GB2255615A - Photo electric single handle faucet - Google Patents

Abstract

A multi-purpose photoelectronic automatic sensing faucet mechanism with single handle and water temperature regulation and water stop functions, to be used in basin, shower tap and kitchen, comprises a pilot-operated diaphragm valve 3, controlled by an infra-red ray photoelectronic sensing solenoid 1 and arranged downstream of a manually operated mixing valve which regulates the temperature of the water. The mixing valve comprises a rotary shaft 5 which controls the position of an apertured sleeve closure member with respect to an apertured sleeve seat 6 so as to provide either no flow or selected proportions of hot and cold water. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION: Photo electric Single Handle Faucet BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: With rapid development of social economics and advanced development of scientific technology, people's demand for material living requires higher and higher standards.

As a result, intellectual and automated products have gradually appeared to satisfy people's reaui=e- ments; And due to the rampage of infectious diseases, people want disposal articles at public places, so automated sensing facilities are widely employed at public places. The subject invention is the result- to satisfy the requirements of convenient household use and sanitary considerat~ons at public places.

Due to worldwide lack of water resources, cient development of water resources to meet the demand, insurficient education on saving water consump- tion, etc. the ways to control water channels or improve water consumption habits have become more and more important. Because conventional water taps are not easily opened or closed, the users would often forget to thighten the faucet and cause water discharge waste; Some would even titan the faucet too much for fear of water leakage, and cause quick wear and tear on water-stoppage parts which result in water leakage. This invention has be developed to solve the above defects.

On the market there are automatic sensing faucets being sold at the moment, but they could not overcome the principles of light weight, compactness and easy operation. Therefore, we saw only single-use coldwater faucets that were of big size, difficult to fit, at public places; or cold-and-hot-water combination faucet with plastic structure that could not resist heat; or faucets with cold and hot combination function but of poor design of combination mechanism, resulting in poor cold and hot regulation effects, or even burn the user because of heat expansion and jammed mechanism, etc. Aimed at those defects, this invention has been researched and developed to improve and overcome them, and to coordinate with human use.

Another feature of the invention is the cold/hot combination handle with water stoppage effect besides cold/hot combination function, so that there will be no trouble of automatic water discharge when the user is in contact with the light sensing switch, and to achieve the purpose of saving water consumstion.

As for continued water discharge function, electronic control may be adopted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: This invention relates to an interior mechanism of faucet suitable for basin, bath tub and kitchen purposes, featuring a solenoid switch to produceimbalance of water pressure inside the solenoid, to produce the effect of automatic control of water output. And for user's convenience and saving water consumption, infra-red ray photoelectronic sensing switch control is used to achieve the purpose of automation. Because user's sensitivity to temperature is different, the single handle control is designed to include water stoppage function, to suit different user' requirement and convenient operation. Furthermore, the various components of this invention are independently assembled to achieve the purpose of easy maintenance and replacement of components, and the user can perform the installation and repairs, to save increasing installation and repair expenses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: FIG. 1 is the exploded view of the subject invention.

FIG. 2 is the perspective view of the subject invention.

FIG. 3A is a section view of the solenoid.

FIG. 3B is a section view of the solenoid.

FIG. 4A is a section view of the mixing chamber.

FIG. 4B is a section view of the mixing chamber.

FIG. 4C is a section view of the mixing chamber.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the temperature regulating and water stopping shaft.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the temperature regulating and water stopping shaft fixing seat.

FIG. 6A is a section view of the subject invention.

FIG. 6B is a section view of the subject invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: Referring to FIG. 1 and 2, the solenoid (1) produces or eliminate magnetic force lines with switching off or on of power source, to suck or release piston rod (25), to produce imbalance or balance of pressure in balance pressure chamber (23), and to achieve water output or stoppage efficiency of water output control valve seat (4).

Piston rod fixing seat (2) is a combination disc with sound-muffling groove (21) and piston rod sliding groove (22). The piston rod sliding groove (22) is to facilitate the sliding of piston rod (25) without deviation in its fixed position. Sound muffling groove (21) is designed to elinate the noise of pressure produced from the sliding of piston rod(25), to guide the turbulence in the piston rod sliding groove (22), so the turbulence can be guided by the sound muffling groove and smoothly discharged or sucked into the piston rod sliding groove (22), to enable smoother sliding of piston rod (25), and to reduce the noise to a minimum, thus avoiding the user from fear of automatic faucet due to the noise.

The piston rod fixing seat (2) and pressure release water stopping plate (3) produce a balanced pressure chamber (23) between them. The effect of balanced pressure chamber (23) is, by means of the piston rod compression spring (24) pressing tightly against the piston rod (25), to press the soft piston rod water stopping nut sleeve (26) tightly against the pressure vent (32) on the metal fixing plate (31) in the water stopping plate (3), and by means or the constant pressure hole (33) on the water stopping plate (3), to balance the pressure between the water input guide groove (42) and balance pressure chamber (23), and enable the soft constant pressure water stopper (3) pressing tightly against the water output valve hole (41) to produce the effect of stopping water. (Refer to Fig. 3A.) When the solenoid (1) passes the current to produce magnetic force lines, the piston rod (25) is sucked by the force to drive the piston rod water stopping nut (26) to separate from pressure vent hole (23), so, the pressure in the water guide groove (42) enters the balance pressure chamber (23) through the constant pressure hole (23), because the constant pressure hole is smaller than the pressure vent hole (32), it results in outflow of water in the balance pressure chamber (23) at the pressure vent hole (32), so the pressure buffer arc (34) on the constant pressure water stopping plate (3) is pressed by the pressure in the water inlet guide groove (42) and deformed, so the constant pressure water stopping plate (3) is separated from water output valve hole (41) to produce water discharge effect. (Please refer to Fig. 3B.) The water output tube fixing seat (43) is for the purpose of connection with required water output end when this invention is used in various purposes.

(Please refer to Fig. 6.

The cold/hot water inlet (44) is the tube for entrance of cold/hot water into water output control valve seat (4).

Power cord or water stop pulling rod guide vent (45) is the power cord for light sensing switch, and control the pulling lever to switch on or off the water stopper, to pass through this guide vent and avoid the pressing by the mechanism, so the power cord will not be damaged or the pulling lever's movement will not be hindered.

The water inlet guide tube connector seat (46) is for connection to required water inlet tubes with various specifications when this invention is used in various purposes, without changing the mechanism of water output control valve seat (4).- (Please refer to Fig. 6.) The water temperature regulating and water stopping functions are combined through the temperature regulating and water stopping turning shaft (5) and temperature regulating and water stopping turning shaft fixing seat (6). Temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing seat (6) is made of special material to resist high heat and wear, to absorb the coefficient produced by heat expansion of temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft (:5).,.

avoiding the temperature regulating function from being jammed and consequent failure, and for normal performance and free operation; To enable temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing seat (6) to have correct positioning above the water output control valve seat (4), there is the special design of temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing seat key (63) to facilitate repair, maintenance and assembly; To prevent water outflow, an outflow check packing ring (62) is used to restrict it; To enable entrance of hot or cold water into water output control valve seat (4), there is the design of hot/cold water temperature regulating water inlet hole (64);With the water inlet hole outflow stop water pad (65) to restrict the water inlet tube and serve as the outflow check for temperature regula- ting and water stop turning shaft (5); To enable sufficient water supply for'waster output, there is the design of an opening of fixed water output (61) to coordinate.To prevent misfunction of temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft (5), there is the design of a special temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing key (66) to restrict it. (Please refer to Fig. 5B.) The temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft is designed in single handle to facilitate control, the water inlet overflow check packing ring is also the water inlet hole overflow check pad (65); An overflow check packing ring (54) is used between it and the temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing seat (6) to avoid overflow; To mix hot and cold water well, the hot/cold water mixing chamber (52) is designed to avoid inconsistent water temperature; To enable sufficient water output, a special water output opening (51) is designed with a dented opening;To enable normal function of temperature regulation and water stop, a water inlet temperature regulating hole (53) is designed with no step control to suit the user's required temperature (please refer to Fig. 4); To fix the temperature regulating handle (72) in place, a temperature regulating handle fixing screw hole (56) is designed at the end of the temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft (5) to facilitate the positioning.

To prevent improper turning of temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft (5), a special temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing key (55) is designed to restrict it. (Please refer to Fig. SA.) To secure the temperature regulating and water stop function mechanism, the fixing nut (71) is used to tighten it. To prevent the occurence of high water pressure and to securely fix the temperature regulating and water stop function mechanism, a metal pad (67) is fitted between the temperature regulating and water stop turning shft fixing seat (6) and the fixing nut(71) to meet the need.

To prevent backflow of cold/hot water, a check valve is fitted at the water inlet tube which shall not be described in details since it is not main point of appeal for the subject invention.

To conclude the above, in addition to the improvement of conventional automatic sensing faucet which could not or has not hot/cold water mixing device, the subject invention has taken careful consideration of the difficulty in assembly and noise problems and solve them, particularly, this invention has considered the advantages of multiple purpose, light weight and compact size, it is good for saving material and manual resources, therefore, the practicability of the subject invention is itself a contribution.

Claims (2)

CLAIMS:

1. A type of photoelectronic automatic sensing faucet mechanism with multi-purpose single handle, water temperature regulating and water stopping functions, comprising mainly of - a piston rod fixing seat, which includes a sound muffling groove to eliminate magnetic coil absorption or release piston rod producing turbulence and noise. Innovated films and solenoid. This invention has significant improve ment of control of noise which is feared by users.

- a constant pressure water stop piece, which is a metal fixer with a pressure release hole at center and a constant pressure hole at its side, coated with a pressure buffer arc's soft material combination. Compared with various drive type solenoid membranes which need much time in assembling, this invention has the advantages of easy installation and repair and replacement. Furthermore, for the require- ment of super high water pressure, it needs only to replace the metal fixer plate during production process. Therefore, this invention has the advantage of high adaptability.

- a water output control valve seat, which includes the design of a water temperature regulating and water stopping solenoid at the water inlet which is small and compact, and can accommodate the water inlet guide tube connector of various faucet specifications.

- a temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft, which includes a cold and hot water inlet hole, and a single handle metal turning shaft combined with water stopping function, to have the feature of convenient operation and no-step temperature control. To avoid misuse, it has the design of a fixing key.

- a temperature and water stop turning shaft fixing seat, which is made of heat-resistant and wear resistant material, to absorb the metal expan sion coefficient caused by temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing seat due to heat transfer, and to avoid the turning shaft from being jammed due to excessive heat.

To avoid the simultaneous turning of temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft, a key is designed to be tightly joined with the water output control valve seat, for the posi tioning of hot/cold water inlet hole. To avoid excessive turning of temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft, a positioning key is designed to restrict it.

- a water inlet hole overflow check pad, made of soft material, to prevent overflow between the water output control valve and temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft fixing seat, and to adjust the position of temperature regulating and water stop turning shaft, and for correct control of overflow.

2. As described in Item 1, "photoelectronic auto matic sensing faucet mechanism with multi-purpose single handle, water temperature regulating and water stoping functions", which also includes a multi-purpose water inlet guide tube connector, to facilitate the connection of this invention with the basin faucet, double-outlet faucet, kitchen faucet and shower faucet, etc.