Patent Publication Number: US-2010122953-A1

Title: Filtering structure for removing dregs from water

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a filtering structure for removing dregs from water, and more particularly, to an electricity-free filtering structure adapted for removing dregs from water by applying a force on an operation unit to drive a blade assembly to rotate, thus forcing the water to flow through a filtering screen, and thereby the dregs contained in the water can be removed. 
     2. The Prior Arts 
     Mopping the floor is a routine job that has to be done everyday. In general, a cloth sheet contained with water can be used to clean the floor. More often, different types of mops are used to mop the floor. However, any cloth sheet or a mop used for cleaning the floor has to be repetitively flushed by water for removing dusts or dirt from the cloth sheet or the mop, and they have to be dewatered to a suitable water content therein for next cleaning. 
     The cloth sheet usually has to be dewatered by wringing with hands or by a centrifugal drier. However, a mop typically includes a mop cloth and a rod. Such a mop cannot be put inside a centrifugal drier for removing the water therefrom. Further, it is also inconvenient and laborious to wring the cloth sheet or the mop cloth. Moreover, when wringing the cloth sheet or the mop cloth with hands to remove the water, one may put his/her hands and/or skin in the risk of being hurt by the dusts, and dirt carried therein. 
     Current mops are often improved mainly for solving the dewatering problem. For example, an improved conventional mop is further equipped with a set of clamping rollers at the rod of the mop. The clamping rollers are adapted for squeezing out the water from the mop cloth. This improvement allows the user not to directly touch the mop cloth with hands. Further, another conventional mop wringer bucket has also been proposed for dewatering mop cloths. The mop wringer bucket employs a roller drum for squeezing and dewatering the mop cloth. 
     Furthermore, Taiwanese patent publication No. M338634 discloses a dewatering apparatus as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the dewatering apparatus is directed to provide a solution to the difficulty of dewatering the foregoing rotary type mop. The dewatering apparatus includes a receptacle body  100 , a rotary unit  200 , a transmission unit  300 , and a driving unit  400 . In operation, a cloth  501  of a rotary type mop  500  is put inside a bucket  201  of the rotary unit  200 . The driving unit  400  drives the transmission unit  300 , and the rotary unit  200 , so as to dewatering the cloth  501  put inside the bucket  201 . 
     Although all of the foregoing conventional mops or mop dewatering apparatus are adapted for dewatering the mop cloth, they have a common disadvantage. They neglected a critical factor of improving the cleaning performance of water or water solution. In other words, they did not provide any facility to remove the residual dregs from the water or water solution which are recycling used. 
     As such, it is an important concern to remove the dregs contained in water or water solution when the water or water solution are repeatedly used for cleaning the mop cloth. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an electricity-free filtering structure for removing dregs from water. The filtering structure is adapted for dewatering a cloth sheet or various kinds of mop cloth. The filtering structure specifically provides a solution to remove the residual dregs from the water or the water solution which are recycling used. 
     For achieving the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a filtering structure for removing dregs from water. The filtering structure includes a receptacle body, a dewatering unit, an operation unit, and a filtering unit. The receptacle body includes a receptacle tub and an assembling space. The receptacle tub is adapted for receiving a water solution. The dewatering unit is assembled in the receptacle tub. The operation unit at least includes an operation member, a base and a transmission mechanism connected with the operation member. The operation member is pivotally coupled to the base, and is allowed to swing like a teeterboard at a pivotal position thereof as a pivotal axis. The filtering unit is assembled in the receptacle tub of the receptacle body. The filtering unit is configured with a water inlet, a water outlet, a filtering screen disposed at the water outlet, and a blade assembly. The blade assembly is driven by the operation unit to drive the water or the water solution received in the receptacle tub of the receptacle body to form a flow through the filtering screen, thus removing the dregs from the water or the water solution. 
     In operation, the user repetitively applies a force upon an operation end of the operation unit to drive a fan shaped gear rack of the operation unit. The fan shaped gear rack of the operation unit then drives an in-line gear disk, an irreversible driving gear disk, and a transmission shaft to maintain the dewatering unit in rotation or in accelerated rotation, so as to dewater the object, such as mop cloth, disposed in the dewatering unit. 
     The present invention provides a filtering structure for removing dregs from water. The filtering structure can be operated without an electricity power. It is operated by repetitively applying a force onto the operation unit, to directly or indirectly drive the blade assembly of the filtering unit to rotate. Therefore, the water or the water solution in the receptacle tub of the receptacle body is then guided to flow through the filtering screen, so as to remove the dregs from the water or the water solution. 
     The present invention provides a filtering structure for removing dregs from water. The filtering structure can be operated by repetitively applying a force onto the operation unit to maintain the dewatering unit in rotation or in accelerated rotation, so as to dewater the object disposed in the dewatering unit. 
     The present invention provides an electricity-free filtering structure which can be fabricated with a low cost and meet with the demands of power saving and environmental protection. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a partial exploded view of a dewatering apparatus disclosed in Taiwanese patent publication No. M338634; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a dewatering apparatus disclosed in Taiwanese patent publication No. M338634; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a detailed exploded view illustrating a dewatering unit and an operation unit of the embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view illustrating the assembly of a filtering unit and the operation unit, indicating the operation of the filtering unit and a flow path of the water or water solution; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view illustrating the assembly of the dewatering unit, the operation unit, and the filtering unit according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention illustrating the operation of the operation unit applied by a force F; and 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a subsequent operation after releasing the applied force F as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 , and  7 , there are shown a perspective view, an exploded view, a detailed exploded view illustrating an operation unit, and a cross-sectional view of a filtering structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     The present invention provides a filtering structure for removing dregs from water. The filtering structure includes a receptacle body  10 , a dewatering unit  20 , an operation unit  30 , and a filtering unit  40 . 
     The receptacle body  10  is substantially configured to a hollow elliptical column shape, and has a receptacle tub  11  and an assembling space  12 . The receptacle tub  11  and the assembling space  12  are partitioned by a water proofing material into two independent spaces. The receptacle tub  11  is adapted for receiving fluid. Typically, the fluid can be water or water solution. The assembling space  12  is defined beneath the receptacle tub  11 . 
     The dewatering unit  20  is a hollow bucket allowing fluid flowing therethrough. The dewatering unit  20  is disposed in the receptacle tub  11 . 
     The operation unit  30  includes an operation member  31 , a base  32 , and a transmission mechanism  33 . The operation member  31  is adapted for providing a driving force. The base  32  is assembled with the operation member  31 . The transmission mechanism  33  transmits the driving force to drive the dewatering unit  20  and the filtering unit  40  in operation. 
     The operation member  31  includes an operation end. The operation end is substantially configured to a treadle shape. The operation member  31  is defined with a pivotal hole  311 , and is pivotally coupled to the base  32  by a pin  312 . The operation member  31  is allowed to swing like a teeterboard relative to the pin  312 . A hook  313  is defined at an inner side end of the operation member  31 , and an elastic member  3131  is mounted between the hooks  313  and the base  32 . The elastic member  3131  provides an elastic recover force to pull down the inner side end of the operation member  31  and maintain the operation end of the operation member  31  at a high position. The operation member  31  includes a hollow fan plate  314  having an inner arc surface defined with an arc gear rack  315 . In this embodiment, the elastic member  3131  is preferred to be a coil spring. 
     The base  32  includes two supporting seats  321 . Each of the two supporting seats  321  is defined with a pivotal hole  3211  corresponding to the pivotal hole  311  of the operation member  31 . The pin  312  is inserted through the pivotal holes  3211  of the supporting seats  321  and the pivotal hole  311  of the operation member  31 , thus pivotally fixing the operation member  31  to the base  32 . In such a way, the operation member  31  is allowed to swing like a teeterboard relative to the pin  312  at the pivotal position. The base  32  is further provided with at least one supporting bracket  322  defined with a shaft hole  3221 . 
     The transmission mechanism  33  includes a gear assembly and a transmission shaft  333 . The gear assembly includes at least one in-line gear disk  331  and an irreversible driving gear disk  332 . The irreversible driving gear disk  332  is further provided with a driving wheel  3321  which is coaxially positioned under the irreversible driving gear disk  332 . The in-line gear disk  331  is pivotally coupled to the shaft hole  3221  of the supporting bracket  322 . The in-line gear disk  331  includes a pinion  3311  (see  FIG. 5 ) meshed with the arc gear rack  315  of the hollow fan plate  314 . A gear disk of the in-line gear disk  331  meshes with the irreversible driving gear disk  332 . In this embodiment, the in-line gear disk  331  perpendicularly meshes with the irreversible driving gear disk  332 . The transmission shaft  333  is assembled to the irreversible driving gear disk  332 . A lower end of the transmission shaft  333  is removably assembled to a bottom surface of the base  32 . An upper end of the transmission shaft  333  passes through a bottom of the receptacle tub  11 , and is further assembled with the dewatering unit  20 . 
     The filtering unit  40  includes a tank  41  and a bottom basin  44 . The tank  41  is a hollow body and assembled in the receptacle tub  11  of the receptacle body  10 . The bottom basin  44  is assembled under the tank  41  and coupled to the tank  41 . The tank  41  has an opening at a top thereof. The tank  41  includes a filtering screen  43  disposed at a side facing to the bottom basin  44 . A water inlet  42  is defined at another side of the tank  41 , not at the side of the filtering screen  43 . The filtering screen  43  also serves as a water outlet of the water or water solution in the tank  41 . The bottom basin  44  is provided with a blade assembly  45  therein. The blade assembly  45  includes a shaft  451  pivotally assembled to the bottom basin  44 . A lower end of the shaft  451  extends out from a bottom of the bottom basin  44  and is mounted with a driven wheel  452 . The driven wheel  452  is connected to the driving wheel  3321  of the irreversible driving gear disk  332  of the operation unit  30  via a transmission belt  453 , as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     In this embodiment, the filtering screen  43  is fixed to the filtering unit  40 . Of course, in other embodiment, the filtering screen  43  can also be detachably assembled to the filtering unit  40 . When the filtering screen  43  collects with dregs and/or dirt, it can be detached and cleansed, and then reassembled for next use, or even directly changed with a new one. 
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of the present invention.  FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention illustrating the operation of the operation unit  30  applied by a force F.  FIG. 10  illustrates a subsequent operation after releasing the applied force F as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     In operation, at first, the receptacle tub  11  of the receptacle body  10  is filled with water or water solution. The mop cloth is cleansed in the receptacle tub  11 . The dregs, dirt or dusts are dispersed into the water or the water solution. Then the mop cloth is put in the dewatering unit  20 . 
     When no force is applied on the operation end of the operation member  31 , the inner side end of the operation member  31  is pulled down by the elastic member  3131 , and therefore the operation end of the operation member  31  maintains at a high position, as shown in  FIG. 8 . When the user applies a force F downwardly on the operation member  31 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , the operation end of the operation member  31  pivotally swings relative to the pin  312  and down to a low position. Meanwhile, the gear rack  315  of the operation member  31  swings upwardly to drive the pinion  3311  (see  FIG. 5 ) and the in-line gear disk  331  to synchronously rotate in counterclockwise direction. The in-line gear disk  331  drives the irreversible driving gear disk  332 , the transmission shaft  333  and the dewatering unit  20  to rotate in clockwise direction. The driving wheel  3321  of the irreversible driving gear disk  332  drives the transmission belt  453  to drive the driven wheel  452  and the blade assembly  45  to synchronously rotate in clockwise direction. The blade assembly  45  rotates thus to carry the water or the water solution in the bottom basin  44  to form a vortex. The vortex produces a relative low hydraulic pressure, thus drawing the water or the water solution in the tank  41  to flow through the filtering screen (water outlet)  43 . Further, referring to  FIG. 6 , the hydraulic pressure in the tank  41  decreases, so that the water or the water solution in the receptacle tub  11  flows into the tank  41  via the water inlet  42  and then flows through the filtering screen  43  to form a water flow. When the water or the water solution flows through the filtering screen  43 , the dregs contained therein will be filtered and removed. In such a way, the dregs can be removed from the water or the water solution to achieve the purpose of purifying the water or the water solution. Meanwhile, the operation end of the operation member  31  moves downwardly, whereas the hook  313  moves upwardly. Accordingly the elastic member  3131  is stretched out to accumulate an elastic recovery force. When the force F applied on the operation member  31  is released, the operation end of the operation member  31  swings to the high position under the action of the elastic recovery force on the inner side end of the operation member  31 , as shown in  FIG. 10 . While the operation end of the operation member  31  swings upwardly, the gear rack  315  swings downwardly to drive the pinion  3311  together with the in-line gear disk  331  to synchronously rotate in clockwise direction. Meanwhile, the pinion  3311  together with the in-line gear disk  331  drive the irreversible driving gear disk  332  to rotate in counterclockwise direction. However, the irreversible driving gear disk  332  can only drive the transmission shaft  333  to rotate toward one fixed direction, e.g., clockwise direction in this embodiment, and therefore, the transmission shaft  333  and the dewatering unit  20  remains to be rotating in clockwise direction. 
     The user can alternatively and repetitively apply and release a force F on the operation end of the operation member  31  of the present invention, so that the arc gear rack  315  of the operation unit  30  drives the in-line gear disk  331 , the irreversible driving gear disk  332 , the transmission shaft  333 , and the driving wheel  3321 , and thus drive the dewatering unit  20  and the blade assembly  45  to be kept in rotation or accelerated rotation in clockwise direction. In such a way, the mop cloth contained with the water can be dewatered in the dewatering unit  20 , and the dregs can be removed from the water or the water solution by the filtering unit  40 . 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.