Beverage Dispenser Water Filter Assembly for Low Pressure Drop

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Solution Overview

Problem

Single serve beverage dispensers face inefficiencies in filtering particles and volatile organic compounds from water, leading to ineffective contaminant removal and potential pressure drops that can cause pump cavitation.

Innovation Solution

A water filter assembly with a cylindrical filter medium enclosed by a housing, defining an unfiltered water chamber and a filtered water chamber, where unfiltered water flows through the filter medium to minimize pressure drop and effectively remove contaminants, utilizing activated carbon or fine mesh filters, and incorporating one-way valves to prevent backflow and ensure proper pump operation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Stress or pressure

If a single mesh filter is used to minimize pressure drop, then pressure drop is reduced, but filtering effectiveness for particles smaller than threshold and volatile organic compounds deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepressure dropVSAvoidfiltering effectiveness

Core Design Contradiction:

Stress or pressureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The filter assembly is segmented into multiple functional layers: a first filter medium layer for particle filtration, a second filter medium layer for volatile organic compound removal, and a third filter medium layer for additional filtration. This segmentation allows each layer to specialize in removing different types of contaminants while maintaining overall low pressure drop across the entire filter assembly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The filter assembly uses composite material construction with different filter medium types arranged in sequence. The combination of mesh filters, activated carbon, or other specialized filter materials creates a composite filtering system that achieves both low pressure drop and high filtering effectiveness for multiple contaminant types simultaneously.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

2Stress or pressure

If a single mesh filter is used to minimize pressure drop, then pressure drop is reduced, but ability to remove volatile organic compounds deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepressure dropVSAvoidvolatile organic compounds removal

Core Design Contradiction:

Stress or pressureVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The filter assembly incorporates porous materials such as activated carbon in the second filter medium layer, which provides high surface area and porosity for effective adsorption of volatile organic compounds like chloroform, lindane, and atrazine. The porous structure enables thorough contaminant removal while maintaining low resistance to water flow.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #31Porous materials

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The solution effectively filters particles and volatile organic compounds while maintaining a low pressure drop, ensuring proper pump operation and improved beverage quality by utilizing the full surface area of the filter medium, even at varying water levels.

Implementation Method 1

a filter medium extending along the axial direction and defining an interior filtered water chamber

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectFiltration: Filter (physical)

Implementation Method 2

utilizing activated carbon or fine mesh filters

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAdsorption: Adsorption

Data Source

PatentUS9487413B2Water filter assembly for a beverage dispenser

Publication Date: 2016.11.08 HAIER US APPLIANCE SOLUTIONS INC

AI summary

A water filter assembly for a beverage dispenser having a reservoir is provided. The water filter assembly includes a filter medium extending along an axial direction and a housing enclosing the filter medium also extending along the axial direction. The housing includes a channel having an inlet proximate to a second end of housing for receipt of unfiltered water from the reservoir and extending to a position proximate a first end of housing. The channel is configured to provide unfiltered water to a location proximate the first end of housing such that an entire surface area of filter medium is utilized in filtering the water in reservoir to minimize a pressure drop across the water filter assembly during operation.