Permutit Co. v. Harvey Laundry Co.

• Decision Date: 14 February 1922
• Docket Number: 150.
• Citation: 279 F. 713
• Parties: PERMUTIT CO. v. HARVEY LAUNDRY CO. et al. [1]
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

279 F. 713

PERMUTIT CO. v. HARVEY LAUNDRY CO. et al. ^[1]

No. 150.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

February 14, 1922

Stout Rose & Wells, of Omaha, Neb., Shire & Jellinek, of Buffalo N.Y. (livingston Gifford, of New York City, David P Wolhaupter, and Edward F. Colladay, both of Washington, D.C and John F. Stout, of Omaha, Neb., of counsel), for appellants.

Philipp, Sawyer, Rice & Kennedy, of New York City (James Q. Rice, J. J. Kennedy, and M. C. Massie, all of New York City, of counsel), for appellee.

Before ROGERS, MANTON, and MAYER, Circuit Judges.

MANTON Circuit Judge.

The appellee, by assignment, is the owner of the Gans patent, No. 1,195,923, dated August 22, 1916, for softening water. The Refinite Company is the manufacturer of an apparatus which, it is charged, infringes the patent in suit, and the appellant Harvey Laundry Company is a user of the apparatus.

Hardness of water in water supply varies. Water which comes in through the ground may carry with it a high proportion of hardening constituents, and water which runs in on the top of the ground carries little. As the proportion of the water supply from these sources varies, the hardness of the water in the supply will vary. Therefore a wide variation may be produced by the rains and seasonal variation. It has been necessary, because of this variation, to watch the water and add chemicals thereto, always in the right proportion, because, if the addition be too much or too little, undesirable results are obtained. It is desirous, in many businesses, where water is necessary, to obtain soft or zero water. The patent in suit covers a zeolite apparatus for softening water.

It has been found that certain double silicates have the remarkable power of changing their chemical compositions by the exchange and re-exchange of their bases. In the art, these silicates are invariably called zeolites. They have calcium as a base and when brought into contact with a solution containing potassium, the zeolites will give up their calcium to the solution and take up the potassium as a base. By this exchange a new chemical composition is formed. When new zeolites with the potassium bases are brought into contact with a solution containing lime, they will re-exchange their potassium for the calcium of the lime, and thus resume their original chemical composition; and when zeolites containing sodium as a base are brought into contact with a solution containing lime, or lime and magnesia, they will give up their sodium to the solution, and take up as a new base the lime base or the bases of the lime and magnesia. When this is done, and they are brought in contact with a solution containing sodium-- that is, a salt solution-- they give up the lime base, or bases of the lime and magnesia, and take back their original sodium base. It has been found that zeolites will exercise this power of exchange and re-exchange of bases practically indefinitely and with little or no wear.

It is a known fact of chemistry that water is rendered hard by lime or magnesia. The patent is claimed to disclose an apparatus for utilizing zeolites having a sodium base in the softening of water. The zeolites take the hardening constituents, lime or lime and magnesia, completely out of the water, even though there originally were sodium compounds in the water. The process of filtration is commonly known. It is a mechanical process for removing impurities mechanically suspended in the water, and in the process the impurities collect in the filter bed and assist in its action. In practice, the sand filter must be seasoned, its grains must be coated with the slimy impurities of the water, before it attains its highest utility.

Zeolite water softening is a process of alternate chemical action, and to operate the zeolites must be clean and kept clean. It is essential therefore, that there be unimpeded surface contact between the zeolites and the water in order to obtain the exchange, for coating the zeolites with impurities will prevent the exchange, and it has been found necessary for commercial purposes to filter the water before it reaches the zeolites. In practice, it has been found necessary to regenerate zeolite beds after 10 or 12 hours of softening, and, on the other hand, filter beds run for months without cleaning. It has also been found from experience that channeling of the zeolite bed destroys the operation of a zeolite softener. Such channeling is not fatal to filtering, for channels which permit the water to run therethrough permit the impurities to be carried by water, and this will shortly stop the channels.

Claims 1 and 5 of the patent in suit are in issue and are as follows:

'1. A water softening apparatus comprising a casing, a filter bed consisting of a layer of sand or quartz and a layer of zeolites or hydrated alumino-silicates disposed on the layer of sand or quartz, means for permitting the passage of water through the casing, means for cutting off the supply of water on the exhaustion of the zeolites, and means for passing through the casing a solution of a salt capable of regenerating the zeolites.'

'5. Water softening apparatus comprising a casing, a filter bed consisting of a layer of zeolites or alumino-silicates, supporting means for said layer, means for permitting the passage of water through the casing, means for cutting off the supply of water on the exhaustion of the zeolites, means for supplying and passing into the casing a solution of a salt capable of regenerating zeolites and means connected to the lowest point of the casing for removing the salt solution so introduced.'

In the construction of the patent in suit, the zeolite bed f is supported on a layer of gravel or quartz g. The bed is not confined by any structure at its top, so that, when water is admitted, the zeolites are free to and will arrange themselves with the fine zeolites at the top, thus forming this layer of high resistance to the water flow. This the bed will automatically do, because of the relative lightness of the smaller grains of the zeolites. The water enters through a pipe l, and first flows downwardly through a filter e, which takes out the impurities mechanically suspended in the water. The water then meets this layer of fine zeolites, which forces an even distribution of the water throughout the entire bed. The softened water flows out through a pipe j, and then through pipe connections to a point where the soft water is utilized. In use, the bed has a top layer of fine zeolites, and the coarser zeolites are below, so that the water flowing downwardly has the advantage that it can be easily cleaned. The inflowing water, although it may be filtered, will contain slimy constituents and other impurities which will pass the filter. If such impurities are not washed out of the bed, it has been found that they will coat the zeolites and prevent the necessary intimate contact between the water and the zeolites. So, where the hard water flows downwardly through the bed, and the apparatus is so constructed that zeolites are free to arrange themselves with the fine zeolites in a layer at the top and the coarser ones at the bottom, these impurities will collect on or in the top layer of the fine zeolites. They can be dislodged and washed out from this position by a current of water coming backward through the bed, and this is referred to as back-washing. With this back-washing through the bed, the slimy and mechanical impurities will pass through the coarser bottom grains and will collect in the center of the bed, from which position they can only be dislodged with great difficulty.

In the structure of the patent in suit, the apparatus is provided with an arrangement of pipes and valves by which a back-washing current of water can be sent upward through the bed; that is, through the pipe j and up through the bed, the water passing out through the hard water pipe l. This current of water readily dislodges and carries off any impurities which are on the top of the bed or in the top layer. The effect also is to stir up the entire zeolite bed, and this adds to a proper grading automatically, resulting in the heavier, coarser particles settling first, leaving the finer zeolites at the top. In regenerating the bed after exhaustion, the zeolites must disgorge the lime and magnesia which they take up and then take back their sodium. The apparatus in the patent in suit accomplishes this by running the salt solution into the bed through the pipe controlled by the valve; the hard water being shut off and the salt solution following the course of the hard water. Through this salt solution, the zeolites exercise their peculiar power of re-exchange, giving up lime and magnesia, and taking back sodium. These beds are regenerated in practice by filling the casing with the salt solution and allowing it to stand for hours. At the end of the regenerating period, the casing contains spent or exhausted salt solution, heavily charged with lime and magnesia. It is important that the spent salt solution be completely and thoroughly washed out. The lime and magnesia is picked up by the water, and, although the water has been softened by the zeolites, it will be rehardened by the lime and magnesia it takes from this salt solution, unless it be removed. The apparatus is constructed so that there are no traps or pockets in which the salt solution containing this lime and magnesia can collect, and from which it is not washed.

By the use of the apparatus in suit, for the first time, zero water has been produced. Theretofore, in the art, water softening consisted solely of the use of a precipitation apparatus which did not produce soft water. Men deeply interested in the art have been turning their...