AU2004100894A4 - Branch of a water timer - Google Patents

Description

S&F Ref: 695624

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 INNOVATION PATENT SPECIFICATION Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Hsin-Fa Wang, Taiwanese Citizen, of No. 68, Mou Tan Lane, Lu Kang Town, Chang Hua Hsien, Taiwan Hsin-Fa Wang Spruson Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Branch of a water timer The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- IP Australia

SYD

I 5843CT 5843c -1- SBRANCH OF A WATER TIMER c) O Background of the Invention 00 oo 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to a water timer, and more particularly to a water C- timer having an innovative internal channel.

00 2. Description of Related Art The water timer is generally mounted onto a preset section of the water pipe, where a 0 timer set is used to control the opening time of valve in order to control automatically water supply time. The conventional water timer is only designed with a single inlet and outlet, which is not suitable for bi-directional water supply environment. For this reason, an innovative water time with a single inlet and two outlets has been developed accordingly. However, attentions shall be paid to the convenience of assembly of timer set due to the complex channel. So, this industry has met a challenge as to how the housing and internal channel of the water timer are integrated simply to minimize the manufacturing and assembly cost. With a view to the construction of existing water timer, the housing and channel are generally manufactured separately and then assembled, leading to higher manufacturing cost and poor efficiency of assembly.

Object of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate some of the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.

Summary of the Invention There is firstly disclosed herein a water timer comprising: a housing, which is available with a water inlet and at least two water outlets, the water inlet is connected to water outlets via water channel, which is mounted with membrane to control the start/stop of water flow, a time set is installed onto the top of the housing, with the help of a brake bar, the timer set is connected to a membrane in a manner to control the opening time of the membrane, the timer including water inlet, two water outlets and water channel are integrated into the housing, the water inlet is designed with a concave "D"-shaped Y-branch at first side of the housing, where it forms a first inlet, second inlet and a manifold branch linking the first and second inlet, available with an open lateral surface, the manifold branch is enclosed by a connecting seat, the exterior of connecting seat is applied for the linking of water supply [R:\LIBLL] 16180.doc:KEH -2- O connector to form the water inlet, two water outlets are integrally preformed at the second side of the housing opposite to water inlet, as it is installed between two water outlets and the inner side 0 of first/second inlet, the water channel is available with a central groove and outer groove with a 00 downward aperture, the inner side of the first/second inlet is connected to the outer groove, and the inner side of two water outlets connected to the central groove, there is a punch hole at upper wall of the central groove, where the brake bar of timer set can penetrate downwards such that Oo the membrane is provided at the open bottom of central groove and outer groove, a bottom cap is mounted at the bottom of the water channel, and an elastic member is installed between the bottom cap and the membrane to support normally the membrane.

STherefore, the present invention in at least a preferred embodiment features a water inlet, which is designed with a concave "L"-shaped space at one side of the housing. So, this spatial design presents a first inlet, second inlet and a manifold branch. As the water channel is designed with a central groove and outer groove with a downward aperture, the inner sides of two water inlets and outlets are separately connected to the outer groove and central groove.

Based on this spatial feature, the housing can be integrally preformed via the male and female models along with the slide blocks, thereby saving greatly the manufacturing and assembly cost for an improved economic efficiency.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention FIG. 3 shows a lateral view of the housing in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows a lateral view of the bottom cap in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of the outlet of the housing.

FIG. 6 shows a horizontal cutaway view of the internal branch of the housing in decomposed state.

FIG. 7 shows a vertical cutaway view of the internal branch of the housing in decomposed state.

FIG. 8 shows a horizontal cutaway view of the internal branch of the housing in assembled state.

FIG. 9 shows a vertical cutaway view of the internal branch of the housing in assembled state.

[R:\LIBLL] 16180.doc:KEH -3- O FIG. 10 shows a horizontal cutaway view of the water flow diagram in open state in the internal branch of the housing.

O FIG. 11 shows a vertical cutaway view of the water flow diagram in open state in the 00 internal branch of the housing.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The features and the advantages of the preferred embodiments of the present invention 00 S will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the S accompanying drawings.

N As shown in FIGS. 1-7, a water timer embodied in the present invention preferably comprises: a housing 10, which is available with a water inlet 11 and at least two water outlets 12.

The water inlet 11 is connected to water outlets 12 via water channel 20, which is mounted with membrane 30 to control the start/stop of water flow. And, a time set 40 is installed onto the top of the housing 10 (The existing timer set in this example generally comprises a rotary knob and a gear drive. No detailed description is required as this section is not defined in this example).

With the help of a brake bar 41, the bottom of timer set 40 is connected to a membrane 30 in a manner to control the opening time of the membrane. The features in the present invention include: The water inlet 11, two water outlets 12 and water channel 20 are integrated into the housing 10 (jet molding in this example). Moreover, the water inlet 11 is designed with a concave "E"-shaped Y-branch at first side of the housing 10, where it forms a first inlet 111, second inlet 112 and a manifold branch 113 linking the first and second inlet. Available with an open lateral surface, the manifold branch is enclosed by a connecting seat 13. And, the exterior of connecting seat 13 is applied for the linking of water supply connector 50 to form the water inlet. Two water outlets 12 are integrally preformed at the second side of the housing opposite to water inlet 11. As it is installed between two water outlets 12 and the inner side of above-specified first/second inlet 111, 112, the water channel 20 is available with a central groove 21 and outer groove 22 with a downward aperture. So, the inner side of the first/second inlet 111, 112 is connected to the outer groove 22, and the inner side of two water outlets 12 connected to the central groove 21. There is a punch hole 23 at upper wall of the central groove 21, where the brake bar 41 of timer set 40 can penetrate downwards such that the membrane is provided at the open bottom of central groove 21 and outer groove 22. A bottom cap 60 is mounted at the bottom of the water channel 20, and an elastic member 31 (a spring in this [R:\LIB LL] 16180.doc:KEH z-4- O example) is installed between the bottom cap and an expansion bottom seat 42 of the brake bar 41 at the center of membrane 30. So, it can normally support the bottom seat 42 to enable the O membrane 30 to be positioned at the open bottom of central groove 21 and outer groove 22 for 00 water-tightness.

Based on above-specified innovative design for the channel, the water timer's channel in the present invention is activated or stopped as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. When the timer set oO 40 is not activated, the membrane 30 is supported by the elastic member 31, and then adhered to C the open bottom of central groove 21 and outer groove 22. Thereby, the water from first/second inlet 111, 112 cannot flow towards the water outlet 12. Also, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, when the timer set 40 is activated, the brake bar 41 will be shifted downwards such that the bottom seat 42 will fall down. In such case, there is a loose state between the central surface of membrane 30 and central groove 21, so the water from first/ second inlet 111, 112 can flow into the central groove 21 from outer groove 22, and then towards the water outlet 12 (the arrows indicate the flow direction).

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a joint edge 114 is provided at the open outer surface of manifold branch 113 for the imbedding of connecting seat 13 (imbedding state shown in FIG. 8).

The bottom cap 60 of the water channel 20 can be screwed securely. As also shown in FIG. 4, the bottom cap 60 is designed with a cone cylinder 61 at its central surface, an inner groove 62 and spaced ribs 63 in a scattered way.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 8, the timer set 40 comprises a rotary knob 43, a seat board 44 and an actuator 45, among which the rotary knob 43 is mounted over the seat board 44, and the actuator 45 below the seat board 44. A couple of trips 46 are installed at lateral surfaces of the seat board such that a notch 14 is formed at the top of housing 10. Several locking grooves which are provided adjacent to the notch, allow the locking of seat board's trip 46 and positioning of timer set 40 and housing 10 (as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 7and 9, the top notch 14 of the housing 10 is provided with a watertight baffle plate at the lower part of the actuator 45 of timer set 40. Some stop rings 71 are mounted around the watertight baffle plate to realize air-tightness with the inner wall of the notch 14 of housing 10. Besides, the watertight baffle plate 70 is provided with a punch hole 72, which allows the perforation of the brake bar 41 of timer set 40. And, the punch hole 72 is also equipped with a stop ring 73 for the air-tightness with brake bar 41, thereby avoiding any water leakage.

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Claims (3)

1. 2. The water timer defined in Claim 1, wherein a joint edge is provided at the open outer surface of said manifold branch for the imbedding of connecting seat.
2. 3. The water timer defined in Claim 1, wherein the bottom cap of the said water channel can be screwed securely.
3. 4. The water timer defined in Claim 1, wherein said timer set comprises a rotary knob, a seat board and an actuator, among which the rotary knob is mounted over the seat board, and the actuator below the seat board, a couple of trips are installed at lateral surfaces of the seat board such that a notch is formed at the top of housing, several locking grooves, which are provided adjacent to the notch, allow the locking of seat board's trip and positioning of timer set and housing. The water timer defined in Claim 4, wherein the top notch of the said housing is provided with a watertight baffle plate at the lower part of the actuator of timer set, some stop rings are mounted around the watertight baffle plate to realize air-tightness with the inner wall of the notch of housing, the watertight baffle plate is provided with a punch hole, which allows the [R:\LIBLL]16180.doc:KEH -6- O O perforation of the brake bar of timer set, the punch hole is also equipped with a stop ring for air- tightness with brake bar. O Dated 18 October, 2004 00 Hsin-Fa Wang Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON 00 o O- O1 [R:\LIBLL] 16180.doc:KEH