GB2367506A

GB2367506A - Pump inlet strainer

Info

Publication number: GB2367506A
Application number: GB0020778A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roderick Morgan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-08-23
Filing date: 2000-08-23
Publication date: 2002-04-10
Also published as: GB0020778D0

Abstract

The strainer housing comprises an outlet at the top for connection to a tube communicating with the inlet of a pump and a base section having slots or holes which direct the suction of the pump so that dirty water and fish waste is sucked from the bottom of a pond. The housing maybe round, square, triangular or domed shaped, the base maybe a separate section which clips to the housing so that the parts can be separated to allow for easy access and cleaning and the base may also have a raised centre for providing water clearance. The strainer maybe made from GRP, resin, plastics or a combination of these materials. The housing may container a foam or other material pre-filter.

Description

A bottom pump-inlet for ponds The invention refers to a dome drain which connects to the inlet of a pump via a flexible hose and sucks up dirt, debris & fish wastes from the bottom of a Koi (or other ornamental fish) pond.

Bottom drains are the established"best"method of keeping fish ponds clean and removing fish wastes and harmful bacteria and polluants. they work by sucking dirt from the bottom of the pond downwards and away into the filters. They suffer from several disadvantages as follows A, they must be fitted at the excavation stage prior to, and below the level of the pond with filter tanks also excavated to the same depth.

B, along with the extra work involved and associated pipework are very expensive to install.

C, they can not be fitted to existing ponds without costly modifications.

The invention enables this superior method of waste removal to be utilised in any pond, removing a lot of cost when building from new, and also to be simply added to existing ponds by placing one or more at the bottom of the pond and connecting to existing pumps which can be either internal or surface pumps via a flexible hose or semi/rigid pipework. although it is possible to make this invention from numerous materials Preferably the invention will be made from rigid plastic with a removable base or centre section of the base, to enable the use of an optional foam insert to act as a pre-filter for pumps which are not solids handling and which require this pre-filter. the invention can basically be of any shape, but the preferred shape is saucer or dome shaped. the reasons for this are that, A, this shape is the most dynamic for smooth flow of water.

B, this shape provides no sharp edges for fish to injure themselves.

C, this is the most aesthetic looking shape.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which, Figure 1 is a side view of the invention.

Figure 2 is a view of the underneath. Figure 3 is an example of how the invention could be utilised. As shown in figure 1 the invention comprises a dome shaped top section which has a threaded, tapered pipe connection fitted to the top to allow different sizes of flexible hose to be connected. This could cater for most size pipes up to and including 2"welded pipes.

Below this the bottom is flat but with a small centre section stepping down to form a base on which the unit sits, thus allowing free passage all around the remainder of the bottom which is perforated to allow water and debris to be sucked up through the unit by the action of the pump and into the filter systems.

Figure 2 shows the bottom of the unit showing the centre solid section which could be weighted, and removable, to allow the foam optional pre filter to be fitted and removed, this view also shows the rest of this bottom section with multiple slits or holes whichever may be more practicable and decided on manufacture.

Figure 3 shows a schematic example of the invention as a working unit.

As shown the unit is sucking up the debris from the pond bottom, through the pipe to the pump, (in this case a submerged pump), and then out of the pond and away to the filter boxes before being returned to the pond as clean water.

Claims

1. A bottom pump inlet which can be connected to virtually any pump which will direct that pumps suction from the bottom of the pond to remove fish waste and dirty water.

2. A bottom pump inlet as claimed in claim 1 which is in seperate sections which seperate for easy cleaning.

3. A bottom pump inlet as claimed in claim 1 which may contain a foam or or other type of prefilter.

4. A bottom pump inlet as claimed in claim 1 which is made from grp resin or plastic or a combination of these materials.

5. A bottom pump inlet as claimed in claim 1 which can have holes or slots in its base section.

6. A bottom pump inlet as claimed in claim 1 which can be square round triangular or dome shaped.

7. A bottom pump inlet substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.