel filter
The multi-layered aquatic vessel filter addresses the issues of collapsing pleated paper and clogging sintered polymeric filters by using a core and peripheral element design with a standpipe assembly, ensuring durability and efficient fluid flow in aquatic vessels.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/US2025/035354
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2024-06-27
- Filing Date
- 2025-06-26
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-02
AI Technical Summary
Existing aquatic vessel filters, such as those used in spas and pools, face issues with pleated paper filters collapsing and sintered polymeric filters clogging irreversibly, leading to high pressure drops and increased costs, while also being prone to chemical attack in hot tub environments.
A multi-layered aquatic vessel filter design comprising a core filter element surrounded by peripheral filter elements, housed within a cage and secured by a cover and gasket, with each element having a carrier and membrane, and a standpipe assembly that minimizes pressure drop and enhances fluid flow.
The new filter design provides improved durability, reduced pressure drop, and enhanced fluid flow, while being resistant to chemical degradation, thus maintaining water quality effectively.
Smart Images

Figure US2025035354_02012026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
AQUATIC VESSEL FILTERREFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. provisional application 63 / 664,768 filed on June 27, 2024, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This disclosure relates generally to aquatic vessels and, more particularly, to filters for aquatic vessels.BACKGROUND
[0003] Aquatic vessels, including spas, pools, and the like, typically include a main container that holds water to be used for recreational, medical, or other purposes, a filter bucket that holds water to be filtered, and a pump that circulates water between the filter chamber and the main chamber. Maintaining quality of water in an aquatic vessel is important to users of the aquatic vessel. Water maintenance typically includes removal and replacement of a filter in the filter bucket.
[0004] Presently available aquatic vessel filters generally include a cylindrical housing and a pleated paper filter carried by the housing or a sintered polymeric filter carried by the housing. But pleated paper filters provide only a single layer of filter media, albeit with a relatively large surface area by way of pleats, but frequently such pleated media fails when closely spaced pleats collapse. Also, sintered polymeric filters tend to be single-use filters as they clog irreversibly, and they are relatively costly. Both pleated paper filters and sintered polymeric filters also tend to be prone to chemical attack, particularly in hot tub or spa environments. Additionally, a typical standpipe for an aquatic vessel may impose an unnecessarily high pressure drop across a filter coupled to the standpipe, thereby leading to unnecessarily low fluid flow to the filter. Also, the typical standpipe is not well adapted for use with improved filter designs.SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0005] An illustrative embodiment of an aquatic vessel filter includes a core filter element, a plurality of peripheral filter elements circumscribing the core filter element, and a cage circumscribing the plurality of peripheral filter elements. The core filter element includes a core filter carrier having core apertures and a core filter membrane carried around at least a portion of the core filter carrier. Each peripheral filter element of the plurality of peripheralfilter elements includes a peripheral filter carrier having peripheral apertures and a peripheral filter membrane carried around at least a portion of the peripheral filter carrier.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view according to an illustrative embodiment of an aquatic vessel filter, and showing a core filter element, a plurality of peripheral filter elements circumscribing the core filter element, a filter cage circumscribing the plurality of filter elements, a filter puck to which the cage is coupled, a cover coupled to the cage, and a gasket interposed between the cover and the filter elements.
[0007] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the core filter element of FIG. 1 , including a core filter fabric carried around a core filter carrier.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the core filter carrier of FIG. 2.
[0009] FIG. 4 is an enlarged, partially exploded, perspective view of one of the peripheral filter elements of FIG. 1 , including a peripheral filter fabric carried around a peripheral filter carrier and an end cap coupled to the peripheral filter carrier.
[0010] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the peripheral filter carrier of FIG. 4.
[0011] FIG. 6 is an enlarged, exploded, perspective view of the filter cage of FIG. 1 , including upper and lower cages and a spacer ring therebetween.
[0012] FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the filter cage of FIG. 6, illustrating the upper and lower cages coupled to the spacer ring.
[0013] FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of the filter cage of FIG. 7, illustrating a portion of one of the cages coupled to a corresponding portion of the spacer ring.
[0014] FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the core filter element of FIG. 2 and one of the peripheral filter elements of FIG. 4 configured to be coupled to the filter puck of FIG. 1 , including coupling features thereof to establish a core filter and puck subassembly.
[0015] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a filter and puck subassembly, including the filter puck of FIG. 1 , the core filter of FIG. 3, and a circumferential array of peripheral filters, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 4.
[0016] FIG. 11 is a partially exploded perspective view of the filter cage of FIG. 6 being assembled to the filter and puck subassembly of FIG. 10 to establish a cage, filter, and puck subassembly.
[0017] FIG. 12 is an elevational view of the cage, filter, and puck subassembly of FIG. 11 .
[0018] FIG. 13 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of the cage, filter, and puck subassembly of FIG. 12.
[0019] FIG. 14 is a partially exploded perspective view of the aquatic vessel filter of FIG.1 , showing the cover and the gasket of FIG. 1 being coupled to the cage, filter, and puck subassembly of FIG. 11 to complete the aquatic vessel filter.
[0020] FIG. 15 is an assembled perspective view of the aquatic vessel filter of FIG. 1 .
[0021] FIG. 16 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of the aquatic vessel filter of FIG. 15, showing a cover coupling, and taken along line 16 of FIG. 15.
[0022] FIG. 17 is an exploded, fragmentary, perspective view of a first embodiment of a standpipe filter assembly including a first embodiment of a standpipe configured to be coupled to a bottom wall of a filter bucket of an aquatic vessel by an adapter base and configured to carry the aquatic filter of FIG. 1 , and a fastener to fasten the filter to the standpipe.
[0023] FIG. 18 is an enlarged, fragmentary, assembled, longitudinal cross-sectional view of the standpipe and the filter bucket bottom wall of FIG. 17.
[0024] FIG. 19 is an exploded, fragmentary, perspective view of a second embodiment of a standpipe filter assembly including a second embodiment of a standpipe configured to be coupled to the bottom wall of the filter bucket of the aquatic vessel, the aquatic vessel filter of FIG. 1 carried by the standpipe, and a fastener to fasten the filter to the standpipe.
[0025] FIG. 20 is an enlarged, fragmentary, assembled, longitudinal cross-sectional view of the standpipe of FIG. 19 coupled to the filter bucket bottom wall.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] In general, various aspects of an aquatic vessel filter will be described using one or more examples of illustrative embodiments, all described with reference to use for filtering in an aquatic vessel such as a spa or hot tub. However, it will be appreciated as the description proceeds that the present disclosure is useful in many other embodiments, such as in swimming pools, swim spas, and the like.
[0027] As used in herein, the terminology “for example,” “e.g.,” for instance,” “like,” “such as,” “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and the like, when used with a listing of one or more elements, is to be construed as open-ended, meaning that the listing does not exclude additional elements. As used herein, permissive terms like “may” and “can” are expedients merely to indicate optionality, for instance, of a disclosed embodiment, element, feature, or the like, and should not be construed as rendering indefinite any disclosure herein. Moreover,directional words such as front, rear, top, bottom, upper, lower, radial, circumferential, axial, lateral, longitudinal, vertical, horizontal, transverse, and / or the like are employed by way of example and not necessarily limitation.
[0028] Referring specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows an illustrative embodiment of an aquatic vessel filter 10. The filter 10 includes a core filter element 12, a plurality of peripheral filter fins or elements 14 circumscribing the core filter element 12, and a cage 16 circumscribing the plurality of filter elements 14. The filter 10 also may include a base or puck 18 to which lower ends of one or more of the core filter element 12, the plurality of peripheral filter elements 14, and the cage 16 may be coupled. The filter 10 further may include a cover 20 that may be coupled to the core filter element 12 and the cage 16, and a gasket 22 that may be disposed axially between the cover 20 and the plurality of peripheral filter elements 14.
[0029] With reference now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the core filter element 12 may include a core filter carrier 24 having core apertures 26 (FIG. 3), and a core filter membrane 28 (FIG. 2) carried around at least a portion of the core filter carrier 24. The core filter carrier 24 may include a core filter carrier base 30, a core filter carrier body 32 (FIG. 3) extending away from the core filter carrier base 30 and having the core apertures 26 (FIG. 3), a hub 34 extending away from the core filter carrier body 32, and a circumferential array of spokes 36 extending radially outwardly from the hub 34. The core filter carrier base 30 may have a cylinder 38, a flange 40 extending radially outwardly from the cylinder 38, and circumferentially spaced locating features 42 carried by the flange 40 and the cylinder 38. The core filter carrier body 32 may include a spaceframe or latticework 44 as illustrated, or an apertured or perforated hollow cylinder, or the like. The core filter carrier 24 may be composed of ABS and polypropylene, or ASA, polyethylene, or engineered plastics, or of metal, for instance, stainless steel, or aluminum, or of any other materials suitable for a filter. The core filter membrane 28 may include a fabric 46 circumferentially wrapped around the core filter carrier body 32 and extending longitudinally between the core filter carrier base 30 and the hub 34 and establishing an interior 48 of the core filter element 12. The membrane 28 may be adhered to the core filter carrier body 32 and / or may be circumferentially overlapped and adhered to itself. The membrane 28 may be composed of polyester felt, or polyester and polypropylene, polyethylene felt, point bonded fabrics, spun bonded and wet laid filter fabrics, PPE, acrylonitrile, or any other felts and / or filter papers suitable for use in a spa.
[0030] With reference now to FIG. 4, the plurality of peripheral filter elements 14 may include nine peripheral filter elements 14, or between six and twelve filter elements 14, or any other quantity of filter elements 14 suitable for a particular application. With additional reference to FIG. 5, each peripheral filter element 14 of the plurality of peripheral filter elements 14 may include a peripheral filter carrier 50 having peripheral apertures 52 (FIG. 5), and a peripheral filter membrane 54 (FIG. 4) carried around at least a portion of the peripheral filter carrier 50. The peripheral filter carrier 50 may include a peripheral filter carrier base 56 having a radially outwardly extending lip 58, a peripheral filter carrier body 60 (FIG. 5) extending away from the peripheral filter carrier base 56 and having the peripheral apertures 52, and a collar 62 extending away from the peripheral filter carrier body 60 at an upper end thereof. The peripheral filter carrier body 60 may include a spaceframe or latticework 64 as illustrated, or an apertured or perforated column, or the like. The peripheral filter carrier body 60 may be composed of ABS and polypropylene, or ASA, polyethylene, or engineered plastics, or of metal, for instance, stainless steel, or aluminum, or of any other materials suitable for a filter. The peripheral filter membrane 54 may include a fabric 66 (FIG. 4) circumferentially wrapped around the peripheral filter carrier body 60 (FIG. 5) and extending longitudinally between the peripheral filter carrier base 56 and the collar 62 and establishing an interior 68 (FIG. 4) of the peripheral filter element 14. The membrane 54 may be adhered to the core filter carrier body 32 and / or may be circumferentially overlapped and adhered to itself. The membrane 54 may be composed of polyester felt, or polyester and polypropylene, polyethylene felt, point bonded fabrics, spun bonded and wet laid filter fabrics, PPE, acrylonitrile, or any other felts and / or filter papers suitable for use in a spa. Each peripheral filter element 14 also may include a cap 70 (FIG. 4) coupled to the collar 62 to establish the interior 68 of the peripheral filter element 14 as a closed-ended interior with a closed upper end 72 and an open lower end 74. The cap 70 may be a separate component that may be snap-fit, interference fit, adhered, welded, or otherwise coupled to the collar 62. Each peripheral filter element 14 may be oblong or columnar in a longitudinal direction and truncated-sector-shaped in transverse cross section, meaning that each peripheral filter element 14 may have radially extending circumferentially spaced sides 76, 78 that may be straight, and having radially inner and radially outer ends 80, 82 that may be arcuate and / or straight.
[0031] With reference now to FIGS. 6-8, the cage 16 may include one or more apertured enclosures, for example, apertured cylinders 84, 86, for instance, upper and lower aperturedcylinders 84, 86 and a spacer ring 88 therebetween, as shown in the illustrated embodiment The upper and lower apertured cylinders 84, 86 may include circumferentially spaced vanes 90. In turn, the vanes 90 of each of the cylinders 84, 86 may include upper and lower sets of vanes 92, 94 that extend axially away from circumferentially continuous vane rings 96 therebetween such that the vanes 90 have fixed ends 98 at the vane rings 96 and axially oppositely disposed free ends 100. In any case, as shown in FIG. 8, the vanes 90 may have first sets of tangs 102 projecting axially therefrom for coupling into corresponding spacer ring pockets 104 of a circumferential array of spacer ring pockets in the spacer ring 88. The cage 16 may be composed of ABS and polypropylene, or ASA, polyethylene, or engineered plastics, or of metal, for instance, stainless steel, or aluminum, or of any other materials suitable for a filter. Although illustrated as having two separate shorter apertured enclosures or cylinders 84, 86, in other embodiments, the cage 16 instead may include just one taller apertured enclosure or cylinder. The spacer ring 88 may be circumferentially continuous.
[0032] With reference now to FIG. 9, the filter puck 18 to which the core filter element 12 may be coupled may include a hub 106 establishing a core fluid passage 108 in fluid communication with the core filter element 12. The puck 18 also includes a rim 110 disposed radially outwardly of the hub 106, and a plurality of spokes 112 extending radially between the hub 106 and the rim 110. As indicated in FIGS. 10 and 11 , the core filter carrier base 30 may be coupled to the hub 106 of the puck 18. The puck 18 may be composed of ABS and polypropylene, or ASA, polyethylene, or engineered plastics, or of metal, for instance, stainless steel, or aluminum, or of any other materials suitable for a filter. The spokes 112 may be defined by planar base wall portions 114 and ribs 116 extending axially away from the planar base wall portions 114 and radially between the hub 106 and the rim 110, and passage sidewalls 118. Portions of the hub 106, the rim 110, and the plurality of spokes 112 establish a plurality of peripheral fluid passages 120 in fluid communication with the plurality of peripheral filter elements 14. Each of the peripheral fluid passages 120 may be truncated- sector-shaped in transverse cross section. More specifically, each peripheral fluid passage 120 may be defined by radially extending circumferentially spaced passage sidewalls 118 of the spokes 112 that may be straight, and by radially inner and radially outer end walls 122, 124 that may be established by the hub 106 and the rim 110 (or by the spokes 112) and that may be arcuate and / or straight.
[0033] The flange 40 of the core filter carrier base 30 may locate against a corresponding flange 126 of the puck hub 106 and may be adhered or welded thereto, or coupled thereto inany other manner that may be suitable to render the core filter element 12 and the puck 18 an integrated or unitary component. Also, the core filter carrier base 30 may have the circumferentially spaced locating features 42 carried by the flange 40 and the cylinder 38, and the puck 18 may have circumferentially spaced locating features 128 corresponding to the circumferentially spaced locating features 42 of the core filter carrier base 30. In the specific illustrated example, the puck 18 has circumferentially spaced ribs 130 that fit into corresponding circumferentially spaced slots 132 of the core filter carrier 24, but the ribs 130 and slots 132 could be reversed. In any case, such features inhibit rotation between the core filter carrier 24 and the puck 18.
[0034] With continued reference to FIG. 9, the open lower ends 74 of the peripheral filter carrier bases 56 may be coupled to the puck 18 at the spokes 112 such that the open lower ends 74 and interiors 68 of the peripheral filter elements 14 are in fluid communication with the peripheral fluid passages 120 of the puck 18 as depicted in FIG. 10. The radially extending circumferentially spaced sides 76, 78, and radially inner and outer ends 80, 82 of the peripheral filter carriers 14 may surround corresponding radially extending circumferentially spaced sidewalls 118 of the spokes 112, and radially inner and outer end walls 122, 124 of the hub 106 and the rim 110 of the puck 18. Conversely, the hub 106, the rim 110, and the ribs 116 may surround the corresponding radially extending circumferentially spaced sides 76, 78, and radially inner and outer ends 80, 82 of the peripheral filter carriers 14. Accordingly, the open lower ends 74 of the peripheral filter carriers 14 may interengage the puck 18 for good coupling and fit thereto. Also as shown in FIG. 10, the upper ends 72 of the peripheral filter carriers 14 may be coupled to the core filter carrier 24 between the spokes 36 thereof to maintain circumferential spacing and stability.
[0035] With reference now to FIGS. 11 -13, the rim 110 of the puck 18 to which the cage 16 may be coupled may include a circumferential array of puck pockets 134 (FIGS. 11 and 13) to receive a second set of the tangs 102 (FIGS. 11 and 13) projecting axially from the circumferentially spaced vanes 90 of the lower apertured cylinder 86.
[0036] With reference now to FIGS. 14-16, the cover 20 may be coupled to upper ends of the core filter element 12 and the cage 16, and the gasket 22 may be disposed axially between the cover 20 and the plurality of peripheral filter elements 14. The cover 20 may include a base wall 136, a radially inner skirt 138 extending axially away from the base wall 136 and establishing a fluid passage 140, and a radially outer skirt 142 extending axially away from the base wall 136. The cover 20 may include a circumferential array of coverpockets (not shown) to receive a third set of the tangs 102 projecting axially from the circumferentially spaced vanes 90 of the upper apertured cylinder 84. The radially inner skirt 138 may be carried in a corresponding annular flange or slot 144 (FIG. 16) of the core filter carrier 24, and the radially outer skirt 142 may circumscribe an upper portion 146 of the cage 16. The cover 20 may be composed of ABS and polypropylene, or ASA, polyethylene, or engineered plastics, or of metal, for instance, stainless steel, or aluminum, or of any other materials suitable for a filter. The gasket 22 (FIG. 14) may be trapped between the base wall 136 of the cover 20 and the caps 70 of the peripheral filter elements 14. The gasket 22 may be a flat annular ring, a O-ring , or any other gasket of any suitable geometry. The gasket 22 may be composed of an elastomeric material, such as, TPE - EDPM, Viton, PVC, silicone, Buna-N, or any other material that is suitably compliant to take up slack in the assembly due to axial tolerance stackups of the individual components. Adhesive may be applied between the various components, and the entire assembly may be clamped together in a fixture (not shown) to complete the filter 10.
[0037] With reference to FIG. 17, a standpipe and filter assembly 148 includes a standpipe 150, an adapter base or puck 152, the aquatic vessel filter 10 described above, and a fastener 154 to fasten the aquatic vessel filter 10 to the standpipe 150. The standpipe 150 includes a base flange 156, a skirt 158 extending along a first direction away from the base flange 156, an apertured cylinder 160 extending along a second direction away from the base flange 156, and a cylindrical extension 162 extending away from the apertured cylinder 160 and including a cylindrical wall 164, a locating flange 166 extending radially outwardly from the cylindrical wall 164, and one or more standpipe coupling elements 168 carried by the cylindrical wall 164. The skirt 158 may be externally threaded and configured to be coupled to an internally threaded portion 170 of a threaded fitting 172 of a filter bucket 174, and the base flange 156 of the standpipe 150 is configured to rest against an upper portion 176 of the threaded fitting 172. The threaded fitting 172 has a locating flange 178, and an internally and externally threaded skirt 180 extending away therefrom and is adapted to be located in a fluid passage 184 in a bottom wall 186 of the filter bucket 174 and the locating flange 178 adhered to the bottom wall 186 around the fluid passage 184.
[0038] The adapter puck 152 includes a base wall 188 carried on the base flange 156 of the standpipe 150 and establishing a central aperture 190 through which the apertured cylinder 160 of the standpipe 150 extends, and a radially outer skirt 192 extending away from the base wall 188 and having one or more external threads 194. The adapter puck 152 alsomay include a circumferential array of flow dividers 196 extending between the base wall 188 and the radially outer skirt 192.
[0039] With reference to FIG. 18, the filter puck 18 of the aquatic vessel filter 10 includes a radially outer skirt 198 sealed to the radially outer skirt 192 of the adapter puck 152. The radially outer skirts 192, 198 of the adapter puck 152 and the filter puck 18 may have one or more cooperating threads 194, 200 to couple the pucks 152, 18 to one another, or any other cooperating engagement features suitable to couple the pucks 152, 18 to one another. The fastener 154 of the standpipe and filter assembly 148 may include a locating flange 202 located against the cover 20 of the aquatic vessel filter 10, and a cylindrical skirt 204 extending away from the locating flange 202 and having fastener coupling elements 206 coupled to the standpipe coupling elements 168 to trap the aquatic vessel filter 10 between the fastener 154 and the standpipe 150. A central fluid passage 208 of the aquatic vessel filter 10 is aligned axially with the standpipe 150 and when the filter 10 is lowered over the standpipe 150 in the filter bucket 174 all the way down. Then the fastener 154 is either pushed onto the standpipe 150 or rotatably threaded thereto to retain the filter 10 to the standpipe 150 in the filter bucket 174.
[0040] With reference to FIG. 19, another embodiment of a standpipe and filter assembly 448 includes a standpipe 450, the aquatic vessel filter 10 described above, and a fastener 454 to fasten the aquatic vessel filter 10 to the standpipe 450. The standpipe 450 may include a standpipe puck 452 and a standpipe stem 453 extending away from the standpipe puck 452. Referring now to FIG. 20, the standpipe puck 452 may have a base wall 488, an externally threaded cylinder 489 extending along a first direction away from the base wall 488, and a radially outer skirt 492 extending along a second direction away from the base wall 488 opposite the first direction. The radially outer skirt 492 may include a seal groove 493 for carrying a seal 495 of the standpipe 450. The standpipe stem 453 may have an apertured base skirt 455 coupled to the base wall 488 of the standpipe puck 452, an apertured cylinder 460 extending away from the apertured base skirt 455, and a cylindrical extension 462 extending away from the apertured cylinder 460 and having standpipe coupling elements 468. The apertured base skirt 455 may be carried in a corresponding skirt or slot 457 of the standpipe base wall 488, and may be adhered or welded thereto, or coupled thereto in any other suitable manner. An externally threaded cylinder 489 of the standpipe puck 452 is configured to be coupled to an internally threaded portion 170 of the threadedfitting 172 of the filter bucket 174, and the base wall 488 of the standpipe puck 452 is configured to rest against the upper portion 176 of the threaded fitting 172.
[0041] The filter puck 18 includes the radially outer skirt 198 sealed to the standpipe puck 452. Also, the fastener 454 may include a base wall 459 covering an open upper end 461 of the standpipe 450, a locating flange 502 that may extend away from the base wall 459 and that is located against the cover 20 of the aquatic vessel filter 10, and a cylindrical skirt 504 that may extend away from the base wall 459 and has fastener coupling elements 506 coupled to the standpipe coupling elements 468 to trap the aquatic vessel filter 10 between the fastener 454 and the standpipe 450.
[0042] The central fluid passage 208 of the aquatic vessel filter 10 is aligned axially with the standpipe 450 and lowered over the standpipe 450 in the filter bucket 174 all the way down. Then the fastener 454 is either pushed onto the standpipe 450 or rotatably threaded thereto to retain the filter 10 to the standpipe 450 in the filter bucket 174.
[0043] Finally, the subject matter of this application is presently disclosed in conjunction with several explicit illustrative embodiments and modifications to those embodiments, using various terms. All terms used herein are intended to be merely descriptive, rather than necessarily limiting, and are to be interpreted and construed in accordance with their ordinary and customary meaning in the art, unless used in a context that requires a different interpretation. And for the sake of expedience, each explicit illustrative embodiment and modification is hereby incorporated by reference into one or more of the other explicit illustrative embodiments and modifications. As such, many other embodiments, modifications, and equivalents thereto, either exist now or are yet to be discovered and, thus, it is neither intended nor possible to presently describe all such subject matter, which will readily be suggested to persons of ordinary skill in the art in view of the present disclosure. Rather, the present disclosure is intended to embrace all such embodiments and modifications of the subject matter of this application, and equivalents thereto, as fall within the broad scope of the accompanying claims.
Claims
CLAIMS1 . An aquatic vessel filter, comprising: a core filter element including a core filter carrier having core apertures, and a core filter membrane carried around at least a portion of the core filter carrier; a plurality of peripheral filter elements circumscribing the core filter element and each peripheral filter element of the plurality of peripheral filter elements including a peripheral filter carrier having peripheral apertures, and a peripheral filter membrane carried around at least a portion of the peripheral filter carrier; and a cage circumscribing the plurality of peripheral filter elements.
2. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 1 , wherein the core filter carrier includes: a core filter carrier base, a core filter carrier body extending away from the core filter carrier base and having the core apertures, and a hub extending away from the core filter carrier body, and a circumferential array of spokes extending radially outwardly from the hub.
3. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 2, wherein the core filter membrane includes a fabric circumferentially wrapped around the core filter carrier body and extending longitudinally between the core filter carrier base and the hub and establishing an interior of the core filter element.
4. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 2, wherein the core filter carrier base has a cylinder, a flange extending radially outwardly from the cylinder, and circumferentially spaced locating features carried by the flange and the cylinder.
5. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 2, further comprising: a puck to which the core filter element is coupled and including a hub establishing a core fluid passage in fluid communication with the core filter element, a rim disposed radially outwardly of the hub, anda plurality of spokes extending radially between the hub and the rim and establishing a plurality of peripheral fluid passages in fluid communication with the plurality of peripheral filter elements.
6. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 5, wherein the core filter carrier base has circumferentially spaced locating features, and the puck has circumferentially spaced locating features corresponding to the circumferentially spaced locating features of the core filter carrier base.
7. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral filter carrier includes a peripheral filter carrier base having a radially outwardly extending lip, a peripheral filter carrier base body extending away from the peripheral filter carrier base and having the peripheral apertures, and a collar extending away from the peripheral filter carrier base body.
8. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 7, wherein the peripheral filter membrane includes a fabric circumferentially wrapped around the peripheral filter carrier base body and extending longitudinally between the peripheral filter carrier base and the collar and establishing an interior of each peripheral filter element.
9. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 8, wherein each peripheral filter element includes a cap coupled to the collar to establish the interior of the peripheral filter element as a closed- ended interior.
10. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 9, further comprising: a puck to which the core filter element is coupled and including a hub establishing a core fluid passage in fluid communication with the core filter element, a rim disposed radially outwardly of the hub, and a plurality of spokes extending radially between the hub and the rim and establishing a plurality of peripheral fluid passages in fluid communication with the plurality of peripheral filter elements.wherein the peripheral filter carrier bases are coupled to the puck between spokes of the plurality of spokes such that the interiors of the peripheral filter elements are in fluid communication with the peripheral fluid passages.11 . The aquatic vessel filter of claim 1 , wherein the cage includes at least one apertured cylinder.
12. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 11 , wherein the at least one apertured cylinder includes upper and lower apertured cylinders and a spacer ring therebetween.
13. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 12, wherein the upper and lower apertured cylinders include circumferentially spaced vanes, having first sets of tangs projecting axially therefrom for coupling into corresponding spacer ring pockets of a circumferential array of spacer ring pockets in the spacer ring.
14. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 13, further comprising: a puck to which the core filter element is coupled and including a circumferential array of puck pockets to receive a second set of tangs projecting axially from the circumferentially spaced vanes of the lower apertured cylinder.
15. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 13, further comprising: a cover to which the core filter element is coupled and including a circumferential array of cover pockets to receive a third set of tangs projecting axially from the circumferentially spaced vanes of the upper apertured cylinder.
16. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 1 , further comprising: a filter puck coupled to lower ends of the core filter element, the peripheral filter elements, and the cage.
17. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 16, further comprising: a cover coupled to upper ends of the core filter element and the cage.
18. The aquatic vessel filter of claim 17, further comprising:a gasket disposed axially between the cover and the plurality of peripheral filter elements.
19. A standpipe and filter assembly, comprising: a standpipe including a base flange, an externally threaded skirt extending along a first direction away from the base flange, an apertured cylinder extending along a second direction away from the base flange, and a cylindrical extension extending away from the apertured cylinder and including a cylindrical wall, a locating flange extending radially outwardly from the cylindrical wall, and one or more standpipe coupling elements carried by the cylindrical wall; an adapter puck including a base wall carried on the base flange of the standpipe and establishing a central aperture through which the apertured cylinder of the standpipe extends, and a radially outer skirt extending away from the base wall and having one or more external threads; the aquatic vessel filter of claim 17, wherein the filter puck includes a radially outer skirt sealed to the radially outer skirt of the adapter puck; and a fastener including a locating flange located against the cover of the aquatic vessel filter, and a cylindrical skirt extending away from the locating flange and having fastener coupling elements coupled to the standpipe coupling elements to trap the aquatic vessel filter between the fastener and the standpipe.
20. The standpipe and filter assembly of claim 19, wherein the adapter puck further includes a circumferential array of flow dividers extending between the base wall and the radially outer skirt.21 . The standpipe and filter assembly of claim 19, wherein the radially outer skirts of the adapter puck and the filter puck have one or more cooperating threads to couple the pucks to one another.
22. A standpipe and filter assembly, comprising: a standpipe including a standpipe puck having a base wall, an externally threaded cylinder extending along a first direction away from the base wall, and a radially outer skirt extending along a second direction away from the base wall, and a standpipe stem having an apertured base skirt coupled to the base wall of the standpipe puck, an apertured cylinder extending away from the apertured base skirt, and a cylindrical extension extending away from the apertured cylinder and having standpipe coupling elements; the aquatic vessel filter of claim 17, wherein the filter puck includes a radially outer skirt sealed to the standpipe puck; and a fastener including a locating flange located against the cover of the aquatic vessel filter, and a cylindrical skirt having fastener coupling elements coupled to the standpipe coupling elements to trap the aquatic vessel filter between the fastener and the standpipe.
23. The standpipe and filter assembly of claim 22, wherein the standpipe puck further has a circumferential array of flow dividers extending between the base wall and the radially outer skirt.
24. An aquatic vessel core filter element, comprising: a core filter carrier having core apertures, and including a core filter carrier base, a core filter carrier body extending away from the core filter carrier base and having the core apertures,a hub extending away from the core filter carrier body, and a circumferential array of spokes extending radially outwardly from the hub; and a core filter membrane circumferentially wrapped around the core filter carrier body and extending longitudinally between the core filter carrier base and the hub and establishing an interior of the aquatic vessel core filter element.
25. An aquatic vessel peripheral filter element, comprising: a peripheral filter carrier having peripheral apertures, including a peripheral filter carrier base having a radially outwardly extending lip, a peripheral filter carrier base body extending away from the peripheral filter carrier base and having the peripheral apertures, a collar extending away from the peripheral filter carrier base body, and a cap coupled to the collar; and a peripheral filter membrane circumferentially wrapped around the peripheral filter carrier base body and extending longitudinally between the peripheral filter carrier base and the collar and establishing an interior of the peripheral filter element.
26. An aquatic vessel filter cage, comprising: an apertured cylinder including a support ring, and circumferentially spaced vanes extending in opposite directions axially away from the support ring, and terminating in tangs projecting axially therefrom.
27. An aquatic vessel filter puck, comprising: a hub establishing a core fluid passage; a rim disposed radially outwardly of the hub, and including a radially outer skirt; and a plurality of spokes extending radially between the hub and the rim, wherein portions of the hub, the rim, and the plurality of spokes establish a plurality of peripheral fluid passages.
Citation Information
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