GB2192043A

GB2192043A - A faucet

Info

Publication number: GB2192043A
Application number: GB08615489A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yu Chao-Chun
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-06-25
Filing date: 1986-06-25
Publication date: 1987-12-31
Also published as: GB8615489D0

Abstract

There is provided a faucet (1) having a hot water inlet (31), a cold water inlet (32) spaced from the hot water inlet, a control valve member disposed in the space between the inlets and movable between an open position and a closed position, and a handle (8) for varying the position of the control valve member with respect to the inlets to control water flow. The control valve member comprises an apertured sleeve which is carried by a stem (51) coupled to the handle (8). The lower end of the stem (51) acts as a further valve, co- operating with a seat member 41. The hot and cold water may be separated within the control valve member. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A faucet This invention relates to a faucet, which has a valve with several water control means, and has one control handle. The "ON" or "OFF" state of the faucet can be varied by changing the position of the control valve upon moving the handle up and down. The proportion of the cold water to the hot water and the temperature of the mixed water can by changed by varying the alignment position between the cold and hot water inlets and the cold and hot water control window; by means of the two water passages in the control valve, the cold and hot water can be prevented from being mixed directly. The multi-water control functions are to be achieved by means of the water seal rings mounted on the outer surface of the control valve, on the upper and lower portions of the shaft.

The conventional cold and hot water faucet with one control handle, or that with two control handles have many drawbacks, which are as follows: The drawbacks of the faucet with two control handles are: (1) Water convection, which is caused by the volume and pressure difference between the cold water and the hot water. In the common and mixing water passage, the proportion of the cold water to the hot is different, and therefore the temperature of the mixed water is changed quite often to cause the user feeling uncomfortable because of the water temperature being unable to control.

(2) To have a higher rate of trouble: The conventional faucet is usually opened or closed by means of a single or double thread screw halt, which is susceptible to mechanical trouble or water leaking.

The drawbacks of the faucet with a single control handle are: (1) In addition to being susceptible to leaking, the cold and hot water in the faucet with a single control handle are directly mixed in the mixing pipe, and therefore the water temperature can not be controlled in a steady condition, i.e., the temperature being changed drastically.

(2) Upon the faucet being closed, the water pressure is very high, and the hot water would infiltrate into the cold water pipe. In that case, the hot water would, upon the faucet being opened, cause injury to a user.

(3) In order to prevent the aforesaid drawback, the manufacturer has improved the control handle by molding a rubber such as N.B.R. thereon; however, since the concentric uniform thinkness is rather difficult to maintain during thermo forming, the expected result is unable to achieved; on the contrary, if may result in operation difficulty, water leaking, and injury by the heat.

In view of the aforesaid drawbacks, the inventor has developed a faucet with a valve having multi-water control means and one control handle.

In the present invention, two water seal rings are mounted above the hot and cold water windows of the control valve respectively. Between every two water seal rings, a buffer surface is formed, and upon the buffer surface facing the cold and hot water inlets, the water will be stopped, and can be prevented from flowing reversely.

In the present invention, the upper and lower portion of the shaft in the control valve are furnished with two water seal rings respectively, which can prevent the water from infiltrating out through the shaft and the water stop member, i.e., being used as an indirect water sealing means.

In the present invention, the shaft of the control valve is used to form two separate water passages so as to let the cold and hot water flow in separately until flowing to the mixed cold/hot water outlet, and therefore the temperature and proportion of the mixed water can be controlled properly.

The embodiment of the faucet with multivalves according to the present invention is described by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional view of a conventional water faucet; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the present invention; Figure 3 is a perspective view with a fragmental sectional view of the present invention; Figure 4 is a plan view of the faucet according to the present invention, showing the faucet not being used; and Figure 5 is a plan view of the faucet according to the present invention, showing the faucet being used.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a conventional faucet, of which the upper and lower portions of the shaft 23 in the regulating chamber 2 are mounted with two sealing rings 25 and 26 respectively made of rubber. On the outer wall of the regulating chamber 2, there are furnished with a hot water control hole 22 and a cold water control hole 23 separately and oppositely in terms of location.

In the regulating chamber 2, there is furnished with a cold/hot water mixing chamber 24. On the left and right sides of the main body 3, there are provided with a cold water inlet 12 and a hot water inlet 11 respectively and oppositely; upon the faucet being set in open condition, the cold and hot water inlet and outlet 12 and 11 will be aligned with the cold and hot water control holes 22 and 21 respectively. The drawback of that type of faucet is that the cold and hot water will directly enter into the cold/hot water mixing chamber 24 through the control holes 22 and 21.

Since the cold water and hot water are subject to convection effect, the proportion of the cold to the hot water is rather difficult to control, and the temperature of the mixed water is also not constant or stable. Upon the faucet being closed, the water can be stopped only with the upper sealing ring 25 and the lower sealing ring 26 on the shaft 23. The water is to be infiltrated into the mixing chamber 24 from the outer wall of the regulating chamber 24 in case of any one of the sealing rings being worn.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown a faucet 1 of the present invention, which includes a main body portion 3, a lower body portion 4, a control valve 5, an upper body portion 6, a cap 7, and a handle 8. The upper portion of the main body portion 3 is provided with a hot water inlet 31, while the lower portion of the main body portion 3 is provided with a cold water inlet 32. The upper body portion 6 is movably mounted on the main body portion 3; the upper body portion 6 is furnished with a round hole 61 for receiving the handle 8. The lower body portion 4 is fixedly mounted on the main body portion 3 with threads. In the lower body portion 4, there are provided with a water stop member 41 and a mixed cold/hot water outlet 43.

Two water passages 52 and 53 in the control valve 5 are formed around a shaft 51. On the upper portion of one water passage 52 is furnished with a hot water control window 54, while the lower portion of the other water passage 53 is furnished with a cold water control window 55. The both windows 55 and 54 will be aligned with the cold water inlet 32 and the hot water inlet 31 respectively upon the faucet being set at open position so as to let the water flow through.

Above the cold and hot water control windows 55 and 54, there are furnished with two water seal rings 56' and 56 respectively. Between two water seal rings 56' and 56, there are furnished with two buffer surfaces 57' and 57. The upper and lower portions of the shaft 51 of the control valve 5 are furnished with two water seal rings 58, 58' and 59, 59' respectively. The aforesaid water seal rings are used for direct and dual water sealing purposes. The handle 8 after passing through the round hole 61 on the upper body portion 6 is pivotally mounted on shaft 51. The cap 7 is mounted on the upper body portion 6 for both covering and decoration purposes.

Fig. 4 illustrates the faucet in the closed condition; in that case, the cold and hot water inlets 32 and 31 are not in alignment with the cold and hot water control windows 55 and 54. Upon the handle 8 being pressed downwards, the control valve 5 will be moved upwards; simultaneously, the water seal rings 59 and 59' at the lower portion of shaft 51 will separate from the inner concave surface 42 of the water stop member 41 as shown in Fig. 5 instead of being in the close contact condition as shown in Fig. 4; then, the cold and hot water windows 55 and 54 of the control valve 5 will be in alignment with the cold and hot water inlets 32 and 31 of the main body portion 3 respectively so as to let the cold and hot water enter into the cold and hot water inlets 32 and 31 and pass through the cold and hot water control windows 55 and 54 respectively, and then enter into the cold and hot water passages 53 and 52 respectively of the control valve 5. Finally, the cold and hot water will be mixed up in the water stop member 41 area, and then the mixed water flows out of the mixed cold/hot water outlet 43.

Upon the faucet of the present invention being closed, the two water seal rings 56 are set on the both sides of the hot water inlet 31, while the other two water seal rings 56' are set on the both sides of the cold water inlet 32 so as to stop and maintain the cold and hot water between the cold water buffer surface 57' and the hot water buffer surface 57 and to prevent from the water infiltrating through the outer edge of the control valve 5 and also to prevent the water from flowing reversely.

The control valve 5 is divided into two separate water passages 52 and 53 by means of shaft 51 so as to have the cold and hot water flow into the mixed cold/hot water outlet 43 in a correct mixing proportion. Since the cold and hot water passages 53 and 52 are two separate passages, and since the cold and hot water inlets 32 and 31 are not in alignment with the cold and hot water control windows 55 and 54 respectively, the cold water and the hot water will not have convection effect upon flowing through the two windows 55 and 54. Further, the aforesaid structure can also prevent the cold and hot water from having a non-even mixing proportion, which would cause an unstable water temperature.

In order to prevent water infiltrating from the water stop member into the water passages 53 and 52, or to prevent water from infiltraling out of the upper portion of the control valve 5, the shaft 51 of the control valve 5 is furnished with two water seal rings 58 and 58' on the upper portion thereof and two water seal rings 59 and 59' on the lower portion thereof. The two water seal rings 58 and 58' are used for preventing the water from infitrating upwards and outwards upon the water pressure being increased. In the lower portion of the shaft 51, one of water seal rings 59 and 59' is used as a spare one, while the other ring 59' is mounted in such a manner that it is in close contact with the inner concave surface 42 to prevent from leaking or infiltrating, i.e., a dual water sealing function. The spare water seal ring 59 is used for replacing the other water seal ring in case of being unserviceable.

Claims

1. A faucet having a hot water inlet, a cold water inlet spaced from the hot water inlet, a control valve disposed in the space between the inlets and movable between an open position and a closed position, and a handle for varying the position of the control valve with respect to the inlets to control water flow.

2. A faucet according to claim 1, wherein the control valve comprises a casing housing a shaft member spaced from the casing, the handle being pivotally attached to the shaft member and the casing having inlets in positions corresponding to the positions of the hot and cold water inlets, in the open position of the valve.

3. A faucet according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the hot and cold water inlets are at different heights.

4. A faucet according to claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the casing has sealing rings in positions corresponding to the positions of the hot and cold water inlets in the closed position of the valve.

5. A faucet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the space in the casing around the shaft member is divided to provide separate passages for hot and cold water.

6. A faucet with a valve having multi-water sealing means, comprising a main body portion, a lower body portion, an upper body portion, a cap, a control valve and a handle; and said handle being moved up and down so as to have the cold and hot water control windows being in alignment with the cold and hot water inlets respectively; and by varying the position of said handle, the cold and hot water volume and the temperature of the mixed water being regulated properly.

7. A faucet as claimed in claim 6, wherein a position above said hot and cold water control windows of said control valve is mounted with two water seal rings respectively; and between every two said water seal rings, a buffer surface being formed, and upon said buffer surface exactly facing said cold and hot water inlets, the water being cut off and being prevented from flowing backwards.

8. A faucet as claimed in claim 6, wherein the upper and lower portions of the shaft of said control valve are mounted with two water seal rings respectively; and said water seal rings are used for preventing water from infiltrating out along said shaft and the water stop member, and also being used as an indirect water-stopping means.

9. A faucet as claimed in claim 6, wherein said control valve is formed into two water passages by means of said shaft so as to let the cold and hot water enter separately and mix at the mixed cold/hot water outlet in order to control the temperature and proportion of the mixed water.

10. A faucet substantially as herein described.

11. A faucet constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 2 to 5 of the drawings.