AU2007232271A1

AU2007232271A1 - Sink tap assembly

Info

Publication number: AU2007232271A1
Application number: AU2007232271A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Marco Celli
Original assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Current assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Priority date: 2006-04-05
Filing date: 2007-04-04
Publication date: 2007-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 2027-04-04
Also published as: AU2007232271B2; RU2008143406A; WO2007113663A2; EP2007951A2; WO2007113663A3; ITRA20060017U1

Description

WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 1 5 SINK TAP ASSEMBLY TECHNICAL FIELD 10 The present invention relates to a sink tap assembly, in particular a one-hole type, designed to fit to the horizontal supporting surface of a sink or cabinet in the same way as other known tap assemblies which, however, function as single-control mixers for simply 15 mixing or separately supplying hot and cold water. BACKGROUND ART The present invention originates mainly from the growing interest aroused by the practical and economic 20 advantages of new appliances which, simply connected to the water and electricity mains, supply cooled or ambient-temperature filtered or microfiltered water, and even water with added carbon dioxide. Simply considering the average amount of mineral water consumed daily by an 25 average family gives a fairly good idea of the advantages involved, both in terms of expenditure and transport from shop to home. Though undoubtedly advantageous, these new appliances are difficult to install in most new homes, WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 2 through lack of space, which more and more often reduces the kitchen to a "kitchenette" formed in a corner of the dining room or lounge. Space problems also exist, however, in older homes, in which the kitchen is packed 5 with more or less indispensable appliances and accessories, which were not planned for or even envisaged when choosing the original furnishings, and which take up most of the horizontal work surfaces and space necessary for a housewife to work in ease and safety. Since these 10 new appliances are normally set up on the floor cabinets of fitted kitchens, possibly already occupied by a coffee machine and other accessories, a different location must be found to permit convenient use while occupying none of the already few horizontal surfaces available. 15 Another requirement is to avoid having to achieve an attractive combination of the new appliance with existing appliances or the kitchen furnishings in general, by locating it inside an existing cabinet or underneath the sink for easy connection to the water mains. 20 To do this using known new appliances of the type referred to - i.e. for supplying filtered or microfiltered water, cooled water, or water with added carbon dioxide - the normal mixer would have to be flanked by a tap for each additional water supply 25 (ambient-temperature microfiltered, cooled microfiltered, with added C0 2 , etc.). To avoid this, which would obviously involve drilling additional holes in the sink or existing WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 3 cabinet, with dubious results in terms of both convenience and appearance, a single tap assembly is desirable, which, besides supplying separate or mixed hot and cold water for normal cooking purposes, also supplies 5 microfiltered water for cooking and/or drinking, possibly cooled and with added carbon dioxide for producing sparkling water. Patent EP0501989B1 describes a tap assembly for supplying hot, cold, and filtered water, and the main 10 body of which receives hot water, cold water, and filtered water separately from respective sources. The hot and cold water can be fed to the outlet through the same or separate passages, depending on whether or not the main body has a mixer, and the filtered water is fed 15 to the outlet through a further special-purpose passage. The tap assembly may also receive water with added C02, which may be fed to the outlet together with the filtered water or through a separate passage. In the various embodiments described, the hot water, cold water, 20 filtered water, and water with added CO2 are flow regulated by respective valves, so that, if the tap assembly receives all four different types of water, four valves and four controls are provided. 25 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The Applicant has observed that, when the tap assembly has more than three inlet conduits, the solution proposed in EP0501989B1 may prove difficult for the user WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 4 to operate or even difficult to implement. In fact, with four inlet conduits, and therefore four valves, one of the valves and the relative control must presumably be located at the back of the main body, thus making it 5 difficult to reach and operate by the user. In the case of more than four, e.g. five, conduits and valves, the additional valve and relative control would be difficult to locate, since all four sides of the main body are already occupied by the other valves and relative 10 controls. The Applicant has found a solution to the problem in a tap assembly comprising fewer controls than inlet conduits. More specifically, the one-hole tap assembly according to the present invention, designed to fit to 15 the horizontal supporting surface of a sink or cabinet, has a main body comprising a single-control mixer, and one or more on-off regulating valves for respective flows, which flow to the outlet along independent paths separate from the hot and cold water mixing path, to 20 prevent them from flowing and gathering impurities along the same conduit. Using a single-control mixer for hot and cold water, a tap assembly can therefore be achieved which is particularly suitable for handling a large number of flows. 25 For example, in the case of four inlet conduits for cold water, hot water, ambient-temperature microfiltered water, and cooled microfiltered water, possibly with added carbon dioxide, there are only three controls, WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 5 located, for example, on the front and two sides of the main body for easy operation by the user. In the case of five inlet conduits for cold water, hot water, ambient-temperature microfiltered water, 5 cooled microfiltered water, and cooled microfiltered water with added carbon dioxide, there are only four controls, located, for example, on the front, two sides, and back of the main body. While providing for the same undoubtedly innovative 10 advantages and performance, such a tap assembly involves none of the construction problems typical of known embodiments. Moreover, so designed, it provides for a high degree of reliability and operating safety. 15 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Non-limiting embodiments of the tap assembly according to the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying 20 drawings, in which: Figures 1-2-3 show, respectively, a side view, front view, and top plan view of a first tap assembly in accordance with the invention; Figure 4 shows a horizontal section along line ZZ in 25 Figure 1; Figure 5 shows an enlarged vertical section XX; Figure 6 shows an enlarged vertical section along line YY in Figure 1 and in Figure 7 showing a rear view WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 6 of a knob; Figure 8 shows an enlarged longitudinal section of the push-button valve operated by the knob; Figures 9-10-11 show, respectively, a side view, 5 front view, and top plan view of a second tap assembly in accordance with the invention; Figure 12 shows a horizontal section along line ZZ in Figure 9; Figures 13-14 show enlarged vertical sections along 10 lines XX and YY respectively in Figure 9. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 to 8 show a first embodiment of the tap assembly 15 according to the invention, which comprises a main body 1, and a fixed or swivel spout 6 fitted to the top of main body 1. From the centre of a central portion 10 of main body 1, which is substantially parallelepiped-shaped with a quadrangular base, a narrow cylindrical portion 11 20 projects downwards for assembly to the horizontal supporting surface of a sink or cabinet, and for housing all the necessary piping. From the front face of central portion 10, which is more or less vertical in use, a parallelepiped-shaped 25 portion 12 projects horizontally, and supports a single control knob 2 which acts on a known mixing cartridge 3 housed mainly inside portion 12. A parallelepiped-shaped portion 13 projects WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 7 horizontally from each of the two lateral faces of central portion 10, and a pin 14 projects from the centre of portion 13 and is fitted by a lock pin with a knob 4. Rotation of knob 4 on pin 14 operates a preferably push 5 button-operated on-off regulating valve 5 maintained in the closed position by a cylindrical helical spring 50, which acts between the fixed body 51 of the valve and a shutter 52 projecting from the fixed body at a contoured recess 40 formed inside knob 4 and decreasing in depth so 10 that rotation of the knob in one direction about pin 14 translates shutter 52 into the open position, and, in the opposite direction, springs the shutter back into the closed position. The horizontal seats housing mixing cartridge 3 and 15 the two push-button valves 5 inside main body 1 interfere with the flow conduits for regulating, and which, by way of example, are assigned as follows: A - cold water; B hot water; AB - mixed water; C - ambient-temperature microfiltered water; D - cooled microfiltered water, 20 possibly with added CO 2 . In the drawings, the same references indicate both the conduits extending through main body 1, and the pipes connected to these at the inlet and at the outlet where they are grouped inside spout 6. 25 As shown and described, the first embodiment, having two taps and a mixer, has four inflows and three outflows. The second embodiment of the tap assembly shown in WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 8 Figures 9 to 14 has three taps and a mixer, and therefore five inflows and four outflows. By way of example, the flows may be assigned as follows : A - cold water; B - hot water; AB - mixed 5 water; C - ambient-temperature microfiltered water; D cooled microfiltered water, possibly with added CO 2 ; E cooled microfiltered water with added CO 2 . The second embodiment - which is largely identical to the first, and in which the same references are used 10 for corresponding parts - differs from the first by comprising a third push-button valve 5, which is identical to the others and projects from the rear face of main body 1, more specifically from a parallelepiped shaped portion 13 on which the valve operating knob 4 15 pivots. In other variations not shown in the drawings, tap assemblies may be formed with more controls, e.g. with a number of operating knobs on the same face of main body 1, preferably located at different heights, as required 20 to operate them, and not aligned vertically to separate the conduits for regulating, though this would obviously be more difficult to implement or at least increase the size of the main body. In both the embodiments shown, the outlet pipes of 25 the mixer and of each of the taps of the tap assembly are housed inside the spout. In an alternative embodiment, however, at least one of the pipes may be replaced by the spout itself, using the space surrounding the other WO2007/113663 PCT/IB2007/000892 9 pipes. Clearly, changes may be made to the tap assembly as described and illustrated herein without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention. For 5 example, changes may be made to the design of main body 1, the number of mixers, and the number of tap control knobs, to achieve, among others, embodiments designed for public premises, such as bars or similar, for dispensing different beverages from one one-hole tap assembly 10 comprising a single-control hot and cold water mixer.

Claims

1) A one-hole sink tap assembly designed to fit to the horizontal supporting surface of a sink or cabinet, and comprising a main body (1) for receiving a number of conduits for respective inflows of liquid; a spout (6) defining a number of passages for respective outflows of liquid; and a number of devices (2, 3, 5) for turning on/off and regulating said inflows of liquid to said outflows of liquid; characterized in that one of said devices comprises a single-control mixer (2, 3) for mixing two of said inflows to one of said outflows .

2) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the other said devices each comprise a valve (5) for turning on/off and regulating a respective inflow of liquid to a respective outflow of liquid.

3) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that said valve (5) is a push-button type.

4) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said main body (1) comprises a substantially parallelepiped-shaped, quadrangular-based central portion (10) , from the bottom of which projects a narrow cylindrical portion (11) designed to fit to the horizontal supporting surface of a sink or cabinet, and to receive said number of conduits.

5) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said main body (1) comprises a central portion (10) ; said central portion (10) having a front face, from which a parallelepiped-shaped portion

(12) projects horizontally; said single-control mixer (2, 3) comprising a single-control knob (2) fitted to said parallelepiped-shaped portion and acting on a mixing cartridge (3) .

6) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said main body (1) comprises a central portion (10); said central portion (10) having two lateral faces, from each of which a parallelepiped- shaped portion (13) projects horizontally; a pin (14) projecting from said parallelepiped-shaped portion, and being fitted with a knob (4) which, when rotated on said pin (14), operates one of said valves (5).

7) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 6, characterized in that each of said valves (5) is kept closed by a spring (50) .^'

8) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 7, characterized in that said spring (50) acts between a fixed body (51) of said valve (5) and a shutter (52) projecting from the fixed body at a contoured recess (40) formed in the knob (4) ; said recess decreasing in depth so that rotation of the knob on the pin (14) in one direction translates the shutter (52) into the open position, and, in the opposite direction, springs the shutter back into the closed position.

9) A sink tap assembly as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized by comprising four inflows of liquid (A, B, C, D) and three outflows of liquid (AB, C, D) ; and in that said devices comprise said single-control mixer (2, 3) for conducting two inflows (A, B) to the same outflow (A, B), and two valves (5) for conducting two inflows (C, D) to two respective outflows.

10) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 9, characterized in that said single-control mixer (2, 3) is operated by a control (2) located on the front of said tap assembly, and said two valves (5) are operated by respective controls (4) located on the two sides of said tap assembly.

11) A sink tap assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized by comprising five inflows of liquid (A, B, C, D, E) and four outflows of liquid

(AB, C, D, E) ; and by comprising said single-control mixer (2, 3) for conducting two inflows (A, B) to the same outflow (AB), and three valves (5) for conducting three inflows (C, D, E) to three respective outflows. 12) A sink tap assembly as claimed in Claim 11, characterized in that said single-control mixer (2, 3) is operated by a control (2) located on the front of said tap assembly, and said three valves (5) are operated by respective controls (4) located on the two sides and the back of said tap assembly.

13) A sink tap assembly as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized in that said passages are defined by respective pipes housed in said spout (6) ; said pipes being equal in number to the outflows.

14) A sink tap assembly as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized in that some of said passages are defined by respective pipes housed in said spout (6), and a further passage is defined by the space surrounding said pipes in said spout.

15) A sink tap assembly as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized by comprising two or more operating knobs located on the same face of the main body (1) ; said knobs being located at different heights and not aligned vertically.

16) A sink tap assembly as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized in that said passages are independent and separate from one another up to the outlet.