Warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead

• US 20150375147A1
• Filed: 06/24/2015
• Published: 12/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chao Fou Hsu, Ying Lin Cai
• Original Assignee: Chao Fou Hsu, Ying Lin Cai
• Inventors: CAI, Ying Lin, HSU, Chao Fou
• Granted Patent: US 9,505,634 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 1/003 using household-type filters for producing potable water, e.g. pitchers, bottles, faucet mounted devices C02F9/20 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2201/006 Cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2209/445 Filter life
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2307/06 Mounted on or being part of a faucet, shower handle or showerhead

Abstract

The present invention provides a “warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead”, which comprises a showerhead stem, an impeller mount, an impeller, a signal circuit device and a transparent lid. The showerhead stem includes an upper adapting section, a lower adapting section, and a mounting cavity for containing parts of impeller and signal circuit device. With upper adapting section and lower adapting section, the warning device can be easily sandwiched between showerhead and filter cylinder of conventional “handheld showerhead with built-in filter”. Other than inherent measuring display for quantity of shower water and alerting function for timely replacing filter cartridge, the warning device also solves all issues of “top-heavy awkwardness”, “quickened aging fatigue” and “redundant purchase waste”, which happened in the prior arts of “handheld showerhead with filter replacing pre-alarm device” or “handheld showerhead with filter replacing pre-display device” and conventional “handheld showerhead with built-in filter”.

Claims

1. A “

warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead”

comprises a showerhead stem, an impeller mount, an impeller, a signal circuit device and a transparent lid in addition to conventional handheld showerhead containing a detachable filter cartridge cylinder, wherein said showerhead stem, which is an integral plastic hollow casing body with a front side, a back side, a top side a bottom side and two flanks by unitary piece extrusion mold, includes a mounting cavity, an upper adapting section, a lower adapting section, a water channel, an impeller well and a recharging receptacle, wherein the mounting cavity is inwardly created in the front side, the upper adapting section is inwardly created in the top side, the lower adapting section is outwardly created on the bottom side, the water channel is internally created between the upper adapting section in the top side and the lower adapting section on the bottom side, the impeller well is inwardly created at the intersection of the bottom side and the water channel, and the recharging receptacle is inwardly created in one flank;

said impeller mount, which is a slab with a front side and a bottom side for being inserted into the impeller well of the showerhead stem, includes a rotation axle disposed on the front side, and a water directing lump disposed on the front side near the bottom side such that the width of the water directing lump is less than the width of the front side so that the a water directing channel is created between the water directing lump and water channel after the impeller mount having inserted into the impeller well of the showerhead stem;

said impeller, which is windmill-shaped wheel with multiple radial vanes, includes a magnetic element disposed on one vane and a central axial bushing run through for coupling with corresponding rotation axle on the front side of the impeller mount to let the impeller rotate freely;

said signal circuit device, which is contained in the mounting cavity of the showerhead stem, includes a microprocessor, a LCD display circuit electrically connected to the microprocessor, a rechargeable battery electrically connected to the microprocessor, and a magnetic reed switch securely inset on the internal bottom side of the mounting cavity in the showerhead stem such that the rechargeable battery is electrically connected with the recharging receptacle of the showerhead stem via a pair of electric wires; and

said transparent lid is made of plastic material via high frequency fusion method to hermetically watertight cover the mounting cavity in the showerhead stem.

2. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper adapting section in the top side of the showerhead stem is a tubular threaded female fitting of cylindrical cavity.

3. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower adapting section on the bottom side of the showerhead stem is a tubular threaded male fitting of cylindrical protrusion.

4. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper adapting section of the top side in the showerhead stem is adapted into a round recess socket with an inverted L-shaped latching jut.

5. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recharging receptacle inwardly created in one flank in the showerhead stem is further disposed a plastic waterproof cover.

6. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rechargeable battery in the signal circuit device is either nickel-chromium battery or nickel battery or lithium battery.

7. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a hand-held showerhead as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnetic reed switch in the signal circuit device is replaced by Hall-effect component.

8. A warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead comprises a showerhead stem, an impeller mount, an impeller, a signal circuit device and a transparent cover in addition to modified conventional handheld showerhead containing a detachable filter cartridge cylinder, wherein said showerhead stem, which is an integral plastic hollow casing body with a front side, a back side, a top side, a bottom side and two flanks by unitary piece extrusion mold, includes a mounting cavity, a tubular threaded male fitting, a round recess socket, an inverted L-shaped latching jut, a circular flange, a water channel, an impeller well and a recharging receptacle, wherein the mounting cavity inwardly created in the front side such that the tubular threaded male fitting is outwardly created on the bottom side, the round recess socket and inverted L-shaped latching jut are inwardly created in the top side, the circular flange with peripheral rim male threads is outwardly formed at the mounting cavity, the water channel is internally created between the round recess socket in the top side and the tubular threaded male fitting on the bottom side, the impeller well is inwardly created at the intersection of the bottom side and the water channel such that it is communicable between the water channel and impeller well, and the recharging receptacle is inwardly created in the top side in a position near the round recess socket;

said impeller mount, which is a slab with a front side and a bottom side for being inserted into the impeller well of the showerhead stem, includes a vertical rotation axle disposed on the front side, and a water directing lump disposed on the front side near the bottom side such that the width of the water directing lump is less than the width of the front side so that the a water directing channel is created between the water directing lump and water channel after the impeller mount having inserted into the impeller well of the showerhead stem;

said impeller, which is windmill-shaped wheel with multiple radial vanes, includes a magnetic element disposed on one vane and a central axial bushing run through for coupling with corresponding rotation axle on the front side of the impeller mount to let the impeller rotate freely;

said signal circuit device, which is contained in the mounting cavity of the showerhead stem, includes a microprocessor, a LCD display circuit electrically connected to the microprocessor, a rechargeable battery electrically connected to the microprocessor, and a magnetic reed switch securely inset on the internal bottom side of the mounting cavity in the showerhead stem such that the rechargeable battery is electrically connected with the recharging receptacle of the showerhead stem via a pair of electric wires; and

said transparent cover, which is made of plastic material into planar disk, includes a protrusion with hoop female threads formed at the backside thereof and a rubber sealing ring, which sleeves over the hoop female threads.

9. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 8, wherein the upper adapting section of the top side in the showerhead stem is adapted into a tubular threaded female fitting.

10. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 8, wherein the rechargeable battery in the signal circuit device is either nickel-chromium battery or nickel battery or lithium battery.

11. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 8, wherein the magnetic reed switch in the signal circuit device is replaced by Hall-effect component.

12. A warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld shower head comprises a showerhead stem, a transparent lid, a cover of a battery receptacle, a water flux measuring unit, a impeller shaft, a signal circuit device, and a button-shaped battery in addition to conventional handheld showerhead containing a showerhead with a detachable filter cartridge cylinder aforesaid, wherein said showerhead stem, which is an integral plastic hollow casing body by unitary piece extrusion mold, includes a front side, a back side, a top side, an upper adapting section with a tubular threaded female fitting, a bottom side, a lower adapting section with a tubular threaded male fitting, and two flanks, a mounting cavity, a water channel communicably connecting with a cavity for a water flux measuring unit, as well as a battery cavity mount with two opposed latching juts and a resilient piece for the button-shaped battery, wherein the mounting cavity is inwardly created in the front side, the tubular threaded female fitting is inwardly created on the top side while the tubular threaded male fitting is outwardly created on the bottom side, the water channel and cavity are internally and communicably created between the upper adapting section and the lower adapting section, as well as the battery cavity mount is inwardly created in the front side;

said transparent lid is made of plastic material via high frequency fusion method to hermetically watertight cover the mounting cavity in the showerhead stem;

said cover of a battery receptacle, which is bunged into the cavity mount of the showerhead stem, includes a handling groove disposed in the top thereof, a battery receptacle disposed in the bottom thereof and two opposed L-shaped latching fillisters mating with the two opposed latching juts in the battery cavity mount;

said water flux measuring unit, which is to be plugged into the cavity in the showerhead stem, is a stacked body of two-section configuration having an upper section containing an upper hollow column with a water channel and a flanked hollow pillar with a tubular hollow as well as a lower section containing a base hollow column with a sealing ring inlaid the circumference thereof such that the outer diameter of the base hollow column is bigger than that of the upper hollow column, wherein the water channel includes a plurality of blocking vanes radially disposed in the upper portion thereof such that each blocking vane embraces a heaped body of an upper baffle and a lower docking notch;

said impeller shaft, which is inserted into the water channel in the water flux measuring unit, includes a bottom central bushing, an upper axial docking jut, a plurality of circumferential spiral vanes and a bottom round gapped receptacle encompassed by the bottom ends of the spiral vanes, as well as an inducting magnet and a supporter in axial flow mode, wherein the inducting magnet, which is placed in the round gapped receptacle of the impeller shaft 900, includes a central bushing run through such that the diameter of the central bushing is the same as and in alignment with that of the central bushing in the impeller shaft;

the supporter, which is to couple the impeller shaft via the inducting magnet, includes a cylindrical mount, a metallic supporting shaft, a supporting tripod with three radial ribs and a supporting base such that the supporting base is configured under the radial ribs of the supporting tripod;

said signal circuit device, which is accommodated in the lower adapting section of the showerhead stem, includes a microprocessor and a LCD display circuit, as well as a magnetic reed switch in the tubular hollow of the flanked hollow pillar for the water flux measuring unit, wherein the microprocessor is connected to the resilient piece in the battery cavity mount of the showerhead stem and the magnetic reed switch in the tubular hollow of the flanked hollow pillar for the water flux measuring unit via electric wires respectively; and

said button-shaped battery is embedded in the cover of the battery receptacle, and functions for supplying power to the signal circuit device.

13. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 12, wherein the button-shaped battery is either nickel-chromium battery or nickel battery or lithium battery.

14. The warning device dedicated for replacing aged-filter in a handheld showerhead as claimed in claim 12, wherein the magnetic reed switch in the signal circuit device is replaced by Hall-effect component.