1. * GB780011 (A)
Description: GB780011 (A) ? 1957-07-31
Improvements in or relating to water softening devices
Description of GB780011 (A)
1PATENT SPECIFICATION
780,011 Date of filing Complete Specification Sept. 28, 1955.
Application Date June 28, 1954.
Complete Specification Published July 31, 1957.
No. 18826/54, Index at acceptance:-Class 46, B1OA(l: X).
International Classification: --C02b.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in or relating to Water Softening Devices We, RAINSFORD &
LYNES LIMITED, of Emily Works, Emily Street, Birmingham, 12, a Company
incorporated under the laws of Great Britain, and ROBERTS KITCHENER
LYNES, of the same address, a British subject, do hereby declare the
invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and
the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly
described in and by the following statement: -
This invention relates to means or apparatus to be employed for
softening the water supplied from water mains to the service mains of
domestic or industrial premises and more particularly is concerned
with means or apparatus for the said purpose of the kind or type
opearting on what is known as the base exchange or cation exchange
principle, such apparatus incorporating a chamber-like body or vessel
charged with a suitable softening medium through which the water to be
softened is passed and delivered in the softened condition under valve
control, to the service mains, as is well understood.
The provision of mains water softening equipment as heretofore
constructed has involved considerable expense due to the costly
construction of the chamber or vessel for containing the softening
medium or crystals and the multiple control valves associated
therewith.
The present invention has for its object to provide a mains water
softener of the base exchange or cation type which is especially, but

2. not exclusively, adapted for supplying soft water to such devices for
example as sinkwater heaters, the said water softeners being of a
construction which permits them to be provided for use in conjunction
with water heaters of the said kind at a cost within the reach of the
users of such water heaters, and being attended with the further
advantages hereinafter more particularly referred to.
The invention resides in a water softening device operating on the
base exchange or cation principle and designed for use with a sink
heater or analogous apparatus said device being characterised in that
it incorporates in [Prico 3s. 64.1- - C , combination a cartridge-like
component wherein the water softening medium is contained 50 and a
frame-like structure whereon the cartiidge is detachably mounted and
which is adapted to be fixed on a wall or like surface.
The invention will be further and more particularly described with
reference to the 55 accompanying drawings, wherein:Figure 1
represents, half in elevation and half in longitudinal vertical
section, a water softening device in accordance with one con venient
embodiment of the invention. 60 Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 1 illustrating modifications in
certain details of construction of parts hereinafter more particularly
referred to, and 65 Figure 4 is a plan of Figure 3.
The same numerals of reference indicate the same or corresponding
parts in the several figures.
Referring first to the embodiment represented in Figures 1 and 2, the
reference 5 denotes the preferably seamless tubular mem, ber, herein
referred to as the cartridge, which contains the medium provided for
effecting the softening of water in its passage from the 75 supply
mains to the water heater or other apparatus in conjunction with which
the device may be used.
The frame-like structure provided for the mounting of the cartridge 5
on a wall comprises an upper and lower horizontal member, marked 6 and
7, of a circular plate-like formation and furnished on diametrical
opposite sides with lugs or lateral projections 6a and 7a, the said
horizontal members being interconnected by a pair of vertical
cylindrical rods 8 the respective ends of which have a screw thread
thereon.
The upper ends of the vertical interconnecting rods 8 are engaged in
tapped holes in the 90 lugs 6a of the upper horizontal member 6 and
are fixed therein by lock-nuts 9 which take against the underface of
the said member.
The lower ends of the interconnecting rods 8 pass through plain holes
7b on the lower 9} horizontal member 7 and the said member 780,011 is
fixed on the rods by pairs of lock-nuts 10 screwed against the
respective faces of the lugs.

3. The said horizontal members 6 and 7 of the frame are each provided on
corresponding sides thereof with a vertical plate-like part marked
respectively 6' and 7 furnished with perforations 6, 7' for the
passage therethrough of fixing screws so that each horizontal member
constitutes a supporting bracket for parts or components of the device
provided or assembled thereon as hereinafter described.
The upper horizontal member 6 is formed on its underface with a deep
recess 6' concentrically disposed therein and of appropriate diameter
for the location therein of the upper end of the cartridge 5, this
recess terminating in a shallow recess 6f concentric thereifffth and
having therein a sealing ring marked 11 against which the upper end of
the cartridge is firmly pressed when the cartridge is properly mounted
on the frame-lgze structure.
The upper face of the said horizontal member 6 is formed with a
centrally disposed tubular socket 6; the inner end of which opens into
the recess 6 in its underface, the opening marked 61 being of smaller
diameter than the main part of the bore in the socket and its marginal
part providing a seating for a ball valve 12 which is housed in the
socket and acts to retain water in the pipes and the heater when the
cartridge is removed from its normal location in the supporting frame.
The upper end of the socket 6: is fitted wiith a tubular bush 13
having in its inner end a hole 13Y of smaller diameter than the ball
valve 12, the said bush 13 having an external screw thread thereon for
engaging in a screw thread in the upper end of the socket, and an
internal screw thread to provide for the connection therewith of a
pipe in commnunication with the heater, not shown, to which the
softened water is delivered.
The lower horizontal member or bracket 7 is formed with a boss 7'
having an axially disposed hole therein which is screw threaded to
receive an externally screw threaded tubular member 14 the lower end
of which is in communication with the end of the supply pipe which
connects the softener with the main pipe through which water is
supplied to the heater, the connection being effected through the
medium of a union incorporating a stop cock such as indicated by the
dotted lines, marked A, in the drawings.
The said externally screwed tubular member 14 which is adapted for an
adjustable setting in the hole wherein it is engaged in the lower
horizontal member 7 carries at its upper end a plate-like member 16,
h.reinait r termed the bottom cap, which is recessed on its upper face
to receive the lower end of the tubular body of the cartridge, tihe
recessed face of the said bottom cap having therein a sealing ring 17
which, when the parts are properly assembled is pressed firmly against
the lower end of the cartridge body, in which position it is retained
by a locking ring 18 which is also furnished with a sealing ring 19 in

4. a recess in its upper face, the said locking ring 18 being 70 arranged
on the part of the adiustable member 14 which, when the parts are
assembled, extend between the underside of the bottom cap 16 and the
upper face of the lower horizontal member or supporting bracket 7. 75
The tubular body of the cartridge 5 is furnished adjacent the
respective ends thereof with a filter device constituted by a
perforated metal disc 20 having a disc of wire gauze 21 attached
thereto, the softening medium in the 80 cartridge being located
between these filter devices.
The lower end of the cartridge is furnished with a disc-like member 22
arranged somewhat below the filter disc 20 and having attached 85
thereto a metal backed disc 23 of rubber, disposed on its upper face,
and extending over a central hole or a series of perforations in the
metal disc, the rubber disc 23 acting as a nonreturn valve so that
when water under mains 9g pressure enters the cartridge the said
rubber disc will be lifted, and when such pressure is relieved by the
closing of the stop cock A the weight of the water in the cartridge
operates to press the rubber disc down on the metal 95 disc thereby
sealing the outlet from the lower end of the cartridge.
With the object of providing a softening device which, instead of
being disposed below the water heater or apparatus in association 100
with whi.vch it is used, may be disposed at or adjacent one or other
side thereof, as may be most convenient, the water softening device
can be controlled as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. 105 In this
modified construction of the water so_.tening device the upper and
lower horizontal members 6 and 7 of the frame-like structure in which
the cartridge 5 is supported, instead of having a circular plate-like
110 formnation as in the first described construction are constituted
by bar-like members each iaving a central circular boss, denoted by
the references 6' and 7, the said bosses being carried by the arms of
the vertical wall fixing 115 plates 6 and 7 respectively.
The upper bar-like member 6 is tubular in formation and its respective
ends are designed to provide sockets in which the upper ends of the
vertical mnembers 8 of the frame-like structure are fixed.
The vertical members 8 are also tubular and their lower ends extend
partially into and are fixed in bores 7 provided in the respective
ends of the lower horizontal member. 125 The lower portions of the
bores 7 have an internal screw thread therein for effecting the pipe
connection of the device with the water heater or othler apparatus to
which the softened water is delivered, the connection being 130
780,011 made with one or other end of the bar 8 according to
convenience, the tapped hole 7f in the other end of the bar being
closed by a screw plug.
Figure 3 also represents the preferred construction of the cartridge

5. provided for containing the softening medium and effecting its
detachable mounting in the frame-like structure.
In this constructien of the cartridge component of the device each end
of the cylindrical body of the cartridge 5 wherein the softening
medium is contained is furnished with a block or plug-like member 24
which may conveniently be secured therein by screwing it into an
annulus 25 fixed by welding or otherwise in the respective ends of the
cylindrical body and furnished on its inner periphery with a flange
25a and a rubber or like sealing ring 26 whereon the members 24 take a
bearing when assembled on the cylinder ends.
The plug-like members 24 have an axial bore 24a therein and their
outer faces have a cylindrical protuberance 24 thereon, the
protuberance on the upper block being located, when the cartridge is
assembled on the frame structure, in a recess in the central boss 6i
of the bar 6 and taking a bearing on a rubber annulus 27 therein, and
the protuberance on the block 24 in the lower end of the cartridge
being located in the upper end of a tubular member or sleeve 28
mounted in a recess in the upper end of the locking ring 18 which, as
in the first described jarrangemnent, is mounted and adjustable on the
tubular member 14 projecting from the axial bore of the lower
horizontal member 7 of the frame structure.
The protuberance 24b on the block in the lower end of the cartridge
rests on a rubber annulus 29 supported by a flange 28a in the sleeve
28 and the lower end of the said sleeve 28 rests on the sealing ring
19 in the locking member 18.
The filter devices 20 provided in the interior of the cartridge are in
this arrangement of the parts disposed on and secured by screws to the
inner faces of the blocks 24 in the respective ends of the cartridge.
A valve of the ordinary jumper type, denoted by the reference 30, is
provided at the upper end of the axial bore in the lower block 24, the
said valve being held to its seating on the upper end of the bore by a
spring, or springs 30a, interposed between its upper face and the
underface of the adjoining filter device, and operating as a
non-return valve as will be well understood.
The upper end of the cartridge is, or may, be furnished with a handle
for facilitating its handling when removed from the frame structure,
the said handle being constituted either by a rod such as 31 extending
diametrically across the upper end of the cartridge cylinder and
secured therein by a ring 31a as shown in Figure 1, or by a bail-like
member 33 formed from wire and the ends of which are hinged in
bearings provided for the purpose on the outer face of the upper block
24 as 70 shown in Figures 3 and 4.
The manner in which the softner devices described perform their
functions in use will be well understood by persons conversant with

6. softeners of the kind or type with which the 75 invention is
concerned, suffice it to say that when assembling the cartridge in the
framelike structure the locking ring 18 provided on the screwed
tubular member 14 will be lowered to a position which permits the
respective ends of the cartridge, or the protuberances on the ends
thereof, to be engaged with the parts provided to receive them on the
horizontal members of the frame-like structure and when so engaged the
locking ring is 85 adjusted in an upward direction thereby forcing the
respective ends of the cartridge or the protuberances thereon, into
firm bearing contact with the sealing rings aforesaid in the parts on
the frame in which the cartridge is 90 located.
The cartridge is removed for effecting its regeneration when required
by a reverse operation of the locking ring and the regeneration of the
cartridge may then be performed 95 by inserting it lower end first
into a container filled with brine.
The said container is furnished with a circular rubber ring in the
upper end thereof, the said ring providing a neck having a cross 106
section which is of thinnest dimensions at its inner end and when the
cartridge is pressed downwardly into the container the pressure put on
the contents of the container forces the rubber neck tightly on to the
periphery of the lo1 cartridge thereby preventing the overflowing of
the brine and the metal backed rubber disc aforesaid which operates as
a non-return valve will allow the brine to rise in the cartridge as
will be well understood. 110 After regeneration the cartridge can be
rinsed by inserting it into the said brine container filled with fresh
water and several such operations will remove any free brine from the
cartridge. 115
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