Water suction and discharging apparatus

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a water suction and discharging apparatus. The present invention adopts a high-speed vacuum pump which produces a suction force to suck in the water in a water accumulative zone to enter into a container. The water is subsequently drain off to places elsewhere by means of a unidirectional check valve provided at the lateral of the container bottom, or a submerged pump provided in the container. The present invention is particularly useful in places where the area is extensive, and the water level is low; since in such places, the conventional dry/wet vacuum cleaner or submerged pump may not function.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a water suction and discharging apparatus comprising a high-speed vacuum pump provided at the upper portion of the apparatus, a water container provided at the lower portion thereof, and a unidirectional check valve provided at the lower edge of the bottom of said container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] A dry/wet vacuum cleaner is a common cleaning installation, and is composed of a high-speed vacuum pump located at the top, a water storage container at the bottom, and a water suction hose at the side, as shown in FIG. 1. However, in operation, when the water stored in the container accumulates to a certain amount, the vacuum cleaner has to be dismounted to separate the vacuum pump, container and water suction hose from each other. The container has to be removed to dispose the water therein to places elsewhere. After the water has been disposed of, the vacuum pump, container and water suction hose must be reassembled for further use. Therefore, such dry/wet vacuum cleaner is inconvenient to use, low efficient, and time consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which may overcome the aforementioned problems, and is convenient to use, labor saving and time consuming.

[0004] The present invention adopts a high-speed vacuum pump which produces a suction force to suck in the water in a water accumulative zone to enter into a container. The water is subsequently drain off to places elsewhere by means of a unidirectional check valve provided at the lateral of the container bottom, or a submerged pump provided in the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments, in which:

[0006] FIG. 1 shows a conventional dry/wet vacuum cleaner.

[0007] FIG. 2 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] FIG. 3 shows a unidirectional check valve in its closed configuration.

[0009] FIG. 4 shows a unidirectional check valve in its open configuration.

[0010] FIG. 5 is side view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating the arrangement of the discharging pipe in a water tower in the mode of first category.

[0012] FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating the arrangement of the discharging pipe in a water tower in the mode of second category.

[0013] FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating the arrangement of the discharging pipe in a water tower in the mode of third category.

[0014] FIG. 9 is side view of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but without applying direct discharging.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] With reference to FIG. 2 which shows the basic construction of the present invention, a high-speed vacuum pump is designated as A, a suction hose as B, a water storage container as C, wheels that are free to rotate 360° as D, a water outlet of a unidirectional check valve as E, a unidirectional check valve as EA, air outlet as F, a water suction mouth as G, and a water discharge hose as H.

[0017] When the high-speed vacuum pump A is actuated, the air within the water storage container C will be discharged from the air outlet F instantaneously. Since there exist a pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the water storage container C, the unidirectional check valve EA located at the water outlet E is forcefully attracted and closed (see FIG. 3). If the water suction mouth G of the suction hose B is now moved to the water accumulative zone, the water in the accumulative zone will be sucked into the water storage container C through the water suction mouth G and suction hose B. When the water level in the container C rises to a certain level, the vacuum pump A will cease operation. At this instant, the pressure within the container C nearly equals to the external pressure, and the check valve EA is pushed outwards from the inside to open (as shown in FIG. 4) upon the action of the weight of the water within the container C. The water in the container C will then be discharged to places elsewhere through the water outlet E and discharge hose H. As the water level in the container C drops to a certain level, the check valve EA is closed since it is not under the action of the water weight. The vacuum pump A is restarted to repeat the aforementioned process, and thus the water in the accumulative zone can be removed easily.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 5, a water level controller J can be attached to control the vacuum pump A automatically. As the water level in the container C drops to a certain level, the water level controller J will be activated (switch from ON to OFF) to cease the operation of the vacuum pump A. The check valve EA is pushed open as it is acted upon by the weight of the water in the container C. Water will then be discharged through the discharge hose H. As the water level in the container C drops to a certain level, the water level controller J will be activated (switch from OFF to ON) to actuate the vacuum pump A. Due to the pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the container C, the unidirectional check valve EA is forcefully attracted and closed. The water in the accumulative zone is sucked by the suction mouth G to enter into the water storage container C through the suction hose B, which is then discharged through the discharge hose H. The suction and discharging of water proceed automatically, and is thus simple and convenient in operation. The present invention obviates the need to dismount and reassembly as the conventional apparatus (FIG. 1) does. Therefore, the present invention does provide improved effects over existing ones.

[0019] In general, water towers for storing water are installed in the basements or on the rooftops of the buildings. The water towers normally need to be cleaned periodically to ensure that the water quality is maintained at a certain hygienic level.

[0020] After the water towers have been cleaned, the dirty water from the water towers must be drained out, either manually or by means of submerged pumps, or by the discharge pipes of the water towers. The arrangement of the discharge pipes can be classified into three categories according to the direction of the water outlets. In the first category (refer to FIG. 6), the discharge pipe is arranged horizontally, and the lowest point of the pipe is at a level higher than the bottom of the water tower. Normally, the height is less than 20 cm. In the second category (refer to FIG. 7), the discharge pipe is arranged horizontally, and the lowest point of the pipe is at the same height as the bottom of the water tower. In the third category (refer to FIG. 8), the discharge pipe is arranged vertically.

[0021] After the walls of a water tower have been cleaned, and the dirty water in the water tower is to be drained out, in the case where the discharge pipe is arranged in the same manner as in the first category, the operator has to place the submerged pump underwater to drain off the dirty water. However, there is a limitation in the use of a submerged pump. That is, the water level cannot be too low; otherwise the submerged pump cannot function. Normally, when the water level is below 3 to 5 cm (dependent on the types of the submerged pumps), the submerged pump will not function. In this case, the operator has to remove the dirty water manually by lifting barrels of dirty water to dispose of. Alternatively, the operator may place a submerged pump in a barrel, and fills the barrel with dirty water manually until the water level reaches a certain level to actuate the submerged pump to drain off the water. When the water level in the barrel is too low, the submerged pump is stopped, and the barrel is again filled with dirty water manually. Therefore, such a process is time-consuming and high in labor cost.

[0022] In the case where the discharge pipe is arranged in the same manner as in the second and third categories, though the water accumulated in the water tower is not as much as that of the first category, water will still accumulate in some areas if the water drainage is poor as a result of inferior construction. This will be a nuisance to the operators performing the cleaning process.

[0023] FIG. 9 illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention which may overcome the aforementioned problems. The water suction manner in the embodiment of FIG. 9 is similar to that of FIG. 5. The only difference between FIGS. 9 and 5 is that, in FIG. 9, a submerged pump M supported by a support frame N is mounted below a high-speed vacuum pump A received within a water storage container C. Such a design not only can discharge the water quickly, but also is power-saving. The submerged pump M is arranged in such a way that it may either drain the water directly or indirectly.

[0024] As the water level in the water tower is high enough to actuate the submerged pump M to function, direct discharging is performed by dismounting the container C and placing the present apparatus in the water.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 10, only the submerged pump M is used to directly drain off the dirty water. Since the high-speed vacuum pump A is not used, power is saved and the life span of the high-speed vacuum pump A is lengthened.

[0026] If under the condition that the water level in the water tower is at a low level that the submerged pump M cannot function to discharge the water, the container C is reassembled, and indirect discharging is applied. The high-speed vacuum pump A is actuated to suck in the water which cannot be drained off by the high-speed vacuum pump A. The water is stored in the container C. Furthermore, the dirty water is drained out of the water tower swiftly by means of the combination of a water level controller J and submerged pump M. Generally speaking, only when the discharging tube of the water tower is arranged in the mode of first category (see FIG. 6), will the submerged pump apply direct and indirect discharging in combination. If the discharging tube is disposed in the mode of second and third categories, only indirect discharging is applied. The present invention can improve the efficiency, saving time and labor.

Claims

1. A water suction and discharging apparatus comprising a high-speed vacuum pump, a water level controller, a submerged pump, a unidirectional check valve, and a water storage container, and a water outlet for said check valve is provided at the upper portion of said apparatus, said vacuum pump located at the upper portion of said apparatus produces a suction force to suck in the water through a suction hose, and transfer the water into said container located below, said water level controller, said submerged pump located within said container, and said check valve constitute a discharging apparatus capable of discharging the water in said container to places elsewhere.