Filters for Appliances
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsGregory Sergeevich Chernov, Andrew Reinhard Krause
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A filter for a non-plumbed appliance is provided. The filter includes a filter housing defining a filter chamber. A filter medium is positioned within the filter chamber, each end of the filter medium being enclosed by an endcap formed from a resilient material, such as molded silicone or a thermoplastic elastomer. The endcaps slide on the ends of the filter media with no need for adhesive and form a fluid seal with both the filter media and the filter housing once installed. One or more fluid bypass channels may be defined by the filter housing or in the endcaps to allow water to flow as desired within the filter chamber. The resulting filter requires fewer components and less assembly time while improving filtration performance and reliability.
Claims20
A non-plumbed appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the non-plumbed appliance comprising:
- a water tank defining a storage volume;
- a pump in fluid communication with the storage volume for actively flowing water from the water tank;
- and
- a filter disposed within the storage volume such that water is flowable from the storage volume through the filter to the pump, the filter comprising:
- a filter housing comprising a sidewall extending along a longitudinal axis between a first end wall and a second end wall, the filter housing defining a filter chamber;
- a filter inlet;
- a filter outlet positioned proximate the second end wall of the filter housing;
- a filter medium positioned within the filter chamber, the filter medium defining a first end, a second end separated from the first end along the longitudinal axis, and an interior passage, the filter medium being operable to remove contaminants from water flowing through the filter medium;
- a first end cap positioned at the first end of filter medium and forming a fluid seal with the filter medium and the filter housing;
- and
- a second end cap positioned at the second end of filter medium and forming a fluid seal with the filter medium and the filter housing.
A filter comprising:
- a filter housing comprising a sidewall extending along a longitudinal axis between a first end wall and a second end wall, the filter housing defining a filter chamber;
- a filter inlet;
- a filter outlet positioned proximate the second end wall of the filter housing;
- a filter medium positioned within the filter chamber, the filter medium defining a first end, a second end separated from the first end along the longitudinal axis, and an interior passage, the filter medium being operable to remove contaminants from water flowing through the filter medium;
- a first end cap positioned at the first end of filter medium and forming a fluid seal with the filter medium and the filter housing;
- a second end cap positioned at the second end of filter medium and forming a fluid seal with the filter medium and the filter housing to prevent the flow of water from the filter chamber to the filter outlet;
- and
- a bypass channel defined by the sidewall proximate the second end cap, the bypass channel enabling water to flow from the filter chamber around the second end cap to the filter outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.