Reverse osmosis assembly including an operating valve

Apparatus including a control valve in combination with a source of pressurized feed water for providing pressurized feed water, a reverse osmosis cartridge having a pressurized feed water inlet, a purified water outlet and a reject water outlet, and a reservoir container that includes a movable barrier that subdivides an interior of said reservoir container into first and second confined spaces of variable volume, and purified and reject water passages in said reservoir container in communication with said first and second confined spaces, said control valve throttling and reducing rate of flow of said pressurized feed water to said reverse osmosis cartridge when a predetermined pressure of purified water in said first confined space exceeds a pressure of reject water in said second confined space, said control valve including:

• (a) an elongate vertically positionable valve body having an upper end and a bottom, an elonagte passage that extends downwardly in said valve body from said upper end to develop into an axially aligned elongate chamber of substantially greater transverse cross sectional area than that of said elongate passage, means providing that said elongate passage at said upper end of said valve body is in communication with said source of pressurized feed water, said chamber partially defined by said bottom and a body shoulder at a junction of said elongate passage and said chamber;
• a ring shaped valve seat in said passage intermediate said upper end and body shoulder;
• a pressurized feed water outlet in said valve body in communication with said elonagte passage below said valve seat, means providing that said pressurized feed water outlet is in communication with said pressurized feed water inlet in said reverse osmosis cartridge, means providing that said purified water outlet of said reverse osmosis cartridge is in communication with said purified water passage and said first confined space of said reservoir container and a purified water passage in said bottom of said valve body, means providing that said reject water outlet of said reverse osmosis cartridge is in communication with said reject water passage in said reservoir container and said second confined space as well as a reject water passage in said valve body that communicates with said chamber upwardly a predetermined distance from said bottom;
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• (b) an elongate valve member movably disposed in said valve body, said vlave member including upper and lower ends, said upper end defining an upper end surface and sealing with said valve seat when said valve member is in a first position, said valve member including a first piston intermediate said upper and lower ends that slidably and sealingly engages said elongate passage, said first piston having an upper end surface and a second piston on said lower end of said valve member that slidably and sealingly engages said chamber, said second piston having a lower end surface defining a lower end surface area and a ring shaped upper end surface defining an upper end surface area being of less surface area than said lower end surface area of said second piston, said pressurized feed water exerting a first downward force on said upper end surfaces of said valve member and first piston that moves said valve member from said first to a second position where said pressurized feed water is free to flow from said pressurized feed water outlet in said valve body to said pressurized feed water inlet in said reverse osmosis cartridge to be transformed to purified water and reject water, with said reject water exerting a second downward force on said upper end surface of said second piston, with said first and second forces maintaining said valve member in said second position so long as pressure on purified water in said first confined space is not greater than that of reject water in said second confined space, but said purified water when pressure thereon increases a predetermined magnitude above that on reject water in said second confined space exerting a third force that is directed upwardly on said lower end surface of said second piston and said valve member being moved upwardly towards said first position to throttle and reduce a rate of flow of said pressurized feed water from said feed water outlet in said valve body to said reverse osmosis cartridge.

Apparatus including a control valve in combination with a source of pressurized feed water for providing pressurized feed water, a reverse osmosis cartridge having a pressurized feed water inlet, a purified water outlet and a reject water outlet, and a reservoir container that includes a movable barrier that subdivides an interior of said reservoir container into first and second confined spaces of variable volume and purified and reject water passages in said reservoir container in communication with said first and second confined spaces, said control valve throttling and reducing rate of flow of said pressurized feed water to said reverse osmosis cartridge when a predetermined pressure of purified water in said first confined space exceeds a pressure of reject water in said second confined space, said control valve including:

• (a) an elongate vertically positionable valve body that has an upper end and a bottom, a passage that extends downwardly in said valve body from said upper end to develop into a chamber of substantially greater transverse cross section, a ring shaped valve seat in said passage intermediate said upper end and chamber, means providing that said passage adjacent said upper end is in communication with said source of pressurized feed water;
• a pressurized feed water outlet in said valve body intermediate said valve seat and chamber, means providing that said pressurized feed water outlet is in communication with said pressurized feed water inlet;
• a purified water passage in said bottom in communication with said chamber, means providing that said purified water outlet of said reverse osmosis cartridge is in communication with said purified water passage and said first confined space of said reservoir container and said purified water passage in said bottom of said valve body;
• and a reject water passage in said valve body in communication with said chamber a predetermined distance above said bottom, means providing that said reject water outlet of said reverse osmosis cartridge is in communication with said reject water passage in said reservoir container and said second confined space as well as said reject water passage in said valve body;
• (b) an elongate valve member having upper and lower ends defining upper and lower end surfaces respectively longitudinally disposed in said passage and chamber, said valve member including a first piston intermediate said upper and lower end surfaces and that includes an upper surface, and a second piston that extends outwardly from said lower end surface, said second piston having upper and lower surfaces, said first piston slidably disposed in said passage and said second piston slidably disposed in said chamber, with said pressurized feed water at all times in contact with said upper end surface of said valve member and said upper surface of said first piston and exerting a first downward force on said valve member that tends to move said valve member from a first position where said upper end is in sealing contact with said valve seat to a second position where said upper end is disposed downwardly from said valve seat a sufficient distance to permit substantially free flow to said pressurized feed water outlet, with reject water in said chamber exerting a second downward force that augments said first force in tending to move said valve member from said first to said second position, whereby a predetermined pressure of purified water in said chamber exerts a third force upwardly on said lower surface of said second piston greater than that of the combined first and second forces moving said valve member from said second toward said first position to throttle flow of pressurized feed water from said pressurized feed water outlet to said pressurized feed water inlet.