Abstract:
A dispenser apparatus for cantileverly mounting in an off-line condition in an axially component of a water system with the dispenser apparatus carrying a water treatment composition therein that can be released into a water system with one embodiment of the dispenser apparatus including a pair of replaceable containers for holding a water treatment composition with the containers serially located so that the water flowing into one container flows into the second container with the second container removable from the first container so that the second water treatment composition can be replenished without having to replenish the water treatment composition in the first container.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to water treatment and, more specifically, to a water treatment device having a water treatment composition therein with the water treatment device cantileverly mountable to a water system housing to provide water treatment to water circulating through the water system housing. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The use of dispensers to hold and dispense solid water treatment compositions is known in the art. Typically, a container holds the water treatment composition in an inline position while water is forced to circulate through the water treatment composition. Water treatment compositions such as chlorine or bromine are used to kill the bacteria in the water system. In other water treatment systems ions of heavy metals are used to kill bacteria and algae in the water. Generally, the dispensers are permanently built into the water system; however, in other instances it becomes necessary to retrofit a water system with water treatment dispensers. The present invention provides a dispenser apparatus that can be cantileverly mounted in an off-line mode into the housing of a water system. The water treatment dispenser apparatus can be cantileverly mounted to a new or an existing water system in either a single or a dual water treatment mode. In the dual water treatment mode the two water treatment compositions can be serially arranged within the dispenser apparatus so that the water first comes into contact with one of the water treatment composition and then comes in contact with the second water treatment composition with at least one of the water treatment compositions replaceable independently of the other. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A dispenser apparatus for cantileverly mounting in an off-line condition of a water system with the dispenser apparatus carrying a water treatment composition therein that can be released into the water treatment system. One embodiment of the dispenser apparatus includes a pair of replaceable containers for holding a water treatment composition with the containers serially located so that the water flowing into one container flows into the second container with the second container removable from the first container so that a second water treatment composition located therein can be replenished without having to replenish the water treatment composition in the first container. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a sand filter having a dual water purification system mounted therein; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional front view of a dual water purification system for mounting in the sand filter of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view front view of a single water purification system mounted in the sand filter of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 4 shows a partial schematic of a water purification system with two dispenser apparatus therein. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In order to illustrate the use of the dispenser apparatus of the present invention in an auxiliary component of a water system reference should be made to FIG. 1 which shows a cross-sectional view of an auxiliary component comprising a sand filter  10  that is commonly used in conjunction with a water system. Sand filter  10  is used in systems where humans come into contact therewith such as in spa or pool systems. A dispenser apparatus  30  is cantileverly mounted to housing  17  of sand filter  10 . Generally, sand filters  10  are used to remove debris from a water system and comprise a container  17  having a base  18  for placement of the unit on a support structure. Located on top of sand filter  10  is a water inlet  11  and a water outlet  12  that connect to the water system. Typically, the sand filter  10  contains a bed of sand  14  in the bottom thereof with the sand positioned so that water flowing in the inlet  11  must flow through water outlet  12  before being discharged from the sand filter which removes debris and the like in the water. 
     In operation of the water system using sand filter  10 , water  9  flows in inlet  11  as indicated by arrows and downward through a dispersal chamber  21  and into upper portion of chamber  13  which contains water  9 . The water  9  then flows downward through the bed of sand  14  until it reaches the return port  15 . The water enters return port  15  and flows up pipe  19  until it is discharged from outlet  12 . Thus the water entering the sand filter  10  must pass through the bed of sand  14  to remove debris in the water. It is with such an auxiliary component of a water system that one can mount the present invention to provide for continual water treatment. 
     In the present invention the dispenser apparatus  30  is cantileverly mounted in an off-line position in housing  17  of the sand filter  10  with the dispenser apparatus  30  having a cylindrical container  31  that projects inward into the water flowing through the sand filter  10  so that at least a portion of the water comes into contact with the dispenser apparatus  30 . Thus, with the present invention it becomes apparent that as the water continues to circulate through sand filter  10  at least a portion of the water comes into contact with the dispenser apparatus  30  to carry the water treatment composition therein into the water to enable the water treatment composition to purify water within the water system. 
     In order to illustrate the after market installation and operation of dispenser apparatus  30  reference should be made to FIG. 2 which shows a cross sectional front view of a dispenser apparatus  30  cantileverly mounted to the housing  17  of sand filter  10 . A hole  17   a  has been formed in housing  17 . Dispenser apparatus  30  includes a first member  35  and a second member  35   b  for sandwichingly securing dispenser apparatus  30  to housing  17  through hole  17   a.  A first annular seal  37  extends on one side of housing  17  and a second annular seal extends on the opposite side of housing  17 . Member  35  threadingly engages a member  35   b  which is located on inside of housing  17  to permit one to squeeze seals  37  and  38  around housing  17  to provide a water tight seal between housing  17  and dispenser apparatus  30 . 
     Dispenser apparatus  30  includes a removable cap  32  having threads  32   a  that enables cap  32  to threadingly engage threads  35   a  on member  35  for removal of cap from member  35 . A sealing ring  34  fits between cap  32  and member  35  to provide a water tight seal between cap  32  and member  35 . 
     Connected to member  35  is an annular container  31  that extends in cantilever fashion into chamber  13  (shown in FIG.  1 ). Container  31  has an outer face  31   a  and an inner face  31   b  spaced therefrom to create an annular chamber  40  therebetween. A suitable first water treatment composition  41  is an ion yielding material selected from one or more of the ion yielding materials that yield ions of silver, copper, zinc or tin in the presence of water. In one example of such a water treatment composition silver chloride is carried by a carrier which is inert or a carrier that can be used to maintain the pH of the waters such as limestone. In this type of composition silver ions are controllable released. Such a water treatment composition is shown and described in my copending application Ser. No. 09/07,114; titled DELIVERY SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MAKING ARTICLE; filed Nov. 6, 2000 and claiming priority of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/177,558 which was filed on Jan. 21, 2000. 
     Annular container  31  includes an upper annular lip  31   e  that enables lip  31   e  to be mounted on an annular ledge  35   d  in member  35  so that the annular container  31  can be supported therein in a cantilever manner that also allows for removal and replacement of annular container  31  when the water treatment composition  41  therein is spent. 
     Outer face  31   a  contains a water inlet formed of a plurality of openings  31   c  located in outer face  31   a  for ingress of water there in. Openings  31   c  extend upward a distance denoted by h 1  to provide a region where water can flow into the water treatment composition  41 . Generally, the greater the height h 1  the more water can come into direct contact with the water treatment composition  41 . Similarly, inner face  31   b  includes a plurality of openings  31   d  that extend a distance h 2  to form a water outlet in inner face  31   b  for egress of water therefrom. The water inlet is spaced from the water outlet to provide a radial path through the water treatment composition  41  located in annular chamber  40  thereby causing water therein to come into contact with the water purification composition  41  and assist in dispensing the water treatment composition  41 . Thus with a water treatment composition  41  located in annular chamber  40  it is apparent that the water treatment composition  41  can be dispensed into the chamber  13  by the water flowing thorough annular chamber  40 . 
     In order to provide serial treatment of the water, dispenser apparatus  10  includes a removable cylindrical container  50  containing a second water treatment material. The container  50  is centrally positioned with respect to the inner face  31   b  of annular container  31 . Removable container  50  is spaced sufficiently far from inner face  31   b  so that when cap  32  is removed the inner container  50  can be grasped by handle  51  and lifted therefrom so that removable container  50  can replaced with another removable container containing a fresh batch of water treatment material without having to remove container  31 . 
     FIG. 2 shows that the removable container  50  includes a central cylindrical compartment  51   a  with the container  50  having plurality of openings  50   a  located at the lower portion thereof which extend upward container  50  a distance h 3 . In the embodiment shown the second water treatment material can comprise an oxidizer  55  in tablet form. Suitable oxidizers  50  are chlorine or bromine which can be maintained in solid from and provide effective bacteria kill. 
     A plurality of openings  50   a,  which are located in the removable container  50 , some of which form an inlet for water to flow therethrough and some of which form and outlet for discharge of water therefrom, enable at least some of the water flowing though the annular chamber  41  to flow through both the minerals in chamber  41  and the oxidizer  55  to thereby provide for dual water purification. 
     A feature of the present invention is that the oxidizer taplets  55  in the lower portion of removable container  50  are in contact with the water that flows therethrough while an air pocket  58  in the top of the chamber prevents water from flowing upward to the stacked tablets  55 . That is, the cap  32  forms a water tight seal so that air located within the container  50  remains in container  50  if the dispenser apparatus is mounted in a condition where the central axis  30   a  is in a vertical or near vertical condition with the cap  32  at the topmost position. Consequently, an air pocket is maintained in the top of removable container so that as the lower tablets  55  in the removable container  50  are consumed fresh tablets  55  fall downward from the air pocket in the upper portion of container  50  into the lower portion of container  50  where they come into contact with the water flowing therethrough. Thus the present invention provides for a replenishing and controlled dispensing of oxidizer tablets  55  into the water by maintaining at least some of the tablets  55  out of the water until others are spent. A further feature of the invention is that the dispenser apparatus shown in FIG. 2 can provide for backup water treatment. That is, once the oxidizer  55  is spent, the water treatment composition  41  in the outer container  31  is still available for water treatment. Consequently, the inner removable container  50  can be removed and replenished with fresh oxidizer. Thus the dispenser apparatus  30  enables the use of water treatment compositions which are consumed at different time intervals. For example, the water treatment composition  41  may take up to six months to consume in a water treatment system whereas the oxidizer  41  may be consumed in only three months. In this scenario the removable container  50  would be supplied with fresh oxidizer after three months thus allowing full use of the water treatment composition in the container  31 . At the end of the six month period both the containers  31  and  50  could be removed and replenished. 
     The present dispenser apparatus  30  is particularly suitable for those systems where one wants to ensure the water remains in a bacteria free state. Typically, the oxidizers such as chlorine or bromine are used to provide an immediate kill of harmful bacteria, while other water treatment compositions such as metal ion yielding materials provide a more controlled and continuous bacteria kill. Consequently, if one of the bacteria killing materials should run out the other is still available to maintain the bacteria killing effectiveness until the other is replaced. Thus the dual bacterial killing systems enhance the safety of the water by helping to ensure that the water is maintained in a bacteria free condition even though one of the water treatment compositions is spent. 
     FIG. 3 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention wherein dispenser apparatus  30  cantileverly holds a cylindrical container  60  therefrom that contains a single water treatment composition  65  therein. In the embodiment shown the cylindrical container  60  contains an outer face  60  having a plurality of openings  61   a  and  61   b  therein at least some of which function as water inlets and some as water outlets so that water flows as indicated by arrow through the water treatment composition  65 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the entire container  60  is removed and replaced with a fresh batch of water treatment composition  65 . With the embodiment of FIG. 3 it is apparent that one can cantileverly mount a water treatment composition in an off-line position within a water system on either an after-market basis or during manufacture of the water system. 
     To provide for dual water purification mode with a cantileverly mounted dispenser apparatus containing only a single water treatment composition a second dispenser apparatus can be mounted in the water system with the second dispenser apparatus containing a second water treatment composition different from the first water treatment composition. FIG. 4 shows, such a dual dispenser apparatus system  70  having a first dispenser apparatus  72  cantileverly mounted on housing  71  and a second dispenser apparatus  73  cantileverly mounted on housing  71 . In this case the dispenser apparatus  72  carries a first container  76  with a first water treatment composition therein and the second dispenser apparatus  73  cantileverly carries a second container which contains a second water treatment composition that is different from the first water treatment composition. In operation water flows through inlet  71   a  and into chamber  75  wherein it can come into contact with the water treatment composition dispensed from containers  76  and  77  before being discharged out through outlet member  71   b.    
     Thus the present invention includes method of providing off-line water treatment to water treatment system comprising forming a hole in a housing  17  of a water system and mounting a container  31  in a cantileverly fashion therefrom. By placing a water treatment composition  41  in the cantileverly mounted container  31  water can come into contact with the water composition  41  to thereby dispense the water treatment composition  41  into the water system. 
     While the present invention is shown and described in relation to an auxiliary water system component such as a sand filter in a water system it is apparent that with knowledge of the operation of the present invention of a dispenser apparatus taught herein one could mount the dispenser apparatus in other housings in other portions of the water system