Multi-Lumen Bait Tank Conduit for Air and Water Exchange
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current container systems for maintaining live bait, such as fishing bait tanks, lack efficient mechanisms for air and water exchange, leading to suboptimal habitat conditions and increased maintenance effort.
Innovation Solution
A bi-directional multi-lumen conduit system with a modular pump system that traverses the container wall, providing independent channels for air and water exchange through a single aperture, allowing for flexible orientation and reduced effort in maintaining live bait.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple separate conduits are used for air and water exchange, then fluid exchange effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate conduits (air inlet, air outlet, water inlet, water outlet) into a single multi-lumen conduit system. This single conduit contains multiple internal channels that separately transport different fluids, reducing the number of external components while maintaining independent fluid exchange pathways. The merging principle resolves the contradiction by integrating multiple functions into one structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The single conduit is segmented into multiple independent lumens or channels within its structure. Each lumen is dedicated to a specific fluid transport function (air inlet, air outlet, water inlet, water outlet), allowing independent control and optimization of each fluid pathway. This segmentation maintains the reliability of separate fluid exchange while achieving the simplification of a unified external conduit structure.
2Ease of operation
If a single aperture is used for the conduit system, then ease of installation is improved, but fluid exchange efficiency may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple aperture functions are merged into a single aperture location on the container wall. The single aperture accommodates the entire multi-lumen conduit system, providing a unified installation point that simplifies the installation process while maintaining multiple independent fluid exchange pathways within the conduit structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves from a two-dimensional arrangement of multiple separate apertures on the container wall to a three-dimensional multi-lumen structure within a single aperture. By utilizing the internal dimensional space of the conduit, multiple fluid pathways are created without requiring multiple external openings, thus maintaining installation simplicity while preserving fluid exchange efficiency.
3Reliability
If the conduit is rigid for structural stability, then reliability is improved, but adaptability to different container orientations worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The conduit employs a flexible structure that can bend and adapt to different orientations and container configurations. This flexibility allows the conduit to maintain its structural integrity and sealing function while accommodating various installation angles and container positions, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and orientation adaptability.
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 system effectively maintains a livable habitat for live bait by optimizing fluid exchange, reducing maintenance effort, and enhancing oxygen levels and waste removal in bait containers.
Implementation Method 1
a fluid transport system including an impeller powered by the base module to convey fluid via a conduit
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and associated methods relate to a bi-directional conduit system including a core configured to traverse a container wall and having independent, substantially parallel lumens and a fitting fluidly connected to each lumen on each side of the wall. In an illustrative example, the conduit system may include at least one valve configured to selectively restrict fluid flow in at least one lumen. The core may be flexible. A coupling assembly may be configured to releasably couple the core to the wall. Apparatus and methods further relate to a system including a base module with a control input and a fluid transport system including an impeller powered by the base module to convey fluid via a conduit in response to the control input, wherein in a stowage mode, the base module is configured to store the conduit and to mechanically support, releasably coupled, the impeller to the base module.