Liquid purification or separation – Flow – fluid pressure or material level – responsive – Programming plural units
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-18
2001-10-16
Drodge, Joseph W. (Department: 1723)
Liquid purification or separation
Flow, fluid pressure or material level, responsive
Programming plural units
C137S391000, C137S392000, C340S618000, C210S104000, C210S141000, C210S259000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06303024
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electrical control circuit for use with a reverse osmosis unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic control circuit which sequentially controls the fill, settle and draw operations or cycles of a plurality of settling tanks used with a reverse osmosis unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The purification of water by reverse osmosis is a well established technology that is being increasingly used due to problems with the purity of water caused pollution, contaminants and other harmful products within the water. The increasing usage of reverse osmosis technology has resulted in the development and refinement of relatively efficient reverse osmosis systems producing tens of hundreds of thousands of purified water per day that are economically and technically feasible for use in domestic and similar applications.
For relatively large scale reverse osmosis systems, such as systems used by the military settling to purify water, settling tanks are generally provided for the removal of solid contaminants and environmentally harmful agents which will settle to the bottom of the tanks. The water from the settling tanks is then supplied to the reverse osmosis system for purification by the reverse osmosis system.
An electrical control circuit is required to open and close the valves and pumps associated with filling the settling tanks, drawing water from the settling tanks and allowing the contaminants in the water to settle at the bottom of the settling tanks. One possibility is to use programmable controllers as the control circuitry for the settling tank fill and drain operations. Programmable controllers are commercially available from several manufactures such as Allen-Bradley, a Division of Rockwell International Corporation.
While programmable controllers are generally acceptable as a means to control the fill, draw and settle operations of settling tanks, programmable controls are expensive and require the user to have extensive programming skills to program and trouble shoot these devices.
Accordingly, there is a need for an inexpensive and relatively simple in design control circuit which may be used to control the fill, draw and settle operations or cycles of settling tanks which are integral to a reverse osmosis system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a relatively simple in design and economical to produce electronic controller for controlling the fill, settle and draw operations or cycles of three settling tanks which are used with a reverse osmosis unit.
The three settling tanks provide a pair of liquid level input signals which indicate the water level within each of the three settling tanks. A bounce eliminator circuit eliminates oscillations from the input signals providing at its outputs steady state liquid level signals which are active low.
The liquid level signals are supplied to a programmable logic device which has a state machine. The state machine sequentially controls the fill, draw and settle operations of the three settling tanks. The state machine includes eight states during which a first of the three settling tanks is being filled with contaminated water, water is being drawn from a second of the three settling tanks and the third settling tanks is in a settling operation.
The programmable logic device provides logic signal which are active low and which activate the fill and draw valves associated with each of the three settling tanks.
Light emitting diodes are also provided which when energized indicate to the user which settling tank is being filled with contaminated water and which settling tank is settling and which tank is having water drawn from the tank.
The electronics controller also includes a plurality of optical isolators which isolate the fill and draw control signals provided by the programmable logic device from the signals which activate the fill, draw and pump valves associate with the three settling tanks.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4662390 (1987-05-01), Hawkins
patent: 5059317 (1991-10-01), Marius et al.
patent: 6001244 (1999-12-01), Salter et al.
patent: 6001246 (1999-12-01), Seukonis
patent: 6149802 (2000-11-01), Zavarise et al.
Kruchowy Roman
Miller Mark C.
Silbernagel Mark A.
Drodge Joseph W.
Kalmbaugh David
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of
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