Abstract: A magnetically actuated fluid motor has a shiftable member having valve members for alternately closing one and opening the other of large and smaller faces of a stepped piston reciprocating in a housing. The shiftable member carries a magnet and is shiftable to collocate the magnet with one of spaced apart magnet attractors. A magnetic holding force between the magnet and attractors exceeds a simultaneous resilient counterforce supplied by spring members operating on the shiftable member. When the magnetic holding force is weakened by application of a separating force to separate the magnet from an attractor, stored energy in the compressed springs is released to shift the shiftable member. Separating force is applied through stops which arrest the shiftable member while the piston continues to move, without immediately opening the closed face of the stepped piston.

Abstract: A replaceable filter cartridge is mounted in a housing body having an inlet and an outlet permanently attached to a line carrying the liquid to be filtered. The filter cartridge contains activated charcoal. An outlet in the filter cartridge can be closed by a buoyant poppet valve which is normally held out of engagement with its valve seat by a trigger wire. An impeller is rotated by the flow of the liquid through the cartridge and the impeller drives a toothed disc which abrades the trigger wire. The abrading eventually cuts through the wire and releases the poppet which then seats against the valve seat of the outlet and renders the cartridge inoperative. The amount of abrading of the trigger wire is proportional to the flow of liquid through the cartridge and the trigger wire is sized to fail after a quantity of liquid has passed through the filter sufficient to exhaust the filtering capabilities of the cartridge. The spent cartridge must be replaced with a new filter cartridge.

Abstract: A water softening unit positioned between the mixing valve and washing basket of a washing machine includes a housing having a water inlet and outlet and an inlet for the introduction of salt into the housing. A partition divides the housing into a regeneration chamber and an ion-exchange chamber communicating with one another at one end of the partition. A pressure relief valve is located in the partition. A flow restriction valve located between the housing inlet and the regeneration chamber restricts flow through the softening unit when actuated, thereby allowing complete and thorough regeneration. The valve is normally open and when operated manually or otherwise to its alternate or actuated position, it remains in its actuated condition until the regeneration operation is completed.