FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to rain water harvesting and its re-use as safe drinking water. More specifically the present invention is directed towards a rain water harvesting and filtering umbrella for safe drinking water.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
During rainy season and floods there is a scarcity of drinking water. Water can be seen all around but it is contaminated and is thus not safe for drinking. Many diseases break out in the rainy season when people out of water scarcity and thirst, try to drink this un- pure water.
Collecting such water and further sending it to purifier unit may not be possible practically. 10 Therefore a need is felt to collect the rain water or flood water and then purify it at the same location to make it drinkable.
Usually, whenever such natural phenomenon happens, umbrellas are available almost everywhere and are the most used commodity. If by some means and modifications, umbrellas are made to store and purify rain water, it would be very helpful for the mankind. The water can 15 also be conserved and can also be re-used for drinking purpose.
There are many such umbrellas available in patent databases which are modified and can be used to collect filter and store the rail water safely for drinking.
Problems in existing inventions
The existing inventions have various mechanisms for collecting rain water in various 20 mechanisms but all these are not conducive for normal use. The available umbrellas are either bulky and are difficult to hold when rain water gets collected in the umbrella or they cannot collect much of the water and most of the water goes waste. Most of them are used for only collecting water and no method is disclosed by which they can make the water re-usable and safe for drinking. 25
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Innovative approach proposed by the inventors
The inventors after careful study of the existing umbrellas which may be used for rain water harvesting, have designed a normal umbrella but with improved dynamic stability and innovation in holding rod to collect, filter and store rain water for re-use.
A search of patent databases reveal the following patents. A comparison table is provided below 5 for better understanding of the present invention.
PRIOR ART PATENTS AND THEIR DRAWBACKS S.No. Patent No. Description Improvement in current patent 1. CN202476663 U An umbrella with a cup at the top to collect rain water. The said patent describes an umbrella which comprises only a cup at the top to collect rain water. Most of the water falling on the umbrella goes waste and only a small amount of water can be collected and re used for drinking purposes. In comparison, the present invention discloses an umbrella in which whole surface of the umbrella collects water, and it is filtered into safe drinking water. Very minimal wastage is found. 2. CN202385908 U An Umbrella with a large cup on top to collect rain water. The said patent also describes an umbrella which comprises only a cup at the top to collect rain water. This cup is of a larger size and has a unique
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shape but in this application also, most of the water falling on the umbrella goes waste and only a small amount of water can be collected and re used for drinking purposes. In comparison, the present invention discloses an umbrella in which whole surface of the umbrella collects water, and it is filtered into safe drinking water. Very minimal wastage is found. 3. CN201422509 Y An Umbrella with outer edges curled up and two bags are provided at symmetrical ends to collect water. The said patent also describes an umbrella which has two bags at two ends which can collect rain water. Although most of the rain water can be collected by this umbrella but it is not drinkable water. Mere collection of water cannot solve the problem of making rain water drinkable. In contrast, the present invention discloses an umbrella comprising water filters for filtering the rain water and converting it into safe drinking water. The water is transferred through tubes connected to the umbrella rod to a filter
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mechanism fitted inside the rod and further follows to a bottle/collecting utensil for drinking. 4. CN201929195 U An umbrella with collecting bags connected to the ribs to collect the water falling off it. The said patent also describes an umbrella which has multiple bags at two ends which can collect rain water. Such an umbrella is practically difficult to carry when the bags get full of water. Moreover, it is also a mere water collecting umbrella but no filtering mechanism is disclosed. In comparison, in the present invention water is collected through the curled up material connected at the edge of the umbrella and passed to filters for filtration and can be used for drinking. 5. CN 203105923 U The utility model discloses a water purification umbrella which comprises an umbrella rod, an umbrella cover, a rain receiver, a small stop valve, a water glass and a water purifier. The same is environmental-friendly. The said patent describes a small rain receiver at the top of the umbrella which has a cup like structure wasting a lot of rain water and difficult to hold due to higher center of gravity whereas our utility uses the surface of the umbrella as
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water collecting membrane and a proper balance is maintained. 6. CN 102240092 A The invention relates to a multi-functional umbrella. The multi-functional umbrella comprises an umbrella fabric, a framework and a handle. The multi-functional umbrella is characterized in that: the framework is a hollow shell, the top of the framework is provided with an opening, and the lower end of the opening is connected with a water filtration device. The multi-functional umbrella can collect rainwater through the framework and the rainwater can be filtered by the water filtration device and then can be drunk by people; and a power supply and a light-emitting diode which are arranged on the bottom of the multi-functional umbrella can illuminate the night conveniently. A reflective material coating can realize a safety reminding function. The said patent has a small opening which utilizes a very small portion of falling rain water for filtration and use whereas the present patent application describes a device where more than half the surface of the umbrella is used for collecting water 7. CN 203873149 The utility model relates to an outdoor umbrella which The said patent describes an inverted cone like structure with
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U comprises an umbrella rod and an umbrella cloth arranged on the umbrella rod. When the umbrella cloth is unfolded, the top of the umbrella cloth is provided with a cavity extending downwards, a filter cavity is formed in the umbrella rod, a filter device is arranged in the filter cavity, the lower end of the umbrella rod is provided with a water storage bottle movably connected with the filter cavity, the upper end of the umbrella rod is communicated with the cavity in the umbrella cloth, and a sealing cover is movably connected with the upper end of the umbrella rod. The filter device is formed by alternately stacking at least five fine sand layers and at least five charcoal dust layers in sequence rain collection mechanism which may make the umbrella very unbalanced providing a lot of wind and water resistance whereas the present patent application describes a normal convex surface of the umbrella used as water collecting surface making it aerodynamically superior.
NO RELEVANT PATENT WAS FOUND IN INDIAN PATENT DATABASE.
Therefore, it can be concluded from the above that in spite of all the efforts made, the solutions previously proposed and known in the prior art do not meet all the essential requirements which
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have to be taken into consideration. None of these discloses an umbrella which has a good stability, is easy to hold with filled in rain water and provides a filter mechanism.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to disclose an improved yet low cost, aesthetically appealing umbrella usable for rain water harvesting. 5
Yet another object of the present invention is to disclose an umbrella which has inbuilt filter mechanism for purifying water and making it fit for drinking.
One more object of the present invention is to disclose an umbrella which is dynamically stable and is easy to hold even if it is filled with rain water for harvesting and purifying.
Another object of the present invention is to disclose an umbrella which has an inbuilt 10 mechanism to store the filtered rain water for later use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention discloses a rain water harvesting umbrella with water purifier and bottle attachment for getting safe drinking water from rain water.
The invention is a normal umbrella but with simple modification as shown in accompanying 15 drawings and figures. The upper surface of umbrella is used to collect rain water and the vanes of the umbrella are used to transport this water to filtering mechanism.
The vanes are made hollow to solve the above purpose.
Water from the hollow vanes enters into the rod of the umbrella which is also made hollow for fitting a sediment filter unit. This unit comprises an activated carbon filter and a silver coated 20 filter for proper filtering of the water.
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Finally the purified water reaches the tip of the handle which has a bottle attachment where a regular water bottle can be attached to collect drinking water. Purified and stored water can be used later on as well for drinking purpose.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Fig 1: Umbrella of the present invention 5
1- Upper surface of umbrella used for collecting rain water
2- The kerf on the umbrella surface for collecting the water and transferring to the vanes
3- Hollow tubular vanes
4, 5 &6 -Three stage micro filtration system 10
7- Water bottle holder
8- End cap (used when not collecting rain water)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
When rain water falls on the umbrella, the complete upper surface of the umbrella gets wet. If 15 not collected, this water falls on the ground and is totally wasted. So a mechanism must be developed to save this water although it is unsafe for drinking. Further, a mechanism must be developed to make this water drinkable. Storing this purified water for later use will be an additional advantage.
Therefore the above three issues are resolved carefully by the inventors. 20
1. Collecting maximum amount of rain water- Inventors analyzed that all the water falling on the umbrella can be collected by simply folding the kerf of the umbrella and providing an outlet for easy and free flow of this stored water for further processing. This is
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achieved with the help of specially designed vanes which are hollow from inside and are inclined thereby making the water freely flowing downwards. The normally available vanes inside the umbrella are inclined as well therefore only modification which needs to be made in the umbrella is to make these vanes hollow. This method is low cost and also can be implemented in existing umbrellas. 5
2. Making the rain water drinkable- To achieve this purpose, the inventors thought of providing a filtering unit on site so that the harvested rain water need not be transported to a filtering unit for purification. To optimize the space within the umbrella, the inventors carefully utilized the space in the rod of the umbrella and fitted water purifier inside it. Rain water from the vanes is directed towards this filtering unit and it reaches 10 there freely. The filtering unit comprises two layers, one of an activated carbon filter and the other of a silver coated filter for proper filtering of the water. Both these layers are sufficient to purify water from bacteria, sand and other contaminants. The water after passing through this unit is suitable and safe enough for drinking purpose.
3. Storing harvested and purified water- The inventors felt the need that the purified water 15 may not necessarily be required to be drunk, so a mechanism for storing this water is also incorporated in the modified umbrella itself. Outlet of water filter is connected to a water bottle which can be removed once it is filled and capped for later use. Another empty bottle can be inserted at the outlet for collecting the purified rain water.
Therefore it is well understood that the inventors have put in considerable effort to 20 develop a modified umbrella of the above kind and it has a huge commercial value. The same is useful for conserving and harvesting water and to save the society from drinking water shortage which is a cause of concern for all today.
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Steps of complete water flow:
- The outer surface of umbrella collects rain water directed by the Cloth (1) and cloth Kerf (2) to the hollow tubular vanes (3);
- Collected water is transferred to the handle fitted with Micro Filtration System (4,5,6) by hollow tubular vanes (3) by gravity whereas uncollected water flows down from the 5 upper surface of umbrella ;
- Micro Filtration System (4, 5, 6) filters the undissolved particulate matter from the collected water, resin filter purifies the water from the dissolved impurities and activated carbon filter (6) cleans the water from the chemical and biological impurities.
- The purified water is collected in water collecting bottle (7) screwed in the handle 10 collects purified water;
- Cap (8) is screwed to prevent any water spillage inside the umbrella when not in use.

WE CLAIM:
1. A rain water harvesting and filtering umbrella for safe drinking water consisting of Rain Water Collecting Cloth(1), cloth Kerf (2), hollow tubular vanes (3) for transferring collected water to the Micro Filtration System (4,5,6) and Water collecting Bottle (7) and an end cap (8) WHEREIN: 5
- Cloth Kerf (2) of the umbrella is folded so that it collects and holds water falling on normal convex surface of the umbrella;
- Hollow tubular Vanes/Spokes (3) of umbrella are connected to hollow tubes and are inclined thereby making the water freely flowing downwards;
- Micro Filtration System (4, 5, 6) is fitted inside the space in the rod of the umbrella; 10
- Stored impure Water from the Cloth Kerf (2) is sent to Micro Filtration System (4,5,6) through hollow tubes connected with vanes /as vanes (3).
- Outlet of Micro Filtration System (4, 5, 6) is connected to a Water collecting Bottle (7) which can be removed once it is filled and capped for later use.
2. The rain water harvesting and filtering umbrella for safe drinking water as claimed in 15 claim 1 WHEREIN for proper filtering of the water, Micro Filtration System (4, 5, 6) comprises three stages, one of a sediment filter (4) and the other of a resin filter (5). which purifies the water from the dissolved impurities and last stage of activated carbon filter (6) to remove any biological and chemical impurity.
3. The rain water harvesting and filtering umbrella for safe drinking water as claimed in 20 claim 1 WHEREIN one end of the hollow tubular vanes (3) opens at the top surface of
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the umbrella about the Cloth Kerf (2) and the other end opens in the handle rod of the umbrella.
4. The rain water harvesting and filtering umbrella for safe drinking water as claimed in claim 1 WHEREIN an end cap (8) is provided to prevent any water leaking when it is not being collected. 5
5. The rain water harvesting and filtering umbrella for safe drinking water as claimed in claim 1 WHEREIN the complete water flow process consists of following steps:
- The outer surface of umbrella collects rain water directed by the Cloth (1) and cloth Kerf (2) to the hollow tubular vanes (3);
- Collected water is transferred to the handle fitted with Micro Filtration System (4,5,6) by 10 hollow tubular vanes (3) by gravity whereas uncollected water flows down from the upper surface of umbrella ;
- Micro Filtration System (4, 5, 6) filters the undissolved particulate matter from the collected water, resin filter purifies the water from the dissolved impurities and activated carbon filter (6) cleans the water from the chemical and biological impurities. 15
- The purified water is collected in water collecting bottle (7) screwed in the handle collects purified water;
- Cap (8) is screwed to prevent any water spillage inside the umbrella when not in use.