Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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POINT OF-USE WATER SOFTENER
Cross references to related applications
This patent application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent
application 60/354,634, Carl
Sutera, Portable point-of use water softener, filed 2/5/2002, and from U.S.
provisional patent
application 60/409,329, having the same inventor and title, and filed
9/9/2002.
Background of the invention
to
1. Field of the invention
The invention relates to water softeners generally and more particularly to
water softeners which
are installed at the point where the soft water is to be used.
2. Description of related art
Water softeners have been used for many years to remove undesirable minerals
from a dwelling's
water supply. Water softeners typically work by running the water through a
bed that contains
granules of an ion exchange resin. As the water passes through the bed, ions
contained in the
resin are exchanged for ions of the minerals that harden the water. In the
most common case, the
ion exchange resin exchanges sodium ions for the undesirable minerals. Of
course, the ion
exchange resin will work only as long as it has ions to exchange. When the
ions are exhausted,
the ion exchange reason must be regenerated by passing a solution through the
bed which causes
the resin to exchange the ions for the undesirable minerals with the ions
originally contained in
the resin. With ion exchange resins that exchange sodium ions for the
undesirable ions, the
regeneration is done by passing a brine solution through the bed of ion
exchange resin.
Most water softeners are point-of entry water softeners. They are located at
the point where a
dwelling's water supply enters the dwelling and soften all of the water
supplied to the dwelling.
As an integral part of the dwelling's water supply, they are typically
installed by plumbers. Once
installed, modern point-of entry water softeners are completely automatic. In
addition to the bed
of ion exchange resin, they include a tank that contains a saturated brine
solution. The brine
CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
solution is used to regenerate the ion exchange resin. Under control of either
a timer or a device
that senses the condition of the softened water, valves are electrically
opened and closed so that
the resin bed is cut off from the water supply, the saturated brine solution
is mixed with water,
and the resulting unsaturated brine solution flows through the ion exchange
resin until the resin
is regenerated. The system then again sets the valves so that the dwelling's
water supply flows
through the resin bed. Such systems typically employ a simple float valve to
ensure that there
is water in the brine tank, so all the person in charge of maintaining the
system need do is make
sure that there is enough salt in the tank to keep the brine solution in the
tank saturated.
Point-of entry water softeners work well for their purposes, but they require
that a person who
wants soft water in his or her dwelling have control over the dwelling's
plumbing. That is easy
enough if the dwelling is a house and the person owns the house, but it is
another matter entirely
when the person merely rents the house or the dwelling is a condominium.
Moreover, because
point-of entry water softeners soften the entire water supply, they tend to be
large and are
integrally connected with the rest of the plumbing system and the dwelling's
electrical system.
As such, they are not portable. Thus, even if a renter or condominium owner
had the necessary
control over the dwelling's plumbing, he or she could not install a point-of
entry water softener
by him or herself or uninstall the water softener and take it along to the
next apartment or
condominium. For the same reasons, a point-of entry water softener cannot be
easily adapted for
use in boats, recreational vehicles, or travel trailers.
Apartment and condominium dwellers have long needed a point-of use water
softener, that is,
one that can be easily installed by the user at the point where the soft water
is used. For
example, soft water is most useful when one is washing one's hair, and point-
of use water
softeners have been designed that provided softened water in a sink or shower
for that purpose.
Examples of such paint-of use water softeners may be found in U.S. patent
6,422,484, Sasaki, et
al, Shower apparatus, claiming priority from a PCT application filed 2/8/99
and issued July 23,
2002, U.S. patent 4,242,201, Stephens, et al., By bass water softener system
and installation,
issued 12130/1980, U.S. patent 3,653,514, Holler, et al., Water softener,
issued 4/4/72, and U.S.
patent 3,016,146, Smith, et al., Portable water treatment device, issued
1/9/62. All of the point-
of use water softeners disclosed in the above applications have problems that
render them
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difficult to use, and the lack of a successful point-of use water softener in
the marketplace
suggests that the art has yet to solve the problems presented by such water
softeners. Among the
problems are the following:
~ combining small size with enough flow to make the water softener useful with
a shower.
~ ease of regenerating the resin.
~ simple operation.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome these problems and
provide a point-of use
water softener that is portable, user-installable, works with a shower, is
easily regenerated, and
simply operated.
Summary of the invention
One aspect of the object of the invention is attained by a user-installable
water softener. The
user-installable water softener includes a water inlet which is connectable by
a user to a source of
water at a location where the user has need of softened water, a regeneratable
water softening
element, a source of a regenerating fluid for regenerating the water softening
element, and a
valve which has a first setting and a second setting.. The first setting
causes the water to pass
through the water softening element and the second setting causes the
regenerating fluid to pass
through the water softening element. Further details of this aspect include a
manually-operated
valve with a single handle which has positions corresponding to the settings
of the valve and a
third setting of the valve which stops the water from flowing through the
water softener. There
are further more than one of the water softening elements and the water
softening elements
operate in parallel. The source of regenerating fluid contains salt and when
the valve is in its
second setting, water passes to the source of the regenerating fluid.
Another aspect of the invention is attained by a water softener that includes
an input for water, a
regeneratable water softening element, a regeneration fluid source that
contains a water-soluble
substance, with the regeneration fluid being produced by passing water over
the substance, and a
valve that in one mode causes the water to pass through the water softening
element and in
another mode causes the water to pass to the regeneration fluid source and the
regenerating fluid
produced thereby to pass through the water softening element. Further details
of this aspect
include that the regenerating fluid passes through the water softening element
in a direction
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which is the reverse of the direction that the water passes through the water
softening element,
that the valve is manually operable, and that the water for the regeneration
source passes through
a flow reducer which reduces the flow to a rate which achieves an optimal
concentration of the
water-soluble substance in the regeneration fluid. Details of the water
softening element include
S a chlorine removal medium, a packed-bed ion exchange resin, and a baffle
through which water
passes from the chlorine removal medium to the packed-bed ion exchange resin.
A further aspect of the invention is the valve. The valve includes a plurality
of pinchable tubes
that may be connected to sources and sinks of fluids and a cam having a handle
and pinching
elements arranged in the cam such that at different positions of the handle,
different ones of the
plurality of pinchable tubes are pinched. Further details of this aspect
include that the plurality
of pinchable tubes lie in a single plane and the cam rotates on an axle which
is parallel to the
plane, that the tubes are reinforced where they are pinched by the pinching
elements, and that the
pinching elements include axles with rollers, a roller contacting a tube of
the plurality when the
tube is pinched by the pinching element.
Yet another aspect of the invention relates to regeneration. Regeneration is
done by providing
water at a constant rate to a brine source which contains one or more salt
tablets, with the
number of salt tablets determining the concentration of the salt in the brine
solution. The salt
tablets as received by the user are packaged in a stack and the user takes the
number of salt
tablets required for the desired concentration from the stack and places them
in the brine source.
Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the arts to
which the invention
pertains upon perusal of the following Detailed Description and drawing,
wherein:
Brief description of the drawing
FIG. 1 is an overview of a water softener that operates according to the
principles of the
invention;
FIG. 2 is an overview of a preferred embodiment of the point-of use water
softener of the
invention;
FIG. 3 shows the valve employed in the preferred embodiment;
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CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
FIG. 4 shows the water softening chamber employed in the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 5 shows the regenerating solution source in a preferred embodiment;
FIG. 6 shows one way of installing the preferred embodiment at the point of
use; and
FIG. 7 is a detail of the manner in which valve 207 is connected to the other
components of
water softener 201.
Reference numbers in the drawing have three or more digits: the two right-hand
digits are
reference numbers in the drawing indicated by the remaining digits. Thus, an
item with the
reference number 203 first appears as item 203 in FIG. 2.
Detailed Description
The following Detailed description will .first provide an overview of the
construction and
operation of a water softener built according to the principles of the
invention and will then
provide a detailed disclosure of a preferred embodiment.
IS
Overview of a water softener according to the invention: FIG. 1
FIG. I shows an overview of a water softener 101 which is constructed
according to the
principles of the invention. The components of water softener 101 are
contained in and
supported by a case 103 which also provides connections 105 to a water source
123 of water at
pressures that are typical in residential water systems, 107 to a soft water
sink 125 for soft water
produced by water softener 101, and an outlet 109 to a drain for the solution
127 used to
regenerate the water softening resin. When water softener 101 is used in a
shower enclosure,
water source 103 is the source of water for the shower head. Connection 107 is
connected to a
hose that is in turn connected to a hand-held shower. Outlet 109 simply drains
into the shower
enclosure's drain. Case 103 may have any useful and/or ornamental form that
serves the purpose
and may be supported or attached in any practical way at the point of use for
the softened water.
For example, when used in the shower enclosure, case 103 may hang from the
pipe the
enclosure's original shower head was attached to.
The chief components of water softener 101 are water softening chamber 117,
which contains a
bed of ion exchange resins, regenerating solution source 121, which is the
source of the
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CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
regenerating solution used to regenerate the ion exchange resins, and valve
119. Water softening
chamber 117 receives water I 11 and outputs softened water 113 and also
receives and outputs
regenerating solution 115. Regenerating solution source 121 receives water 111
and outputs
regenerating solution 115. Valve 119 routes water I 11 to either water
softening chamber I 17 or
regenerating solution source 121, routes softened water 113 to outlet 107, and
routes
regenerating solution 115 from water softening chamber 117 to outlet 109.
Valve 119 thus
controls two modes of operation: a water softening mode and a regeneration
mode.
In the water softening mode, valve 1 19 connects water 111 from source 123 to
water softening
chamber 117 and softened water 113 from water softening chamber 117 to outlet
107. As the
water from source 123 flows through the resin in chamber 117, it is softened.
Softened water 113
then flows via valve 119 to connection 107, and thus ultimately to soft water
sink 125. While it
is doing this, valve 119 also disconnects water 111 from regenerating source
121. Since
regenerating solution 115 must be under pressure to flow from regenerating
source solution 121
to water softening chamber 117, no regenerating solution reaches water
softening chamber 115
in water softening mode.
In the regeneration mode, valve 119 connects water 111 from source 123 to
regenerating solution
source 121 and disconnects water 111 from chamber 117. The regenerating
solution 115
produced when water 111 flows through source 121 goes to water softening
chamber 117.
Regenerating solution 115 flows through water softening chamber 117,
regenerating the resin as
it does so, and passes to valve 119, which connects water softening chamber
117 to outlet 109,
from which regeneration solution 115 reaches the drain. It should be noted
that the regenerating
solution 115 could also flow through water softening chamber 117 in a
direction opposite to the
one shown. The arrangement shown in FICJ. 1 is, however, particularly
advantageous, since the
reverse flow of regenerating solution 115 through water softening chamber 117
also serves to
remove material such as mineral scale which may be clogging water softening
chamber 117.
Advantages of water softener 101 include the following:
~ operation is simple because it is completely controlled by valve 119;
~ regeneration is completely integrated into the operation of water softener 1
O1; and
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CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
~ The regeneration system is pressurized instead of open, which reduces its
size and
complexity and makes it easy to manage.
Overview of a preferred embodiment: FIG. 2
FIG. 2 provides an overview of a preferred embodiment 201 of water softener
101. The same
three components are present, namely water softening chambers 203(a) and (b),
a valve 207 that
controls whether water softener 201 is operating in water softening or
regeneration mode, and a
source 205 for the brine that is used to regenerate the ion exchange resins in
water softening
chambers 203(a) and (b). Each water softening chamber 203 has two ports, 219
and 221. In
water softening mode, port 219 receives water 1 11 and port 221 outputs
softened water 113; in
regeneration mode, port 221 receives brine 115 and port 219 outputs brine that
has passed over
the resin in chamber 203. In the preferred embodiment, valve 207 also has an
"off' mode in
which water 111 is provided neither to water softening chambers 203 nor to
brine source 205.
As may be noted from the above, water softening and regeneration are both done
in water
I S softening chambers 203 in parallel. The parallel operation of the water
softening chambers in
water softening mode makes it possible to achieve a large volume of flow in a
relatively compact
water softener.
Valve 207 controls the flow of water 111, softened water 113, and brine 115 in
the preferred
embodiment by pinching various combinations of four tubes, which appear as
209, 211, 213, and
215 in FIG. 2. This arrangement permits complex flow control in a valve which
is relatively
small, relatively inexpensive, and easy to operate. Further advantages of this
type of valve
include the following:
~ all of the tubes lie in a single plane, giving a low profile;
~ there are no conventional sealing devices such as "O" rings or gaskets;
~ there are no moving parts exposed to the corrosive brine solution;
~ the valve is non-clogging and self cleaning; it offers no discontinuities
where scale can
accumulate and the pinching action keeps the tubes in the valve free of
accumulations of
mineral scale;
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~ when the valve handle is moved from one position to another, a momentary
"all open" state
exists throughout the network of tubing; this in turn creates a pulse or
"water hammer" effect
which shakes loose sediment from surfaces throughout the system; and
~ the complex flow control can be achieved using a single handle with three
positions.
Operation is as follows: when water softener 2()1 is in "off' mode, valve 207
pinches tubes 209
and 215, blocking the flow of water 111 to both water softening chambers 203
and brine source
205. when water softener 201 is in water softening mode, valve 207 pinches
tubes 209 and 213,
but does not pinch tubes 215 and 211. As a result, water 111 flows to water
softening chambers
203 but not to brine source 205. The water enters the chambers at port 219 and
the softened
water leaves at port 221, from whence it goes through tube 211 and outlet 107
to soft water sink
125. When water softener 201 is in regeneration mode, valve 207 pinches tubes
215 and 211 but
does not pinch tubes 209 and 213. As a result, water 111 flows to brine source
205, where it
passes over salt and becomes brine, and from brine source 205 through ports 21
l, across the ion
exchange resin, through ports 219, and via tube 21:3 to outlet 109.
Details of valve 207: Figs. 3, 6, and 7
FIG. 7 presents a detail of the connections 701 between valve 207 and the
other components of
preferred embodiment 201. Beginning with tube 209, this tube connects water
supply 123 to
brine source 205; when it is pinched, brine source 205 is cut off from water
supply 123. Tube
211 connects ports 221(a ,b) to soft water sink 125; when the tube is pinched,
no soft water
flows to soft water sink 125. Tube 21 I is joined above valve 207 by tube 707
from the output of
brine source 205; when tube 211 is pinched and tube 209 is open, water 111
flows into and brine
1 IS out of brine source 205 and from thence via tubes 707 and 211 to ports
221(a,b). Tube 213
connects ports 219(a, b) to brine outlet 109; thus when tubes 209 and 213 are
open and tubes 211
and 215 are pinched, the brine flows from ports 221 (a, b) through chambers
203(a, b), out ports
219(a, b), and through tube 213 to brine outlet 209. 'Tube 213 is joined above
valve 207 by tube
711, which in turn is connected to tube 215. When tubes 211 and 21 S are open
and tubes 209
and 213 are pinched, water 1 I 1 flows through tube 215, through tube 711, and
through tube 213
to ports 219(a,b) and soft water 113 flows from ports 221(a,b) through tube
211 to soft water
sink 125.
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Fig. 3 shows details of the construction of a prefen-ed embodiment of valve
207. Valve 207 has
two chief components: tube bed 306, which holds tubs°s 209-215 so that
they can be pinched, and
cams 301, which are attached by axle 311 to tube bed 306 and can be rotated by
means of handle
319 to pinch various ones of tubes 209-215 As shown at 605, 607, and 609 in
FIG. 6, handle
319 has three positions: off position 605, in which the cams pinch tubes 209
and 215, soft water
output position 607, in which the cams pinch tubes 209 and 213, but do not
pinch 211 and 215,
and regenerating position 609, in which the cams pinch tubes 211 and 215 but
do not pinch tubes
209 and 213.
Continuing with details of tube bed 306 and cams 301, the reinforced tubes 305
in tube bed 306
are double extruded silicone tubes reinforced with reinforcing yarn.
Reinforced tubes 305 are
made by extruding the first layer, placing a mesh of reinforcing yarn over the
first layer, and then
extruding the second layer. Tubing made using this technique combines good
flexibility with a
good pressure rating. Clamps 309 clamp the reinforced tubes to tube bed 306
and also to
connections to the non-reinforced tubing used elsewhere in water softener 201.
Bed sides 303
carry axle 311. With regard to cams 301, the individual cams 314 are all
rigidly connected to
axle 311 and are also joined by axles 317, which carry rollers 315. Two of the
individual cams
314 are rigidly connected to handle 319. Axles 3 l7 are placed in the cams
such that the rollers
315 pinch the tubes as required for each position of handle 319. Axle 311 is
rotatably connected
to tube bed 306. As shown by the locations of the rollers, in "off' position
605, rollers 315(a)
and 315(e) pinch tubes 209 and 215, blocking the flow of water 111 through
water softener 201.
In soft water output position 607, roller 315(b) pinches tube 209 and roller
315(d) pinches tube
213, leaving tubes 211 and 215 unpinched, as required for water softening
mode. In regenerating
position 609, rollers 315(c) and 315(f) pinch tubes 211 and 215, leaving tubes
209 and 214
unpinched, as required for regeneration mode.
Details of water softening chamber 203: FIG. 4
FIG. 4 shows details of water softening chamber 203. Chamber 203 has a port
219 at its top and
a port 221 at its bottom; each of these ports is connected by plastic tubing
to valve 207. In water
softening mode, water 111 flows in at port 219 and soft water flows out at
port 221; in
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CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
regeneration mode, brine flows in at port 221 and out at port 219. Inside,
chamber 203 is divided
into primary chamber 403, which contains media for removing chlorine from the
water being
softened, and secondary chamber 41 l, which contains the ion exchange resin.
The ion exchange
resin is retained in chamber 203 by stainless steel screens 405 and 406. The
primary and
secondary chambers are additionally separated by turbulence baffle 407, which
contains
perforations 409. The turbulence baffle's functions include:
~ increasing the period during which water 111 is in contact with the chlorine
removal
media; preventing the buildup of contaminants on the incoming surface of the
chlorine
removal media; and
~ distributing the input water across the entire surface of the exchange
resin, which greatly
reduces the chance of uneven flows of water through the resin bed.
These functions should be performed without any unnecessary loss of flow
through chamber
203; for this reason, the open area provided by perforations 409 should be at
least as large as
the area of port 219's opening. In a preferred embodiment, water softening
chamber 203 has an
inside diameter of 3" and a length of 12". In general, the wider the chamber
is, the greater the
rate of flow through it, and the longer it is for a given width, the longer
the period between
regenerations of the ion exchange resin.
The ion exchange resin bed in secondary chamber 411 employs a packed resin bed
design.
This design prevents movement of resin granules within the bed and ensures
that the resin
depletes from the top of chamber 203 down, so that the last resin the water
passes over is the
least depleted. This insures the maximum possible reduction in hardness. The
design is also
advantageous for counter-flow regeneration, sine the brine regenerates the
resin from the
bottom up, beginning with the least depleted and ending with the most depleted
resin.
Details of brine source 205
Brine source 205 is a tube 501 that receives water 111 from valve 207, as
shown at 509, and
provides brine to ports 221(a,b) of water softening chambers 203(a,b). Flow
reducer 511 reduces
the rate of flow of water 111 into brine source 205. In a preferred
embodiment, the flow reducer
is a coupling which contains a Teflon~ tube which is of smaller diameter than
the tube
connected between valve 207 and flow reducer 511. The ratio of the diameters
of the tubes
CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
determines the degree to which the flow reducer reduces the flow. Output of
brine from brine
source 205 is via tube 513, which connects to tube 707. Check valve 514
prevents flow of
softened water from tube 707 into chamber 503 when valve 207's handle 319 is
moved from one
position to another.
Chamber 503 of brine source 205 contains salt tablets 505, which are placed in
brine source 205
by unscrewing plug 507 from the end of the tube, placing the tablets in the
tube, and replacing
plug 507. The percentage of salt in the brine solution is determined by the
amount of salt in
chamber 503 and the rate at which the water 21 I flows through chamber 503.
That rate is in
turn determined by the pressure of the water from source 123 and flow reducer
511. Since the
pressure of the water from water source 123 will be more or less constant and
the rate of flow
through brine source 205 is determined by that pressure and the size of the
Teflon tube in flow
reducer 511, the percentage of salt in the brine solution will depend
primarily on the number of
salt tablets 505 in chamber 503. An optimal strength for the brine solution is
around 10% salt.
To make it easier to both calibrate the amount of salt required to make the
10% brine solution
and to put the right amount of salt into chamber 503, the user is provided
with the salt in the
form of a stack of shrink-wrapped salt tablets 515. The user need only take as
many tablets from
the stack as are required to produce the 10% salt solution. In a preferred
environment, tube 501
is made of transparent plastic and a view port in case 103 permits the user to
see how much salt
remains in chamber 503.
Details of regeneration
In the preferred embodiment, it is up to the user to ensure that water
softener 201 is operated in
regeneration mode sufficiently to keep the ion exchange resin in water
softening chambers
203(a,b) able to produce softened water 113. The time required to fully
regenerate the resin
depends on three factors: the hardness of the water, the flow rate of water
from the shower head,
and the length of time water softener 201 is in use. The latter is the
overnding factor. Some
ways in which the user may regenerate the resin in the course of his or her
normal showering
routine are the following:
1. Put water softener 201 into regeneration mode while waiting for the water
to warm up
enough to take a shower; when the water is warm, switch to water softening
mode.
CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
2. Put water softener 201 into water softening mode while getting wet and put
it into
regeneration mode while lathering, shampooing, or shaving; when ready to
rinse, put the
water softener back into water softening mode.
3. Put water softener 201 into regeneration mode while drying off:
S The user may of course always regenerate the resin at a set time using a set
amount of salt over a
set period. Over time, the user will be able to determine the amount or
regeneration necessary
for the hardness of his or her water and his or her use of the shower. In
other embodiments, a
timer may be included in the water softener. For example, because of the
presence of flow
reducer valve 511, the water entering brine source 205 is flowing in a
comparatively small tube
at comparatively low volume; consequently, a timer might work like this: when
the user moves
the handle to the position for regeneration mode, the movement of the handle
sets the timer,
either mechanical, electrical, or electronic, going. While the timer is
running, a valve on the
input tube is held open; when the timer stops rumlin,g, the valve closes,
cutting off the flow of
water to brine source 205 and ending the regeneration period. An example of a
timer that would
work for this purpose is a 9-volt solenoid valve /timer. An example of a valve
would be a pinch
valve that worked on the input tube. Other types of timers and valves could of
course also be
used.
An exemplary installation of water softener 201: F'IG. 6
The manner in which a given water softener 201 will be installed at the point
where it is used
will of course depend on details of the point of use. FIG. 6 shows an
installation 601 of water
softener 201 on the wall of a shower enclosure that has the shower head. Case
103 has a support
strap 613 which can be placed over water source 123, which is here the pipe
that would normally
have the shower head. Support strap 613 carries the weight of water softener
201; to keep water
softener 201 from sliding on shower enclosure wall 601, double sided suction
cups are provided
on the back of case 103. These grip on both case 103 and wall 603. The user
connects water
softener 201 to water source 103 by removing the shower head and connecting
hose 611 in its
place. The user then connects hose 611 to inlet 105 of water softener 201. The
user then
connects a shower head on a second hose to softened water outlet 107 of water
softener 201.
Once water softener 201 is connected as just described to water source 123,
the user places valve
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CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
handle 319 in "off' position 605 and sets the water supply to water source 123
as he or she
would normally do for a shower. To take the shower, the user simply places
valve handle 319 in
soft water output position 607. When the user changes apartments or
condominiums, all the user
has to do to take water softener 207 along to his or her new dwelling is turn
off the water supply
to water source 123, disconnect hose 611, and take down case 103. Water
softener 207 is thus
truly portable in that it can be easily installed and uninstalled by the user
and easily transported
to the next point of use.
In other applications, the small size and manual mode switching offered by
water softener 201
may be more important than portability. Examples of such applications are in
boats, recreational
vehicles, and travel trailers. In these applications, the water softener may
be installed at the point
of use in a manner which can withstand the stresses caused by the motion of
the boat, RV, or
travel trailer or the water softener may even be installed at the point of
entry for the plumbing
system, that is, at the outlet of the supply tank for the vehicle or boat. In
either case, water
1 S softener 201 may be installed as a permanent part of the vehicle or boat's
plumbing. In an
exemplary embodiment for use in a travel trailer, three "J" channels are
attached in "U" form to a
wall on which the water softener is installed and the case 103 slides into the
"U" formed by the
"J" channels. Other features of this embodiment include placing the water
inlet on the bottom of
case 103 to make connecting to the water source easier and shortening the
valve handle so that it
does not take up too much space in the trailer's tiny shower stall. In still
other applications, only
the manual mode switching may be of interest, and water softener 201 may be as
large as and
installed in the same fashion as standard point of entry water softeners with
electrical mode
switching.
Conclusion
The foregoing Detailed description has disclosed to those skilled in the
relevant technologies
how to make and use water softeners that incorporate the inventions described
herein and has
further disclosed the best mode presently known to the inventor of making such
water softeners.
As part of disclosing the best mode, the inventor has disclosed the best
combination known to
him of the inventive elements of the water softener, but it will be
immediately apparent to those
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CA 02418202 2003-O1-31 4077 0002
skilled in the relevant arts that various characteristics of the invention may
be achieved by using
embodiments other than those disclosed herein.
For example, the convenience of the water softener stems in great part from
the fact that
regeneration may be done by simply setting the valve to its second setting.
The planar pinch
valve used in the preferred embodiment is particularly advantageous for the
purpose, but any
other valve which permits the user to place the water softener into
regeneration mode would also
work. The brine source used in the preferred embodiment is also particularly
advantageous,
since the water pressure from the water source drives the brine solution
through the water
softening chambers, but any other source of brine that could be turned on by
the valve would
also work. By the same token, a brine source with the easy calibration
features of the one
disclosed herein is advantageous, but not necessary to the broad concept of
the invention. The
same is true of such detailed features of the water softening chamber as the
chlorine chamber, the
baffle between the chlorine chamber and the water softening chamber, or the
packed bed resin in
the water softening chamber. As one would expect, the number of water
softening chambers, the
manner in which the valve connects the components, and the manner in which the
water softener
is installed and connected to the water source and/or the soft water sink may
also vary from
embodiment to embodiment.
For all of the foregoing reasons, the L)etailed Description is to be regarded
as being in all
respects exemplary and not restrictive, and the breadth of the invention
disclosed here in is to be
determined not from the Detailed Description, but rather from the claims as
interpreted with the
full breadth permitted by the patent laws.
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