FR2847643A1 - Water tap opening controlling device, has temporization chamber connected by drain with valve whose opening allows water contained in chamber to escape - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a temporization chamber (7) sealed by a piston (6), presenting a calibrated opening (8), whose displacement determines that of the valve (4) of a tap. The temporization chamber is connected by a drain (9) with another valve (10) whose opening allows the water contained in the chamber to escape.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for

  simultaneously control the opening of the valves of a heating installation

water distribution.

  It is known that in a sanitary water distribution installation the risks of the development of pathogenic germs, such as those capable of causing legionellosis, are all the greater when water stagnates.

in the pipes.

  This is the case, in particular, in premises with very many

  tapping points, some of which are very little used.

  The solution to prevent this risk of spreading consists in rinsing the pipes which leads, at regular intervals, to open all the taps of the same installation so that the water flows for a predetermined time. This solution is difficult to implement in the case of ordinary taps, but it is almost impossible for large installations of the

  kind of those you find in hospitals for example.

  In fact, these installations use taps, traditional or timed, that it is not possible to open and keep open the time necessary to perform the rinsing which generally requires several

minutes.

  In a timed tap, of known type, the valve is applied against its seat by the force exerted by the pressure of the water contained in a chamber normally closed by a piston, said piston comprising a seal.

  lip and a calibrated hole allowing water to enter said chamber.

  To open the valve, the piston is pushed back by expelling the water contained in the chamber and which escapes by crossing the lip seal, which simultaneously has the effect of raising the valve: the water flows freely. During the flow, part of the water enters the chamber through the calibrated hole, pushes the piston and brings the valve back against its seat after a certain time, or time delay, which depends, among other things, on the volume of the chamber, of the calibrated hole section, or even of the

  force of a spring interposed between the bottom of said chamber and said piston.

  In an installation comprising such taps, it is difficult to provide a person for each tap which keeps the piston depressed, all the more so since most taps include safety devices which prevent the interruption of the time delay. In other words, even if the user keeps the control button pressed this action has no effect on the delay time and at the end of this time a new action on the push button is necessary to allow the flow of

the water.

  Some taps, such as those used in shower installations, have a so-called remote control. In fact, the delay chamber is connected, by a pipe, to an auxiliary discharge valve comprising a valve controlled by a pusher which makes it possible to put said chamber in the open air and, consequently, to cause the valve to be raised from the main tap. The problem remains the same: it is not possible to keep a user in front of each auxiliary relief valve, an operation which would prove illusory since these relief valves are generally provided with a safety device which prevents

  the user to inhibit the duration of the timer.

  The device of the invention is remarkable in that all of the valves of an installation are connected to an auxiliary valve allowing when

  the latter is open to keep all of said installation taps open.

  By the expression "the set of taps" is meant the set of taps defining a management unit such as the set of taps from different premises or the set of taps on the floor of a

local for example.

  Each delay chamber is connected by a pipe

suitable for the aforementioned valve.

  The present invention will be better understood from the description which follows

  follow made with reference to the attached drawing as an indicative example only, in which: the figure is a schematic view, in section, showing a timed tap of a known type; FIG 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the implementation of the device of the invention; FIG. 3 is a view on a smaller scale showing an installation

according to the invention.

  Referring to Figure 1, we see that in known manner, the valve comprises a body 1 having a water inlet 2 and an outlet 3 separated by a valve 4 carried by a rod 5 having a piston 6, provided with 'a joint to

  known lip, closing a chamber 7.

  As is known, the piston 6 communicates with the chamber 7 by

  through a calibrated orifice 8.

  By pushing in the rod 5, the valve is raised and the piston 6 is pushed back,

  the water contained in the chamber escaping through the periphery of said piston.

  The water then enters the chamber 7 via the orifice and pushes the piston until the valve is again applied against its seat and is maintained by the pressure of the water inside said chamber this action is reinforced by a spring, not shown, interposed

  between the piston and the bottom of the chamber.

  According to the invention, the chamber 7 is connected, by a pipe 9,

  or discharge line, to a valve 10.

  If the valve 10 is opened, the pressure in the chamber 7 drops and the valve flap rises. If after a certain time (the time necessary to perform the rinsing) the vannelO is closed, the tap performs its

timeout and closes.

  It should be noted that, when the valve 10 is open, the rinsing water

  crosses the calibrated orifice 8 and also rinses the pipe 9.

  At the outlet of each tap, a non-return valve 11 is interposed on the discharge pipe 9 to oppose the circulation of water in the tap valve direction. Indeed, in the absence of a non-return valve, the normal opening of a tap would open all the taps connected together. The control of the valve 10 can be manual or controlled by a

  programmable clock or by any electronic programming system.

  According to a variant, it is conceivable that each tap is associated with a discharge valve controlled remotely from a control station using a dedicated wired link, a wired link by carrier current, or the telephone network, or controlled by a radio signal received and

  processed by a suitable interface.

Claims (3)

  1-Device for controlling the opening of timed taps of the kind of those comprising a timing chamber (7) closed by a piston (6), having a calibrated orifice (8), the displacement of which determines that of the valve (4) of the tap, characterized in that the delay chamber is connected, by a pipe (9), to a valve (10) whose opening allows the water contained in said chamber to escape. 2-Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the valve is common to several taps.   3-Device according to any one of claims 1 and 2,   characterized in that a non-return valve (11) is interposed on the   discharge line (9) as close as possible to the corresponding tap.