GB1595137A

GB1595137A - Delayed-closure taps

Info

Publication number: GB1595137A
Application number: GB1806078A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Les Robinets Presto SA
Current assignee: Les Robinets Presto SA
Priority date: 1977-05-20
Filing date: 1978-05-05
Publication date: 1981-08-05
Also published as: FR2391406B1; DE2821808A1; DE2821808C2; FR2391406A1; ES469606A1

Description

(54) DELAYED-CLOSURE TAPS (71) We, LES ROBINETS PRESTO, a French Society' Anomyne, of 7, Rue Racine, 92120 Montrouge, France, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to delayed or slow closure valyes.

It is known for such taps to comprise a valve which is biased closed and which is connected to a piston, the displacement of which to close the valve is delayed by the pressure of the fluid therein. To this end, the piston slides in a cylinder permanently communicating, by means of a small calibrated orifice, with an inlet for fluid under pressure. When the tap is opened, the piston is depressed in the cylinder and the valve is displaced from its seat. The fluid e.g. water under pressure, passes through the calibrated orifice into the chamber formed by the cylinder and the piston, or delay chamber, and slows movement of the piston to close the valve which is acted on by spring means until finally it comes to rest on its seat.

The volume of water delivered by the tap depends on the one hand upon the flow rate in the supplying mains pipe and on the other upon the delaying device. If it is desired that pressure on the tap leads to the delivery of a precise volume of water, the delaying device has to be adjusted. To this end, the volume of the delaying chamber or the section of the calibrated hole can be varied since the volume of water delivered by the tap is directly proportional to the time during which the valve remains off its seat.

Initially it seemed simple to effect such an adjustment by modifying the volume of the delaying chamber. Tn fact this solution proved a poor one for any substantial variation in its volume had a negligible influence on the length of the delay.

Moreover, it was also found that the length of the delay did not vary linearly as a function of the volume of the chamber. The same phenomenon was found when it was desired to change the section of the calibrated hole. The adjustment of the section of the calibrated hole is currently effected using measuring tools with all the inconvenience this entails when irreversibly modifying the dimension of a mechanical device.

To this inconvenience one can add the fact that such an adjustment must necessarily be carried out at the factory.

With the state of the art at present, one may say therefore that it is not practically possible to regulate the volume of water delivered by each tap to the user's taste, the said volume being determined in fact by the flow rate in the installation and by the characteristics of the tap.

According to the invention there is provided a slow closure valve which is biased closed and in which closure is delayed by the pressure of fluid passing through the valve comprising a valve member, a valve orifice normally closed by the valve member and which is in communication with a fluid outlet, a piston and cylinder device connected to the valve member, the cylinder having a wall formed with an aperture by means of which the device is in communication with a fluid inlet whereby the piston is influenced by the fluid pressure, a member closing the cylinder and incorporating the valve orifice, the member having a skirt engaging the cylinder and cooperating with the aperture therein such that relative rotation of the cylinder and closure member alters the effective size of the aperture.

The invention will be better understood from the following description which is given with reference to the attached drawings by way of example only and in which: Figure 1 is a vertical-section view of a delayed-closure tap in accordance with the invention in the open position; Figure 2 is a partial exploded perspective view showing the two parts used in the tap of Figure 1 to regulate the rate of delivery, and Figure 3 is a partial side view of a modified form of the two parts of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, one can see that the tap comprises a body 21 having two endpieces 25 and 26 which are respectively the inlet and the outlet for water under pressure.

Between the endpieces 25 and 26 there is the seat 22 which defines an orifice which can be blocked by a valve member 10. The valve member 10 is integral with a piston 17 and is located at one end of a rod 9 having at its other end a push-button 11. The rod 9 is guided in a sleeve 23 closing off the body 21.

The piston 17 is slidable inside a pot or cylinder 18 having a collar 19 clamped between a shoulder 20 in the body 21 and the seat 22 held by the sleeve 23. On the side of the piston remote from the valve 10, the piston and cylinder define a chamber 7 which communicates with the fluid inlet 25 by means of a small calibrated orifice 8 in the piston 17. When the valve 24 is moved off its seat, the water enters the body through endpiece 25, passes into the pot 18 which is provided with suitable orifices, flows past the seat 22 and is discharged through the endpiece 26.

A regulating device is located upstream of the seat 22, and an orifice 27 in the wall of the pot 18, the section of which corresponds to a maximum throughput, while the seat 22 is formed in a member closing one end of the pot, the member having a skirt 28 which can block the orifice 27 and over which the said pot is engaged without play.

The skirt 28 has slots 29 of different sections which can each combine with the orifice 27 to offer a predetermined section for passage of the water. The slots 29 can if desired be replaced by calibrated holes.

Figure 3 shows a modification which makes it possible to regulate the throughput continuously. To this end, the skirt 28 has at its end a long slot 30 the bottom of which extends at an oblique angle to said skirt. By turning the pot 18 on the skirt 28 the section offered for passage of the water is modified, this being delimited by a part of the periphery of the orifice 27 and by the oblique bottom of the slot 30.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A slow closure valve which is biased closed and in which closure is delayed by the pressure of fluid passing through the valve comprising a valve member, a valve orifice normally closed by the valve member and which is in communication with a fluid outlet, a piston and cylinder device connected to the valve member, the cylinder having a wall formed with an aperture by means of which the device is in communication with a fluid inlet whereby the piston is influenced by the fluid pressure, a member closing the cylinder and incorporating the valve orifice, the member having a skirt engaging the cylinder and co-operating with the aperture therein such that relative rotation of the cylinder and closure member alters the effective size of the aperture.

2. A slow closure valve according to claim 1, wherein the part of the skirt of the closure member co-operating with the aperture in the cylinder is a slot extending obliquely to axis of the cylinder whereby the effective size of the aperture can be infinitely varied.

3. A delayed-closure tap substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figures 1 and 2 or Figures 1 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Referring to the drawings, one can see that the tap comprises a body 21 having two endpieces 25 and 26 which are respectively the inlet and the outlet for water under pressure. Between the endpieces 25 and 26 there is the seat 22 which defines an orifice which can be blocked by a valve member 10. The valve member 10 is integral with a piston 17 and is located at one end of a rod 9 having at its other end a push-button 11. The rod 9 is guided in a sleeve 23 closing off the body 21. The piston 17 is slidable inside a pot or cylinder 18 having a collar 19 clamped between a shoulder 20 in the body 21 and the seat 22 held by the sleeve 23. On the side of the piston remote from the valve 10, the piston and cylinder define a chamber 7 which communicates with the fluid inlet 25 by means of a small calibrated orifice 8 in the piston 17. When the valve 24 is moved off its seat, the water enters the body through endpiece 25, passes into the pot 18 which is provided with suitable orifices, flows past the seat 22 and is discharged through the endpiece 26. A regulating device is located upstream of the seat 22, and an orifice 27 in the wall of the pot 18, the section of which corresponds to a maximum throughput, while the seat 22 is formed in a member closing one end of the pot, the member having a skirt 28 which can block the orifice 27 and over which the said pot is engaged without play. The skirt 28 has slots 29 of different sections which can each combine with the orifice 27 to offer a predetermined section for passage of the water. The slots 29 can if desired be replaced by calibrated holes. Figure 3 shows a modification which makes it possible to regulate the throughput continuously. To this end, the skirt 28 has at its end a long slot 30 the bottom of which extends at an oblique angle to said skirt. By turning the pot 18 on the skirt 28 the section offered for passage of the water is modified, this being delimited by a part of the periphery of the orifice 27 and by the oblique bottom of the slot 30. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A slow closure valve which is biased closed and in which closure is delayed by the pressure of fluid passing through the valve comprising a valve member, a valve orifice normally closed by the valve member and which is in communication with a fluid outlet, a piston and cylinder device connected to the valve member, the cylinder having a wall formed with an aperture by means of which the device is in communication with a fluid inlet whereby the piston is influenced by the fluid pressure, a member closing the cylinder and incorporating the valve orifice, the member having a skirt engaging the cylinder and co-operating with the aperture therein such that relative rotation of the cylinder and closure member alters the effective size of the aperture.