Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D11/00—Electrolytic coating by surface reaction, i.e. forming conversion layers
  • C25D11/02—Anodisation
  • C25D11/04—Anodisation of aluminium or alloys based thereon
  • C25D11/18—After-treatment, e.g. pore-sealing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B23P—METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; COMBINED OPERATIONS; UNIVERSAL MACHINE TOOLS
  • B23P15/00—Making specific metal objects by operations not covered by a single other subclass or a group in this subclass
  • B23P15/001—Making specific metal objects by operations not covered by a single other subclass or a group in this subclass valves or valve housings

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the production of hard surfaced control members for faucets.
• pairs of small plates or disks of hard material have been used as control members in fau ⁇ cets, whether simple faucets or mixer faucets.
• These pairs of small plates of hard material include a fixed small plate* that allows one or more openings for the flow of liquid, and a movable small plate which moves when it comes into contact with the fixed small plate. This move ⁇ ment is achieved by means of maneuverable actions.
• the movable small plate has apertures and/or a properly out ⁇ lined perimeter so that shifting it exposes, partially closes, or totally closes one or more of the openings of the fixed small plate thereby controlling the flow of the liquid through the faucet.
• the small plates have been in the form of masses of hard, so-called ceramic material, including oxides, silicates or carbides of vari ⁇ ous elements, that can be formed into the required config ⁇ urations through sinterization of the corresponding pow ⁇ der, and then subjected to lapping on their work surfaces.
• These work surfaces can also be subjected to particular treatments.
• the work surfaces can be covered with material of even greater hardness, through physical deposition or chemical deposition by vapor.
• the work surfaces, which are porous can be impregnated with a lubricating substance.
• the small plates which are produced in the above noted ways are not satisfactory in some points of Z view.
• their production through sinterization from ceramic powder allows a notable per ⁇ centage of waste and puts grave limitations on the forma ⁇ tions which are economically obtainable — practically so limited that only planar small plates of a simple form can be made.
• the fact that the ceramic material used to form the seal and the resistance to attrition of the work sur ⁇ faces makes up the entire mass of the small plates, makes the small plates, themselves, not very resistant to break ⁇ age and contributes to the fact that not many formations are obtainable.
• the low resistance to breakage is partic ⁇ ularly felt when the small plates are produced with porous materials, in order to reduce the area of contact between the cooperating small plates, and thereby reducing the friction between them.
• the fact that the hard surfaced control members for faucets can only be re ⁇ alized in the form of small plates that are planar must be considered an unacceptable limitation.
• some control members have cylin ⁇ drical, conical or spherical work surfaces, for example, some taps which turn and slide axially, or some hemispher ⁇ ical distribution members, which would be desirable in many cases.
• the purpose of the present invention is that of cre ⁇ ating a new process, which is technologically and economi ⁇ cally convenient, for the production of hard surfaced con ⁇ trol members for faucets and to create a new kind of seal -member which-.is exempt from the disadvantages of the past known small plates made of hard material. It is also de ⁇ sirable to be able to choose the form of these control members liberally without being tied to a planar configu ⁇ ration.
• the layer of aluminum oxide is subjected to lapping until it has an adequate finish to function as a seal;
• the layer of aluminum oxide is impreg ⁇ nated with a substance that is adapted to substantially fill the pores thereof.
• a con ⁇ trol member for faucets which has a body formed essentially of aluminum or its alloy, and a working sur ⁇ face which is made from a thin layer of aluminum oxide that strongly adheres to the metal body.
• the surface is worked on until it has a high level of finishing; further, this surface has a porous structure and its pores are oc ⁇ cluded by an impregnating substance.
• the body of the control member is made of aluminum or its alloy permits the easy and economical manufacture of any desired form with ordinary means of metallurgic and mechanical processing, and assures that the control member has a great mechanical resistance against damage and breakage.
• the layer of aluminum oxide made through anodic oxidation adheres, as noted, very strongly to the metal body and does not present a problem of separation.
• the aluminum oxide produced in this way has an increased hardness, which is able to reach that of a corundum, and is particularly adapted to form a hard work surface on the control member.
• the aluminum oxide produced in this way has an essentially porous structure, with pores extending prevalently in a perpendicular direction to the surface, and it is there ⁇ fore adapted to offer an area of contact that is reduced in the cooperation with another control member.
• the impregnating substance with which the layer of alumi ⁇ num oxide is impregnated assures an adequate seal of the small plates, despite the presence of a highly porous structure, and prevents the formation of calcareous depos ⁇ its in the pores.
• any of these processes can be conveniently chosen depend ⁇ ing on the desired configuration of the control member and the extent of the foreseen production in order to assure both the attainment of the best technical results as well as a low cost of production.
• this surface, on the metallic body produced can be mechanically worked until a proper grade of finish ⁇ ing is achieved.
• aluminum pure or an alloy of aluminum with copper, silicon, magne ⁇ sium, manganese, titanium or other metals — can be used, the choice being dependent upon the process of production adopted and also by any corrosion resistance requirements.
• the anodic oxidation of the work surface can be done through electrolytic treatment in an acid or alkaline bath with one of the numerous processes known to achieve such a goal. For example, a bath of sulfuric acid at a concen ⁇ tration of 15%, or a bath of organic acids with added salts of titanium, thorium, zirconium, with an electric current of an intensity to produce a potential difference of between 12 and 22 volts.
• the common treatment usually is to interrupt the anodic treatment upon obtain ⁇ ing a layer of aluminum oxide which is a few one hun- dredths of a millimeter thick.
• a layer of aluminum oxide of this limited thickness is utilizable only if the initial work surface of the metallic body is sufficiently precise, smooth and regular so that the lapping process can be lim ⁇ ited to the removal of a very thin layer of the aluminum oxide coating. If instead the initial metallic body is not sufficiently finished, the anodic treatment must be prolonged until a thicker layer of aluminum oxide is formed; for example, until it reaches a few tenths of a millimeter. This allows subsequent processing through lapping, with the removal of a relatively thick layer of aluminum oxide.
• the technique of anodic oxidation offers the necessary means to regulate the thickness of the alu ⁇ minum oxide produced and to regulate the porosity — whether one wants to regulate the absolute dimensions of these pores or to regulate the percentage of surface occu ⁇ pas by the pores themselves — through a proper selection of the composition of the bath, its temperature, the in ⁇ tensity of the electric current and the duration of the treatment. Therefore, the proper coating that is consid ⁇ ered most desirable for the layer of aluminum oxide can be obtained by regulating the known parameters of treatment so that the best results can be obtained.
• the operation of lapping does not differ from that which is used on the small plates of ceramic material, when the control members have the form of small plates with planar surfaces.
• the impregnation with an impregnating substance to fill the pore spaces which naturally exist in the struc ⁇ ture of the aluminum oxide coating can be accomplished by using one of the various processes of impregnation which are well known. These processes immerse the parts that are to be impregnated in a bath of the impregnating sub ⁇ stance — ' ⁇ reduced to a sufficiently fluid state, if neces ⁇ sary, through heating, dissolving or diluting, under a vacuum or under sufficiently elevated pressure — to as ⁇ sure the penetration of the impregnating substance into the pores of the layer of aluminum oxide.
• the impregnat ⁇ ing substance can also be applied, through chemical reac ⁇ tion or physical deposition, directly into the pores of the layer of aluminum oxide.
• the impregnating substance oc ⁇ cupies most of the pores, is firmly anchored in the pore and not being able to escape from them with time.
• the impregnating substance must not be one that causes an increase in the friction coefficient. Nat ⁇ urally, it is not bad if the impregnating substance has some lubricating properties but it is not specifically re ⁇ quired because such properties are not utilized in that this substance must go into the pores and remain there without being able to go between the cooperating surfaces of the control members to reduce the friction coefficient.
• the impregnating substance must be physically and chemically resistant to contact with water including the hot water that can run from the faucet.
• the impregnating substance can be chosen from a wide variety of materials.
• synthetic resins belonging practically to all the known groups, waxes, hydrocarbons, halogenated hydrocarbons, silicons; and also, liquid, semi-liquid or solid substanc ⁇ es; for example, graphite, molybdenum sulfide, amorphous or crystalline silicon.
• the operation of impregnation can also be done after the anodic oxidation treatment and before the lapping operation, or vice versa.
• the impregnating substance is solid and is produced directly in the pores through a chemical reaction or a physical deposition, it becomes particularly convenient to proceed first with the operation of impregnation and then with the operation of lapping. In this way, the lapping gives rise to an essentially uninterrupted surface that is, in part, made from aluminum oxide, and in part from the impregnating substance that fills the pores of the aluminum oxide.
• a control member having all the characteristics of the invention, can cooperate with another control member which also has all the characteristics of the invention, or it can cooperate with another control member of a traditional structure, or one which has only one part of the charac ⁇ teristics of the present invention, like a member having a body of aluminum or its alloy and a work surface that is anodically oxidized and lapped, but not impregnated with an impregnating substance.
• control members of various form for small plates the application of the invention gives the control members mechanical resistance against breakage, excellent sealing characteristics, great fluency and dura ⁇ bility for long use.
• the freedom of shaping the control members provides a favorable effect on the planning of the entire faucets.
• the invention not only concerns the stated process of production, but also the control members, having a charac ⁇ teristic structure, that result from the described process in addition to the faucets that use control members which have all or some of the stated characteristics.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Electrochemistry (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Other Surface Treatments For Metallic Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

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Citations (3)

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• 1987
  • 1987-05-12 IT IT8767407A patent/IT1210727B/it active
• 1988
  • 1988-05-06 EP EP19880904843 patent/EP0314757A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1988-05-06 JP JP63504394A patent/JPH01503769A/ja active Pending
  • 1988-05-06 WO PCT/US1988/001487 patent/WO1988008762A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1988-05-06 DE DE3890357A patent/DE3890357C2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1988-05-12 ES ES8801480A patent/ES2010542A6/es not_active Expired
  • 1988-12-14 GB GB8829103A patent/GB2211444B/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1988-12-29 DK DK729288A patent/DK167478B1/da not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1989
  • 1989-01-11 FI FI890128A patent/FI96827C/fi not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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