GB2269884A - A tap - Google Patents

Abstract

In a tap for a urine drainage bag, in which a lever 8 rotates a valve member 4 to open and close the tap, the lever is arranged with respect to the valve member such that it extends longitudinally in a similar direction to inlet and outlet pipes of the tap in both the open and closed configuration of the tap. The lever may be connected to the valve member by a lost-motion connection (Fig 7) involving a projection which rotates within a recess of larger size, when the lever is moved. Alternatively, the valve member may be arranged such that the passages through it do not intersect the axis of rotation (as shown), or do so at an angle other than 90 degrees (Fig 4). <IMAGE>

Description

A TAP The present invention relates to a tap. In particular it relates to a tap for draining fluid or urine from a drainage bag such as a urine bag.

Urine bag drainage taps are usually operated by the urine bag wearer when he or she requires to drain the bag.

Usually, the tap is left open at night and urine is drained directly into a collecting bag or other suitable receptacle.

Urine bag drainage taps which utilise alignment of a channel with an inlet and outlet to open the tap, are known. Typically the tap fitting is made of plastics material.

GB 2129912 describes a tap in which a manually operable lever aligns a channel with plastic inlet and outlet pipes to open the tap. The lever serves to rotate the channel through about 90 , into and out of alignment with the inlet and outlet pipes. When the tap is open, the lever projects from the tap at an approximately 900 angle to the inlet and outlet pipes.

GB 2166222 describes a similar tap in which a manually operable lever rotates a through channel into and out of alignment with inlet and outlet pipes. Again the lever projects from the body of the tap at an approximately 900 angle to the inlet and outlet pipes, when the tap is open.

The present inventors have found that it is advantageous for wearers of urine bags if the manually operable lever used to open and close the tap lies substantially flush against the main body of the tap, for example, so that the lever extends alongside or in a similar direction to the inlet or outlet pipe, both when the tap is in an open disposition and when it is in a closed disposition. With this arrangement the urine bag wearer is able to lie much more comfortably at night, when the tap is open for draining. In addition, the accidental closure of the tap due to movement of the wearer is less likely.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a tap which comprises an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe extending in opposite directions from a valve housing, a movable valve member within the housing and an operating lever connected to the valve member and movable between an open position in which the valve member is oriented to permit flow through the valve and a closed position in which the valve member is oriented to block flow through the valve, wherein the operating lever lies adjacent to one or other of said pipes in each of its two said positions.

In other words, when the tap is open, the lever extends substantially alongside or in a similar direction as one of the inlet or outlet pipe. Furthermore, the lever also extends alongside or substantially in a similar direction as the other of the inlet or outlet pipe when the tap is closed. Operation of the tap between an open and closed disposition may be effected by rotation of the lever through an angle which is greater than 1200 between the two extending positions of the lever. Preferably the angle through which the lever is rotatable to effect opening, is greater than 1500 between the two positions.

In preferred embodiments, the valve member is a volume of revolution which is rotatably mounted within the valve housing, and the lever is arranged to effect rotation of the volume of revolution. The volume of revolution defines a pathway for through flow of fluid. Rotation of the valve member may then allow alignment of a fluid pathway with the inlet and outlet pipes to open the tap.

In preferred embodiments the volume of revolution is a cylinder. In further preferred embodiments, the fluid pathway is a bore through a solid drum or hollow cylinder.

Generally, the tap is of plastics material and its parts may be formed by injection moulding. However, different plastics may be used for different parts of the tap, and other materials may be substituted.

In one particularly preferred embodiment of the tap according to the invention, the central axis of the fluid pathway through the volume of revolution is offset from the axis of rotation of the volume. In other words, when the volume of revolution is a drum the fluid pathway has an off-centre position in the drum structure. This means that the inlet and outlet pipes may also have an offcentre position with respect to the rotational axis of the drum structure. In this embodiment, alignment of the fluid pathway with the inlet and outlet pipes only occurs at one position during a full rotation of the drum. The exact off-centre positioning of the fluid pathway (and inlet and outlet pipes) is determined by the size, shape and desired resting positions of the manually operable lever.

In other particularly preferred embodiment, the fluid pathway intersects the axis of rotation of the volume of revolution at an angle other than 90 to the axis of rotation. Again, the fluid pathway is only aligned with the inlet and outlet and the inlet and outlet pipes at one position during the rotation of the volume of revolution, or drum structure. In this embodiment, the inlet and outlet pipes are positioned in the same plane but one is displaced axially along the valve housing with respect to the other.

In both of these preferred embodiments, the fluid pathway can be arranged so that it is in alignment with the inlet and outlet pipes (ie the tap is open) when the lever is in a first position extending substantially in a similar direction to one of the inlet or the outlet pipes. The arrangement can also be such that the fluid pathway is out of alignment (ie the tap is closed) when the lever is in a second position extending substantially in a similar direction of the other of the inlet or the outlet pipes.

In both of these positions, the lever lies very close to or flush with the tap body. In other words, the angle between the axially extending lever and the long axis of the inlet or outlet pipe is very small in these positions.

In both of these first two embodiments the arrangement of the bore within the valve member facilitates the advantageous arrangement of the lever in both the open and closed dispositions of the tap.

In a third preferred embodiment, the lever is connected to the valve member which is a volume of revolution by a lost motion connection. That is, a portion of the rotational movement of the lever does not move the valve member, whilst another portion of the rotational movement of the lever does move the valve member. For example, in a tap where the valve member is a volume of revolution, one of the volume of revolution or the lever has a recess and the other a projecting portion whereby the relative size and/or configuration of the recess and projecting portion is such as to allow some lost motion before the lever rotation is transmitted to the volume of revolution.

In a convenient form of this preferred embodiment, the valve member is a cylindrical drum and the fluid pathway may be a bore through the solid drum. The drum is rotatably mounted in a hollow cylindrical part of the valve housing, and rotation of the drum in the valve housing leads to alignment of the bore with the inlet and outlet pipes. The lever may then be arranged with respect to the drum such that only a portion of the lever's rotation is translated into rotation of the drum Most conveniently, the lever has a projecting portion which rotates around an axis when the lever is rotated, and in the assembled tap, this projecting portion occupies part of a recess in an end face of the drum structure. The recess may be a segment of the circular end face and the projection portion may also be a segment, of smaller arc size.The angle of the projection sits in the angle of the recess.

Movement of the lever causes the projecting portion to rotate and after it reaches the boundary of the recess in the end face of the drum, further movement of the lever causes the drum structure to rotate.

Although the above arrangement is preferred, it is also possible for the end face of the drum to carry the projecting portion and for the lever to house the recess.

Clearly, the relative arc sizes and positions of the projection and recess will depend on where it is desired that the lever should rest in the open disposition of the tap and in the closed disposition of the tap.

This arrangement is particularly preferred for the invention, because it allows the fluid pathway to be positioned centrally in the drum structure. It also allows the inlet and outlet pipes to be positioned centrally with respect to the valve housing, and opposite to each other.

Three examples of embodiments according to the invention will now be described as non-limiting examples, and with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which; Fig.1 shows a very schematic illustration of a known tap Fig. 2 a), b), c) schematically illustrates a first embodiment of a tap according to the invention.

Fig. 3a is a perspective view of a tap according to the invention. Fig. 3b is an alternative view of a tap.

Fig. 4a is a section of a tap according to a second embodiment. Fig 4b is a perspective view of a tap according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 5 illustrates part of a tap according to either of the first or second embodiment. The lever and cylinder are illustrated while the valve housing, inlet pipe and outlet pipe are not shown.

Fig. 6 illustrates part of the lever and cylinder of Fig.

5, assembled with the valve housing.

Fig. 7 illustrates the cylinder portion and part of the lever of a tap according to a third embodiment.

Fig. 8 illustrates a tap with a different type of lever.

In Fig. 1 which is a very schematic drawing of a prior art tap, the valve member is a solid cylindrical drum 4 and a fluid pathway through it is a bore 2. The drum 4 is rotatable within a valve housing 6 and a lever 8 is arranged to effect this rotation. An inlet pipe 14 and an outlet pipe 16 extend respectively from the valve housing at an inlet 10 and outlet 12. The drawing shows the situation where the fluid pathway is aligned with the inlet 10 and outlet 12 in the valve housing. In this disposition, the tap is open, and the lever 8 extends from the tap at an angle of about 900 to the inlet pipe and outlet pipe. Reference numeral 8' indicates the position of the lever when the tap is closed; rotational movement of the lever to that position rotates the drum 4 and moves the fluid pathway 12 out of alignment with the inlet and outlet of the tap.Similarly, if the lever were to be rotated beyond its resting point in the open disposition, the fluid pathway would be out of alignment with the inlet and outlet. The tap is usually provided with a stop to prevent this.

Fig. 2a, b and c illustrate very schematically, a tap according to a first embodiment of the invention. In Fig.

2 the same reference numerals as in Fig. 1 are used where the components are equivalent.

In this first embodiment, the valve member is a solid cylindrical drum mounted in a hollow cylindrical valve housing 6, and bore 2 through the solid drum forms a fluid pathway. The lever 8 is connected to the valve member and rotation of the lever causes rotation of the valve member.

In Figure 2a, the tap is shown in a closed disposition in which the bore 2 is not aligned with the inlet pipe 14 and outlet pipe 16. In this embodiment of the invention the central axis of the bore 2 is offset with respect to the axis of rotation of the drum (the axis is indicated by X and directed into and out of the page). In addition, the inlet and outlet pipes have an offset position. When the lever 8 is rotated to a position as shown in Fig. 2b where it extends from the tap at about 900 to the line of extension of the inlet and outlet pipes, the tap is still closed because the bore 2 is not in alignment with the inlet and outlet pipes. Further rotation of the drum by moving the lever into a position shown in Fig. 2c leads to alignment of the bore 2 and the outlet/inlet pipes 14/16.

In this open disposition of the tap, the lever extends alongside the outlet pipe 16, in a similar plane.

In some embodiments, it may be possible for the lever 8 to extend in an identical direction to the inlet or outlet pipes in the respective open and closed dispositions.

This would require adaptation of the lever so that it is able to rotate past the line of extension of the inlet and/or outlet pipe.

Figs. 3a and 3b show that the lever comprises two arms 27, a cross-bar 34 and a finger pad 38. The inlet pipe 14 and the outlet pipe 16 extend from the cylindrical valve housing 6. The valve member is a cylinder which is rotatable within the valve housing. As in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2, the lever can be connected to the valve member, so that rotation of the lever causes rotation of the valve member within the valve housing.

Alternatively the lever can be connected to the cylindrical valve member by a lost motion connection as discussed in the description in relation to Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 shows a tap according to a second embodiment of the invention in section (Fig. 4a) and in perspective (Fig.

4b). Again the valve housing is indicated by the reference numeral 6 and the inlet pipe 14 and outlet pipe 16 extend therefrom. The valve member is again a rotatable drum and a bore 2 forms a fluid pathway through the solid drum. However, in this embodiment the bore passes through the cylindrical drum such that it intersects the axis of rotation of the drum at an angle other than 900. This is illustrated in Fig. 4a. This arrangement of the bore within the valve member means that it is only aligned with the inlet 10 and outlet 12 at one instant in its angular rotation, that being the situation in Fig. 4a. Once again this allows the lever 8 which causes rotation of the drum to be moved through a large angle (the maximum in this case, would be just less than 360 ) before alignment occurs and the tap becomes open.

In practice this enables the lever to be arranged so that in both the closed and the open disposition of the tap, the lever extends in a direction which is alongside the direction of extension of one of the outlet 16 or inlet 14 pipes. Fig. 4b shows the lever 8 extending alongside the inlet pipe, when the tap is closed. In fact it is possible, with this embodiment, as with the others, to arrange the lever such that its line of extension is parallel with the inlet or outlet pipe. In this way, the portion of the lever which extends beyond the plane of the inlet and outlet pipe is minimised, and in some arrangements of the lever, can be reduced to zero.

Figs. 5 and 6 show how a tap according to either of the first or second embodiments may be assembled.

Fig. 5 shows the lever and cylinder formed in one piece of moulded plastics material, prior to assembly with the valve housing. The cylindrical drum 4 extends from one arm 27'. In its end face furthest away from the arm 27 the drum has a circular recess 46 and around the inner wall of this recess there is an annular valley 43. The other arm 27" has a stub-shaft 45 extending from it, which has a cross-sectional diameter small enough so that cylinder 45 can fit into the recess 46 in the end face of drum 4, when the tap is assembled.

During assembly, the arms 27' and 27" of the lever are folded inwards along bend lines I and II. The drum 4 and stub-shaft 45 are inserted into opposite ends of the valve housing (not shown in Fig. 5, see Fig. 6) which is a hollow cylinder from which inlet and outlet pipes respectively extend in opposite directions. An annular rib 42 on the stub-shaft 45 snap fits into the annular valley 43 in the drum recess 46 when the stub-shaft and drum are forced together within the housing during assembly. Glue may also be applied to the drum and/or stub-shaft to help fix them together during assembly.

Fig. 6 shows the assembled tap in cross-section. The bore is not shown, for simplicity. The drawing shows the stub-shaft 45 with its annular rim 43 snap-fitted into the annular valley 43.

In the third embodiment of the invention, the tap has a valve member which is again a cylindrical drum rotatable within the valve housing. Rotation of the drum again aligns a bore in the drum with an inlet pipe and outlet pipe extending from the valve housing. In this embodiment however, the lever is not fixedly connected to the valve member, but there is a lost motion connection between the lever and valve member. This means that rotation of the lever only causes rotation of the valve member after the lost motion has been taken up. The lever can again occupy a position in which it extends alongside the inlet pipe, when the tap is closed, and alongside the outlet pipe, when the tap is open.

As shown in Fig. 7, the cylindrical drum 4 has a sector cut out of each of its circular end faces so as to form a recess 24 in the end face. The lever again comprises two arms 27 joined by a cross-bar 34. A short stub-shaft 38 extends from the inner surface of the arm 27. This stubshaft has an annular rib 37. On its end face 30 there is a projection 28 whose shape is that of a sector of a circle. This projection 28 is a sector of smaller arc than the sector-shaped recess 24 in the end face of the cylindrical drum. In the drawing, the projecting sector has an angle of 900 while the recess has an angle of 1660.

The axial projection of sector 28, and the axial recess depth of recess 24 are approximately the same.

In the assembled tap, the drum 4 is contained within a valve housing (6 in Fig. 3) which has an inlet and outlet from which inlet pipe 14 and outlet pipe 16 respectively extend. The valve housing projects beyond each end of the drum 4 and the stub-shaft 38 on each arm 27 of the lever is of a size to fit into the projecting portion of the housing. The annular rib 37 on the stub-shaft 38 snapfits with an annular valley in the inner wall of the part of the valve housing, to hold the lever in position.

Gluing or other means of connecting the lever to the drum is not required in this embodiment.

In the assembled tap, the projection 28 sits in the recess 24 so that the end face 30 of the lever stub-shaft lies adjacent the end face 22 of the cylindrical drum 4. In addition, the projection fits into the recess. In the assembled tap, rotation of the lever by moving the crossbar 35 causes the projection 28 to swing about a centre line common to the drum and the stub-shaft. When a face 34 of the projection contacts a face 36 of the recess, continued rotation of the lever causes the drum to rotate about its rotational axis X.

The relative arc sizes of the projecting sector 38 and the recess 24 are governed by the amount of so-called lost motion that is required. For example, in the embodiment illustrated, when the tap is closed, and the lever extends alongside the inlet pipe (an "up" position in contact with the inlet pipe as shown in Fig. 3), the drum 4 is positioned so that the bore 2 is out of alignment with the inlet pipe and outlet pipe, and one of the faces 34' of the projection is in contact with a face 36' of the recess. Movement of the lever through 14 e does not rotate the drum. Then when the second of the projection faces 34" contacts the second of the recess faces 36", the drum rotates.The central axis of the bore is so angled with respect to the face 35 that at a point where the lever extends alongside the outlet pipe (in a "down" position in contact with the pipe), the bore is aligned with the inlet 10 and outlet 12, and the tap is open.

Fig. 8 illustrates a tap in which an L-shaped lever 8 is used in place of a lever with two arms and a cross-bar.

In Fig. 8a, the tap is shown in section without the lever which can be fitted in the recess indicated at 50. The valve member 4 is once again a rotatable drum mounted in the valve housing 6. The valve housing 6 has an opening at one end only, and during assembly the valve member is inserted into the opening. A snap-fitting mechanism holds the valve member in place. Fig. 8b is a side view of the tap showing the lever 8 in a "up" position, lying close to the inlet pipe 14. Fig. 8c is a front view of the tap and shows clearly the L-shaped lever 8 with its flat end tab 52. This type of lever can be utilised in association with any of the taps according to the present invention.

If it is used with the lost motion connection embodiment, only one lost motion connection provided between the valve member and lever, at the location 50 shown in Fig. 8a.

Claims (16)

1. A tap which comprises an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe extending in opposite directions from a valve housing, a movable valve member within the housing and an operating lever connected to the valve member and movable between an open position in which the valve member is oriented to permit flow through the valve and a closed position in which the valve member is oriented to block flow through the valve, wherein the operating lever lies adjacent to one or other of said pipes in each of its two said positions.

2. A tap according to claim 1 wherein movement between positions is a rotation through an angle of greater than 1200.

3. A tap according to claim 1 wherein movement between positions is a rotation through an angle of greater than 1500.

4. A tap according to any preceding claim wherein the valve member is a volume of revolution defining a pathway for through flow of fluid and the lever is arranged to effect rotation of the volume of revolution.

5. A tap according to claim 4 wherein the volume of revolution is a cylinder rotatably mounted in the housing.

6. A tap according to claim 5 wherein the cylinder is solid or hollow and the pathway for through-flow of fluid comprises a bore through the cylinder.

7. A tap according to claim 4, 5 or 6 wherein the central axis of the fluid pathbay through the volume of revolution is offset from the axis of rotation of the volume of revolution.

8. A tap according to any of claims 4 to 7 wherein the fluid pathway intersects the axis of rotation of the volume of revolution at an angle other than 900 to the axis of rotation.

9. A tap according to any of claims 4 to 6 wherein there is a lost motion connection between the lever and the volume of revolution.

10. A tap according to claim 9 wherein one of the volume of revolution or the lever has a recess and the other a projecting portion whereby the relative size and/or configuration of the recess and projecting portion is such as to allow some lost motion before the lever rotation is transmitted to the volume of revolution.

11. A tap according to claim 10 wherein the volume of revolution is a cylindrical drum.

12. A tap according to claim 11 wherein the drum has at least one end face which has a recess and the lever has a projecting portion of smaller size to rotate in the recess, there being same lost motion before the lever rotation is transmitted to the volume of revolution.

13. A tap according to any preceding claim further comprising stop means to limit the rotation of the lever.

14. A urine bag kit which incorporates a tap according to any of the preceding claims.

15. Use of a tap according to any of claims 1 to 13 in a urine bag or appliance.

16. A tap substantially as herein described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.