GB2542627A

GB2542627A - Water dispenser and detachable safety clip

Info

Publication number: GB2542627A
Application number: GB1517097.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Norman Rowe Gregory
Original assignee: Greg Rowe Ltd
Current assignee: Greg Rowe Ltd
Priority date: 2015-09-28
Filing date: 2015-09-28
Publication date: 2017-03-29
Anticipated expiration: 2035-09-28
Also published as: GB201517097D0; GB2542627B

Abstract

A water dispenser 10 and a detachable safety clip 40. The water dispenser has a valve 12 which is operable to cause water to be dispensed. In one example, the water dispenser has a safety mechanism 20 which is constructed and arranged such that a first operation is required in order to allow a second operation to be carried out to operate the valve to cause water to be dispensed. The safety clip can be fitted to the water dispenser to prevent the first operation being carried out. The safety clip is detached from the water dispenser to allow the second operation to be carried out to operate the valve to cause water

Description

WATER DISPENSER AND DETACHABLE SAFETY CLIP Technical Field

The present invention relates to a water dispenser and a detachable safety clip. Background

Various types of water dispenser are known, including for example taps (or “faucets”), drinking water dispensers, etc. These are often fitted with some type of safety mechanism to prevent or at least inhibit operation until the safety mechanism is operated or released. This is particularly important in the case that the water dispenser is for dispensing hot or boiling water.

Many such safety mechanisms require the user first to push (or pull) some button or lever or handle or the like, and/or turn some button or lever or handle or the like, in order for the user to be able to carry out some second operation to operate the water dispenser to dispense water. This initial pushing (or pulling) and/or turning of the button or the like is often necessary in order to cause some internal components of the water dispenser to engage to allow the water dispenser to be operated to dispense water. However, there remains a concern that a further safety mechanism may be desirable in some circumstances, particularly in environments where young children are present who may operate the water dispenser.

Summary

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided in combination, a water dispenser and a detachable safety clip, the water dispenser comprising a valve which is operable to cause water to be dispensed, the water dispenser having a safety mechanism which is constructed and arranged such that a first operation is required in order to allow a second operation to be carried out to operate the valve to cause water to be dispensed, wherein the safety clip can be fitted to the water dispenser to prevent the first operation being carried out and the safety clip is detached from the water dispenser to allow the second operation to be carried out to operate the valve to cause water to be dispensed.

In an embodiment, the water dispenser comprises an operating arm having a handle, wherein the first operation is to move the handle through a first movement and wherein the safety clip mechanically blocks the first movement of the handle when the safety clip is fitted to the water dispenser.

In an embodiment, the first movement is movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm and the safety clip comprises two resilient legs which fit around the operating arm to mechanically block the movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm when the safety clip is fitted to the water dispenser.

In an embodiment, the operating arm comprises a biasing member arranged to bias the handle outwardly.

In an embodiment, the second movement is rotation of the operating arm.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided in combination, a water dispenser and a detachable safety clip, the water dispenser comprising a valve which is operable to cause water to be dispensed, and an operating arm having a handle, the handle being movable inwardly along the length of the operating arm to allow the valve to be operated to cause water to be dispensed by rotation of the operating arm, the safety clip being detachably fitted around the operating arm to block movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm and being removable from the operating arm to allow movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only, which is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an example of a detachable clip;

Figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the clip fitted to an example of a water dispenser;

Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the clip detached from the water dispenser; and,

Figure 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a water dispenser and an attached clip.

Detailed Description

Referring first to Figure 4, there is shown a partially sectioned/phantom perspective view of an example of a water dispenser. In this example, the water dispenser is a tap body 10. The tap body 10 has a valve 12 which is operable to control the flow of water from a water supply (not shown) into the tap body 10 via an inlet 14 and ultimately to an outlet spout 16 of the tap body 10. There may be more than water supply and corresponding inlets. Depending on the specific arrangement, the valve 12 may be operable to selectively allow water to flow only from one water inlet to the outlet spout 16, to allow water to flow only from the other or another water inlet to the outlet spout 16, and to allow a mix of water to flow from plural water inlets to the outlet spout 16. Being able to mix water from two different water supplies is of particular advantage where the water sources supplying water to the first and second water inlets are hot and cold mains water sources. In this case, the valve 12 is operable to allow the temperature of the water at the outlet spout 16 to be controlled by allowing either hot water, cold water, or a mix of hot and cold water, to flow to the outlet spout 16. In another arrangement, the valve 12 may be operable so that it can only be operated to allow water from one water inlet or the other to be delivered to the outlet spout 16. This may be of particular advantage where one of the water supplies is boiling water, so as to ensure that the water that is delivered is always at (or close to) boiling. The valve 12 is operated by a manually operable lever or arm 18. The arm 18 can be pivoted or rotated about an axis X-X passing generally through the tap body 10.

Various different types of safety mechanism may be provided within the tap body 10 so as to prevent or at least inhibit operation until the safety mechanism is operated or released. With such safety mechanisms, in general a first operation is required to release the safety mechanism such that a second operation can then be carried out to enable water to flow from an inlet to the outlet. Some of these have a separate safety button or lever or the like, which has to be operated first before some operating handle or lever or tap is then operated to cause water to be dispensed In others, the operating handle or lever or tap itself must first be subject to a first operation to release the safety mechanism before the operating handle or lever or tap is then subject to a second operation to dispense water. It should be noted that the phrase “release the safety mechanism” or similar should be interpreted broadly. For example, it may be that the safety mechanism is such that certain parts of the dispenser mechanism are not normally engaged, meaning that operation of the operating handle or lever or tap is not possible or does not cause water to be dispensed; the first operation to release the safety mechanism in such a case causes the dispenser mechanism to be engaged, allowing operation of the operating handle or lever or tap to dispense water.

For example, in the arrangement shown in Figure 4, the safety mechanism 20 is arranged as follows. A more detailed description of such a mechanism is disclosed in our United Kingdom patent application no. GB1515295.2 and others, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In this example, the operating arm 18 comprises a pin 22 which projects generally perpendicularly away from the length of the operating arm 18. A generally cup-like cartridge portion 24 comprises an arcuate slot 26 in its end face which receives the pin 22 in use.

In one example, the arcuate slot 26 is stepped. The arrangement is such that the operating arm 18 can be rotated freely in one direction (say clockwise from the vertical position shown in Figure 4) when the pin 22 is in a first part of the arcuate slot 26, in which case the valve 12 is opened so as open a cold water supply for example. On the other hand, the operating arm 18 cannot be moved in the other (counter-clockwise) direction until the pin 22 is moved by the user into the other portion of the stepped arcuate slot 26. Once in the other portion of the stepped arcuate slot 26, the operating arm 18 can be moved in the other (counter-clockwise) direction, in which case the valve 12 is operated to allow the valve 12 to open a hot or boiling water supply for example. A biasing member 28, in the form of a coil spring 28 in this example, acts on the pin 22 so that it is biased to the “safety position” in the first part of the arcuate slot 26.

In another example, the arcuate slot 26 has a detent at the crest of the arcuate slot 26 into which the pin 22 is normally biased. The arrangement is such that the operating arm 18 has to be moved so as to disengage the pin 22 from the detent before the operating arm 18 can be rotated. A first movement of the pin 22 out of the detent allows the operating arm 18 to be rotated freely in one direction (say clockwise from the vertical position shown in Figure 4) to allow the valve 12 to open a cold water supply for example. A second, further movement of the pin 22 out of the detent allows the operating arm 18 to be rotated freely in the other direction (say counter-clockwise from the vertical position shown in Figure 4) to allow the valve 12 to open a hot or boiling water supply for example.

In either case, the operating arm 18 has to be moved radially inwards (in the vertical direction in Figure 4) to move the pin 22 from the first part to the second part of the stepped arcuate slot 26, or for the first and second movements in the case that the arcuate slot 26 has a detent. In this example, the operating arm 18 comprises a handle 30 which is movable in a radial direction relative to the axis of rotation of the operating arml8, that is parallel to the length of the operating arm 18. The handle 30 is biased radially outwards by a compression spring 32 provided within the operating arm 18. The handle 30 is coupled to the pin 22 via an internal post 34 which is movable within a collar 36 such that the pin 22 only engages the second arcuate slot or moves out of the detent when the handle 30 has been moved radially inwards. Thus, in order to allow hot or boiling water to flow through the valve 12, a user must first push the handle 30 radially inwards (and indeed push the handle 30 fully inwards in the example described above where the arcuate slot 26 has an indent). Such an arrangement forms a useful “child-proofing” or safety mechanism which makes it more difficult to cause water from the hot or boiling water source to flow through the water tap.

In short, this type of mechanism is of the “push and turn” type whereby the user has to operate the water dispenser 10 by first pushing the handle 30 radially inwards before the user can then turn the operating arm 30 to allow hot or boiling water to be dispensed. Other similar “child-proofing” or safety mechanisms are known, including for example having some separate push button or the like which has to be operated before operating the arm 30 can be rotated to dispense hot or boiling water, as mentioned above. However, there is a concern by some users that this is not a sufficient safety mechanism. (For completeness, it is noted that in some examples, the operating arm 18 may be rotated without having first operated the handle 30, but this does not cause boiling water to be dispensed as the necessary engagement with the valve 12 has not been made. In other examples, the operating arm 18 cannot be rotated until the handle 30 has been operated.)

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an additional safety measure is provided in the form of a detachable clip which can be fitted by a user to the water dispenser 10 to prevent the safety mechanism being released unless the clip is detached from the water dispenser 10. As noted above, the phrase “release the safety mechanism” is to be interpreted broadly, in line with the different types of safety mechanisms that are available. In the specific examples described above, “releasing the safety mechanism” means that the operating arm 18 engages the valve 12 so that rotation of the operating arm 18 causes (hot or boiling) water to be dispensed.

Referring now to all of Figures 1 to 4, an example of a detachable clip 40 has two legs 42 extending from a body portion 44. The legs 42 bow to define an approximately circular cavity 46 in this example. The ends of the legs 42 in this example flare outwardly so as to facilitate fitting of the clip 40 to the water dispenser 10 by the user. The legs 42 are preferably resilient, again to facilitate fitting of the clip 40 to the water dispenser 10 and to help ensure that the clip 40 stays in place on the water dispenser 10. The clip 40 may be made of a material to provide this resilience, such as a metal or a suitable plastics, including for example acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), nylon, etc.

As can be seen from Figures 2 and 3 in particular, the clip 40 can be fitted by the user to the water dispenser 10 at a location between the handle 30 of the operating arm 30 and the main body of the water dispenser 10. The legs 42 fit round the collar 36 of the operating arm 18. In this location, the clip 40 acts to mechanically block movement of the handle 30 inwards along the operating arm 18. This prevents the valve 12 being operated for example to dispense hot or boiling water. In order to be able to dispense hot or boiling water, the user has to detach the clip 40 from the water dispenser 10 to allow the handle 30 to be moved inwards along the length of the operating arm 18. Subsequent rotation of the operating arm 18 causes the valve 12 to be operated to dispense hot or boiling water.

The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples of the invention. Further embodiments of the invention are envisaged. For example, different shapes and/or different materials may be used and yet still achieve the same functionality and purpose. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one embodiment may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the embodiments, or any combination of any other of the embodiments. Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. In combination, a water dispenser and a detachable safety clip, the water dispenser comprising a valve which is operable to cause water to be dispensed, the water dispenser having a safety mechanism which is constructed and arranged such that a first operation is required in order to allow a second operation to be carried out to operate the valve to cause water to be dispensed, wherein the safety clip can be fitted to the water dispenser to prevent the first operation being carried out and the safety clip is detached from the water dispenser to allow the second operation to be carried out to operate the valve to cause water to be dispensed.

2. A combination according to claim 1, wherein the water dispenser comprises an operating arm having a handle, wherein the first operation is to move the handle through a first movement and wherein the safety clip mechanically blocks the first movement of the handle when the safety clip is fitted to the water dispenser.

3. A combination according to claim 2, wherein the first movement is movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm and the safety clip comprises two resilient legs which fit around the operating arm to mechanically block the movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm when the safety clip is fitted to the water dispenser.

4. A combination according to claim 3, wherein the operating arm comprises a biasing member arranged to bias the handle outwardly.

5. A combination according to any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the second movement is rotation of the operating arm.

6. In combination, a water dispenser and a detachable safety clip, the water dispenser comprising a valve which is operable to cause water to be dispensed, and an operating arm having a handle, the handle being movable inwardly along the length of the operating arm to allow the valve to be operated to cause water to be dispensed by rotation of the operating arm, the safety clip being detachably fitted around the operating arm to block movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm and being removable from the operating arm to allow movement of the handle inwardly along the length of the operating arm.

7. A water dispenser and a detachable safety clip, substantially in accordance with any of the examples as described herein with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.