The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 27, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 11, 1998
John E. Nohren, Jr., Clearwater, FL (US);
Innova Pure Water Inc., Clearwater, FL (US);
Abstract
A ceramic filter assembly is provided for use in a bottle for filtering water exiting the bottle so as to remove substantially all protozoa and bacteria from the water. The assembly includes a self-supporting ceramic filtering material element having a pore size of about 0.55 microns or less (e.g. about 0.45 microns) yet having a large open volume (e.g. between 40-85%, preferably between 51-80%), so that water may pass through it at a rate of 2 milliliters per second or more (e.g. 3-6 milliliters per second) with an initial head pressure of no more than 24 inches of water, so that the water may readily be passed through the filter by inverting and/or squeezing the plastic bottle containing the filter. A second, non-ceramic, filter element (such as a carbon block filter for reducing chlorine) may be mounted within the ceramic filter element, and a positively charged coating may be provided on the external surface of the ceramic filter element capable of attracting and holding negatively charged viruses. Water can be removed from the bottle by attaching the filter assembly to a straw, or the filter assembly may be mounted to a cap having a manual valve.