Floating Water Circulator Surface Ripple Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Stagnant water in containers or ponds poses health risks due to potential freezing in cold weather and insect breeding in warm weather, and existing water circulating solutions are inefficient and prone to issues like ice buildup, debris clogging, and high power consumption.
Innovation Solution
A floating water circulator that includes a float to maintain buoyancy, a pump to circulate subsurface water, and a distributor to discharge water at or near the surface, creating ripples while minimizing splashing, thus retarding ice formation and insect breeding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a heater is used to prevent water freezing, then ice formation is prevented, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the thermal field approach (heater) with a mechanical field approach (pump and distributor system). Instead of heating water to prevent freezing, the system mechanically circulates water through the distributor to create surface movement and mixing, which prevents ice formation through kinetic energy and temperature destratification without significant power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operating parameters by using a pump to actively circulate water at controlled flow rates through the distributor. This creates continuous surface movement and subsurface mixing that prevents ice formation through physical agitation rather than thermal input, fundamentally changing how the temperature parameter is controlled.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If water is circulated to prevent insect breeding, then health risks are reduced, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a mechanically efficient pump-distributor system that creates surface ripples and subsurface mixing with minimal power consumption. This mechanical circulation disrupts insect breeding environments through water movement without requiring high energy input, unlike traditional aerators or heaters.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributor system creates sufficient surface movement and water circulation to effectively prevent insect breeding through partial action. The system doesn't need to fully circulate the entire water body intensely, but rather creates adequate surface disturbance and localized mixing to achieve the health protection goal with minimal power consumption.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a floating water circulator is used, then adaptability to varying water depths is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a floating platform that dynamically adjusts its position vertically with water level changes. The pump and distributor system is mounted on this floating structure, allowing the entire assembly to rise and fall with varying water depths. This dynamic positioning provides adaptability to different water levels without requiring complex adjustable mechanisms or multiple fixed installations.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating platform serves multiple functions: it provides buoyancy support, enables vertical adjustment with water levels, and houses the pump and distributor components. This multi-functional design achieves adaptability to varying water depths without proportionally increasing device complexity, as a single floating structure accomplishes what would otherwise require multiple separate adjustment mechanisms.
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 floating water circulator effectively circulates water with minimal power consumption, preventing ice formation and insect breeding, while being adaptable to varying water depths and debris levels, thus providing a healthy and efficient water supply.
Implementation Method 1
a float configured to maintain buoyancy of the floating water circulator in a body of water, e.g., to rise and fall with water surface
Implementation Method 2
A pump may be configured to pump subsurface water from the body of water into a distributor
Implementation Method 3
The distributor may be configured to receive (e.g., from one or more inlets), distribute and discharge the pumped water in multiple directions at or near the surface of the body of water through a plurality of outlets located in a side and/or a bottom of the floating water circulator to ripple a surface of the body of water
Data Source
AI summary
A floating water circulator (FWC) expels water at or near a water surface, providing kinetic energy, mixing, and/or temperature destratification while retarding formation of ice and/or insect reproduction in bodies of water with varying depth and/or debris, and while consuming significantly less power than a heater. An FWC includes a float configured to maintain buoyancy, allowing the FWC to rise and fall with water elevation. An FWC may provide shallow water operation. A pump may be configured to pump subsurface water from the body of water into a distributor. The distributor may be configured to receive, distribute and discharge the pumped water in multiple directions at or near the water surface through a plurality of outlets located in a side and/or a bottom of the FWC to ripple the water surface while suppressing/inhibiting splashing that may disturb livestock or induce freezing. FWC operation may be adaptable to deployment conditions.