Patent ID: 6869530
Filing Date: 2005-03-22
Classification: A01K,C02F

Abstract:
1. An internal filtration unit for marine aquarium comprising an outer casing, plumbing assembly with removable pump and injector, protein skimmer, and filter sponges, wherein: said outer casing comprising a front, back, two sides and bottom adjoining to form an enclosure that is open from the top, closed on the bottom, taller than it is wide and wider than it is thick, where there is a means at the top towards the back to enable said outer casing to hang on an interior wall of an aquarium and where the bottom of the outer casing is flat to enable it to stand upright to function on the inside bottom of an aquarium where along the sides of said outer casing towards the bottom there are a plurality of openings, and on the front panel at the top there is at least a one opening forming an open channel; said plumbing assembly with removable pump and injector comprising a submersible pump connected by a removable means to the base of a conduit connected to a manifold where an injector is mounted by a removable means creating a conduit rising up vertically, forming the whole conduit, where on the interior of the injector there is a change of diameter from the inside diameter of the manifold that creates back flow pressure on one side and a jet of water and space around the jet of water on the other side where located on the outside of the injector where the jet of water and space is formed is a barb to which a hose is connected, to which a plastic air valve is connected which controls the amount of air entering the injector, where located at the top of the injector and connected by way of a removable means is a tee fitting that directs the flow of water and air from the injector out the sides of the tee, where at the manifold another conduit is connected to the manifold rising up vertically and parallel to the injector conduit and continuing to the top height of the injector conduit and then turning outward and downward, where at the manifold is a sealed means that may be unsealed to connect other conduits to exit water from the manifold, where the complete assembly with the pump attached fits inside the outer casing in a vertical arrangement, where the pump is towards the bottom, the injector conduit is towards the back interior wall of the outer casing, the other conduit is towards the front interior wall of the outer casing, where the downward turn of the other conduit hooks over and suspends the whole assembly and pump from the bottom of the opening near the top of the front panel of the outer casing, where the outward and downward turns of the other conduit are installed on the exterior of the outer casing; said protein skimmer comprising a hollow cylindrical body connected to the base of a larger rectangular enclosure that forms four sides and a base where in the base is a circular opening that forms a channel down through the bottom of the hollow cylindrical body, where in the rectangular enclosure is a hollow cylindrical riser smaller in diameter at the top and flared to the diameter of the hollow cylindrical body at the bottom, where it is connected inside on the base of the rectangular enclosure surrounding the opening forming a separate chamber within the rectangular enclosure and outside the flared riser, where the flared riser is lower than the four sides of the rectangular enclosure, where the inside diameter of the bottom of the flared opening of the riser is the same diameter of the opening in the base, forming an open and smooth channel through the top opening of the flared riser through the base of the rectangular enclosure, through the bottom of the hollow cylindrical body, where the lower portion of the rectangular enclosure will exactly fit in the top opening of the outer casing, where the hollow cylindrical body hangs downward, and completely surrounds the injector conduit and tee of the plumbing assembly and comes to rest at a level determined by an adjustable means, creating an inner space between the outer wall of the hollow cylindrical body and the interior walls of the outer casing, where filter media of different type may be contained, further leaving a clearance between the rectangular enclosure and the outer casing, where the hose of the injector barb and the electrical cord of the pump can exit the outer casing, where there is a top cover that fits snugly on the rectangular enclosure leaving a unique space between the shape of its bottom and the top of the riser inside the rectangular enclosure, where the complete protein skimmer assembly is removable from the outer casing and when installed rises above the outer casing in a position where the portion of the assembly inside the outer casing makes no direct connection to any plumbing element, where said portion is above the other filtration elements of the outer casing arranged in a vertical fashion; said sponges, comprising shape that enable a snug fit from all sides of the interior walls of the outer casing, where one sponge is positioned between the pump and the manifold of the plumbing assembly below the hollow cylindrical body of the protein skimmer and above the plurality of openings in the sides of the outer casing and another sponge is positioned in the interior bottom of the outer casing below the plurality of the openings.