1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a combined purified water dispensing device and reject water control device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past few years, reverse osmosis assemblies have been developed that may be placed under a sink. The assembly includes a reverse osmosis module and an elongate tank, which tank has the interior subdivided into a lower compartment of variable volume that receives purified water, and an upper compartment that may have reject water discharged therein to increase the volume thereof to force purified water therefrom through a suitable dispensing spout.
Such prior art devices have suffered from numerous operational deficiencies. In some such water purifiers as disclosed and claimed in Tyler U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,343 that issued May 3, 1977 an extremely complicated set of valves, sensors and conduits are required to control the flow of feed water to the reverse osmosis module, and feed water and reject water to the dispensing spout and drains. Not only is such a water purifier expensive, but due to the complexity of the valves small grains of foreign material may render the same inoperative, and preclude operation of the water purifier until the malfunctioning valve is repaired.
Others of the prior art water purifiers have the operational disadvantage that an installation requires a separate manually operated water dispensing valve and a separate reject water discharge assembly closely associated with a sink that is unsightly in appearance. Yet other of the prior art water purifiers discharge purified water from the reservoir therefor to the drain, after the reservoir has become filled with purified water, which, of course is a waste of water.
A major object of the present invention is to provide a device that may be mounted in a single transverse bore in a drain board adjacent a sink to dispense purified water as desired, and so control reject water that it may flow through a first and a second flow restrictor and an air gap to the drain when purified water is not being dispensed. Whem a rigid actuating tubular member is moved downwardly upper and lower valve members that control the flow of purified water and reject water being moved from upper and lower seats to allow flow of purified water from a lower first compartment of variable volume as reject water is discharged to an upper second compartment of variable volume, with excess water that tends to flow to the upper second compartment flowing upwardly through the tubular member that acts as a second flow restrictor to the drain; the actuating member when returned to an up position seating said first and second valve members, with reject water in said second upper compartment being forced therefrom by purified water flowing to the lower first compartment to expand the latter, and the water flowing from the upper second compartment entering the tubular member to flow upwardly therein and discharge through the air gap to the drain.
Another object of the invention is to provide one in which the flow of reject water to the reverse osmosis module is throttled to a reduced rate as the purified water holding compartment approaches its maximum volume, and one that can be manually modified to terminate such flow of throttled reject water when the lower first compartment has filled with purified water.
A still further object of the invention is to supply one that embodies a vertically movable tubular member that when moved downwardly unseats purified water and reject water controlling valve members, with the reject water valve member serving as a first flow restrictor, and a tubular member as a second flow restrictor.