Piston-Driven Water Filter with Self-Cleaning Sleeve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional portable water filtration systems fail to generate sufficient pressure for effective filtration, maintain filter quality, and meet standards for contaminant removal, particularly for travelers visiting countries with potable water supplies that do not meet their accustomed quality.
Innovation Solution
A compact, portable water filtration system with a piston-driven mechanism that increases pressure to drive water through a micro-pore filtration medium and incorporates a self-cleaning mechanism to extend the filter's lifespan, using a sleeve with a cleaning device to brush or scrape the exterior of the filter, ensuring consistent filtration performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If portable water filtration systems use manual pumping or lever mechanisms, then they can filter water without external power, but they produce slow flow rates and require high user effort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a hand pump mechanism that utilizes pneumatic principles to generate water pressure. The pump creates hydraulic pressure to force water through the filtration medium, enabling portable filtration without external power sources while achieving practical flow rates for field conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a flexible diaphragm that dynamically responds to pressure changes during pumping. The diaphragm flexes to store and release energy, maintaining consistent flow through the filter despite variations in pump input, thereby improving productivity while maintaining energy independence
2Reliability
If portable filtration systems use ceramic or dense filter media, then they achieve good contaminant removal, but they require frequent cleaning and maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates a pre-filtration layer that captures larger particles before they reach the main ceramic filter media. This preliminary action prevents rapid clogging of the fine pores, extending the interval between cleanings and reducing maintenance burden while maintaining reliable contaminant removal
Solution Approach 2:
The design allows for easy removal and replacement of the filter element when it becomes saturated. The modular filter can be discarded after use and replaced with a fresh element, eliminating the need for complex cleaning mechanisms and simplifying maintenance for field conditions
3Reliability
If filtration systems use fine-pore membranes to remove viruses and cysts, then they achieve high filtration quality, but they generate high backpressure and reduce flow rate
Solution Approach 1:
The filtration system is segmented into multiple stages with progressively finer pore sizes. The first stage removes larger particles and sediments, the second stage targets bacteria and protozoa, and the final stage addresses viruses. This segmentation distributes the filtration burden across stages, preventing excessive backpressure at any single stage and maintaining overall flow rate while achieving high-quality virus and cyst removal
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 provides high-quality filtered water suitable for cooking, storage, and sharing, meeting NSF P231 Protocol standards by ensuring sufficient pressure and filter cleanliness, addressing the limitations of existing portable filtration devices.
Implementation Method 1
Pressure on the fluid can be increased or decreased by engaging the threads of the piston, such that an increase of pressure on the fluid drives the fluid distally through the water filter
Implementation Method 2
the cleaning mechanism contacts the external surface of the water filter in order to brush, scrape, or otherwise clean the external surface of the water filter
Data Source
AI summary
A compact, piston-driven water filtration system with annular cleaning device/brush. The filter apparatus operates based on a piston-driven pressure system where the piston is threadably mated to a water reservoir. Threading of the piston forces a sleeve connected thereto within the reservoir to force water through any suitable water filter (e.g. carbon-based, ceramic, micro- and/or nano-membrane materials) on the opposite side of the reservoir from the threadably-mated piston within the reservoir. The sleeve connected to the piston within the interior of the reservoir includes a cleaning device (e.g., brush, scraper, pad, etc.) on a distal end of the sleeve inside the water reservoir. The annular brush has an inner diameter smaller than that of the sleeve, such that as the piston is threaded into and out of the reservoir, the sleeve moves toward, over, and away from the filter, and the brush scrapes/scrubs/cleans the exterior of the filter for cleansing.