JP2002081107A - Faucet apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a faucet apparatus which allows its spout head to be protruded/withdrawn, wherein the spout head can be easily protruded even by a person with weak grip strength. SOLUTION: The faucet apparatus includes a coil spring 28, a locking mechanism, and a releasing button 44. The coil spring 28 allows the spout head 14 of the faucet apparatus to be protruded/withdrawn, and energizes the spout head 14 in a protruding direction. The locking mechanism (a locking ring 36, an engaging recess 34, a holding groove 38, and a recovering spring 40) locks the spout head 14 at a withdrawn position. The releasing button 44 releases the locking. The spout head 14 has a sliding pipe 20 arranged therein in a manner being movable together therewith, and the sliding pipe 20 is slidably fitted into a guide pipe 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water discharging device,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a water discharge device that can project and retract a water discharge head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various water discharge devices have been proposed in which a water discharge head can be protruded and retracted. This type of water spouting device has an advantage that the water spouting position can be arbitrarily changed to an optimum use position by protruding and retracting the water spouting head, and the usability is good.

[0003]

However, in the case of this type of conventional water spouting device, the water spouting head is grasped by the user and pulled out (projected) toward the user. However, in the case of a handicapped person or a child with a weak grip, there is a problem that the operation itself may be difficult. Alternatively, it is not rare that the user uses the water discharge device without knowing that the water discharge head can be protruded and retracted, and in this case, the excellent function of the angle is not fully utilized. I will.

[0004]

The water discharge device of the present invention has been devised to solve such a problem. According to the first aspect of the present invention, a water discharge head is provided so as to be able to protrude and retract, a spring member for urging the water discharge head in a protruding direction, a lock mechanism for locking the water discharge head to a retracted position, and the lock mechanism. And a release operation section for releasing the lock by means of a lock.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, a slide tube is provided on the water discharge head so as to be integrally movable, and the slide tube is slidably fitted to the guide tube.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first and second aspects, the slide pipe and the guide pipe constitute a water discharge pipe main body following the water discharge head.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the spring member, the lock mechanism, and the release operation section are provided on a water discharge pipe including the water discharge pipe main body and the water discharge head. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the lock mechanism engages with an engagement recess formed in the slide tube and engages in the engagement recess to form the slide tube. A lock member for preventing sliding movement, wherein the release operation portion releases engagement of the lock member with the engagement recess.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the lock mechanism includes a lock member that presses against the slide tube and prevents the slide movement of the slide tube by frictional force. The release operation part releases the press-contact of the lock member to the slide tube.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to sixth aspects, the water discharging head is a shower head, and a shower hose is connected to the shower head through the guide tube and the slide tube. It is characterized by having.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, the water discharge head is capable of protruding and retracting in the front-rear direction.

[0012]

As described above, according to the water discharging apparatus of the first aspect, the water discharging head can be protruded and retracted, and the spring member for urging the water discharging head in the protruding direction, and the water discharging head is locked at the retracted position. The water discharge device is provided with a lock mechanism and a release operation unit for releasing the lock. In this water discharge device, the water discharge head can be protruded by simply operating the release operation unit. Therefore, even a handicapped person or a child with a weak grip can easily protrude the water discharge head and position it near the user.

[0013] Further, by providing the release operation section so as to be prominent outside, the user does not use the water discharge head without knowing that the water discharge head can protrude. It is possible to clearly recognize that the head can protrude.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a water discharge head is provided with a slide tube movably provided integrally therewith and slidably fitted to a guide tube, so that the water discharge head can be smoothly projected and retracted. Can work.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the slide pipe and the guide pipe constitute a water discharge pipe main body. In this case, the spring member, the lock mechanism, and the release operation section can be provided in the water discharge pipe including the water discharge pipe main body and the water discharge head (claim 4). With this configuration, the user can perform the release operation at a portion close to the water discharge head, that is, a portion close to the user's hand, and can easily perform the release operation for causing the water discharge head to protrude. The operation unit can be located at a position close to the user, that is, at a position that is conspicuous, and it is possible to appeal to the user that the water discharge head is protrudingly operated in addition to the easy release operation.

The lock mechanism includes an engagement recess formed in the slide tube and a lock member engaged in the engagement recess to prevent the slide tube from sliding.
Further, the release operation portion can release the engagement of the lock member (claim 5). Alternatively, the lock mechanism may be configured to include a lock member that presses against the slide tube to prevent sliding movement of the slide tube by frictional force, and the release operation unit releases the press contact. 6). With this configuration, the lock mechanism and the release operation unit can be provided with a simple structure.

In the present invention, the water discharge head is a shower head, and a shower hose is inserted into and connected to the shower head through a guide tube and a slide tube.
A water discharging device can be configured (claim 7). By doing so, the shower head can be moved out of the slide tube together with the shower hose, and can be brought to any position in the left-right direction, in addition to the fact that the shower head protrudes by the sliding movement of the slide tube. Can be further improved.

In the present invention, the water discharge head can be made to protrude and retract in various directions, for example, up and down, but it can be made to protrude and retract in the front and rear direction ( Claim 8). With this configuration, when the water discharge head is protruded, the water discharge head can be protruded to a position closest to the user.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a water discharge device of the present embodiment, in which 10 is a main body thereof, and 12 is a water discharge pipe having a shower head 14 as a water discharge head at the end. Here, the main body 10 is provided so as to stand up from a horizontal mounting surface, and the water discharge pipe 12 is provided so as to extend forward from the upper end of the main body 10 in the horizontal direction.

The shower head 14 has a water discharge port 16 and further has an operation section 18 for switching the water discharge from the water discharge port 16 from rectified water discharge to shower water discharge or vice versa.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the shower head 14 is provided with a slide tube 20. The slide tube 20 is slidably fitted inside the guide tube 22. In this example, the slide pipe 20 and the guide pipe 22 constitute a water discharge pipe main body, and the water discharge pipe main body is formed by the water discharge pipe main body and the shower head 14.
2 are configured.

A shower hose 24 is inserted into the slide tube 20 and the guide tube 22, and the tip thereof is connected to the shower head 14.
FIG. 1 shows the water discharge pipe main body 4 together with the shower head 14 in FIG.
(B) It can be pulled out as shown by a two-dot chain line in the middle.

A coil spring (spring member) 28 is housed inside the guide tube 22. A stepped spring receiving portion 26 is formed on the inner surface of the guide tube 22, and one end of a coil spring 28 inside the guide tube 22 is abutted thereon. The other end of the coil spring 28 abuts on the axial end face of the slide tube 20 and projects the slide tube 20 in a protruding direction, more specifically, in the retracted state shown in FIG.
0 is urged in the leftward protruding direction in the figure.

A guide groove 30 is formed in the slide tube 20 in a horizontal direction, and a guide pin 32 projecting inward from the guide tube 22 is fitted therein. The guide groove 30 and the guide pin 32 As a result, the slide tube 20 is guided to slide in the front-rear direction while the rotation of the slide tube 20 is restricted.

The slide tube 20 has a small diameter portion 20A and a large diameter portion 20B, and the small diameter portion 20A is slidably fitted inside the guide tube 22. In addition, the large diameter portion 2
OB has the same outer diameter as the guide tube 22. 20C is a stepped portion at the shaft end of the large diameter portion 20B.

The small-diameter portion 20A of the slide tube 20 has an arc-shaped notch at the lower portion at a position close to the stepped portion 20C, and an engagement recess 34 is formed by the notch. On the other hand, a lock ring (lock member) 36 is held in the holding groove 38 at a corresponding position in the guide tube 22, and the state shown in FIG.
In the retracted position of FIG.
The slide tube 20 is locked in the retracted position by being engaged in the engagement concave portion 34 by the upward urging force of 0.

The lock ring 36 has a release button (release operation part) 44 for pushing the lock ring 36 downward at the upper end thereof to release the engagement with the engagement recess 34.
The release button 44 is fixed to the guide tube 22.
And protrudes to the outside through a button hole 46 formed therein. The holding groove 38 of the guide tube 22 is
Body and end member 4 fitted in the left end opening in the figure
2 is formed.

Next, the operation of the water discharge device of this embodiment will be described. FIGS. 1 (A), 2 (A) and 5 (I) show a state in which a slide tube 20, specifically, a small-diameter portion 20A is housed inside a guide tube 22,
That is, a state in which the shower head 14 is at the retracted position together with the slide tube 20 is shown. At this time, the slide tube 20
The shower head 14 is locked at the retracted position by a lock mechanism including a lock ring 36, a return spring 40, an engagement recess 34 of the slide tube 20, a holding groove 38, and the like.

In this state, when a downward force is applied to the release button 44 to push the lock ring 36 downward against the urging force of the return spring 40, the lock ring 36 is engaged with the engagement recess 34 here. Is released. Then, the slide tube 20 is vigorously protruded (pushed out) to the left in the figure together with the shower head 14 by the urging force of the coil spring 28.

On the other hand, when a rearward pushing force is applied to the shower head 14, the slide tube 20 slides inside the guide tube 22 to return to the initial position, where the lock ring 36 applies the urging force of the return spring 40. Then, the slide tube 20 is again engaged with the inside of the engagement recess 34 of the slide tube 20, and the slide tube 20 is locked at the retracted position together with the shower head 14.

According to the water discharge device of this embodiment, the release button 44
The shower head 14 can be pushed out simply by pushing the button, so that even a handicapped person or a child with a weak grip can easily push out the shower head 14 and position the shower head 14 near the user. Can be.

The user can be informed that the shower head 14 can be protruded by the release button 44 prominently provided outside.

Further, in this embodiment, since the slide tube 20 is provided so as to be integrally movable with the shower head 14 and is slidably fitted to the guide tube 22, the shower head 14 can be smoothly protruded and retracted. Can be.

In this embodiment, the release button 44 is provided on the upper part of the water discharge pipe main body.
4, that is, a portion close to the user's hand, the release operation for causing the shower head 14 to protrude can be easily performed, and the release button 44 is positioned close to the user. That is, it can be positioned at a position that is conspicuous, and it is possible to appeal to the user that the shower head 14 is protrudingly operated in addition to easy release operation.

Further, in this embodiment, the shower head 14 can be pulled out from the slide tube 20 together with the shower hose 24, in addition to the fact that the shower head 14 protrudes by the sliding movement of the slide tube 20, so that the user can take a shower. The head 14 can be brought to any position in the front-rear and left-right directions.

Further, since the shower head 14 is slid in the front-rear direction, the shower head 1
4 can be pushed out to a position as close as possible to the user.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, at least the lock mechanism of the guide tube 22 has a triangular cross section, and a triangular brake member (lock member) corresponding to the inside thereof. ) 48 is arranged, and is biased upward by a return spring 50 provided integrally with the brake member 48. In this embodiment, the brake member 48, the holding groove 38 and the return spring 5
0 constitutes a lock mechanism.

In this example, the brake member 48 slides on the outer surface of the slide tube 20 as shown on the left side in FIG.
The frictional force gives a resistance to the sliding movement of the slide tube 20 and locks it at the retracted position or locks it at a predetermined position in the middle in the front-rear direction. The release operation of the lock is performed by pushing the release button 44 fixed to the brake member 48 downward.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but this is merely an example. For example, in the present invention, it is possible to provide a lock mechanism and a release operation unit across the stepped portion 20C of the slide tube 20 and the shaft end of the guide tube 22 in the above embodiment. The present invention can be configured in variously modified forms without departing from the gist of the present invention, such as being applicable to other various forms of water discharging devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a water discharge device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing the inside of a water discharge pipe in the water discharge device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the water discharge pipe and its internal structure in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a lock mechanism and a release button in FIGS.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the water discharging device of FIGS. 1 to 4;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a main part of a water discharge device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 12 water discharge pipe 14 shower head 20 slide pipe 22 guide pipe 24 shower hose 28 coil spring (spring member) 34 engagement concave part 36 lock ring (lock member) 38 holding groove 40, 50 return spring 44 release button (release operation part) 48 Brake member (lock member)

Claims (8)

[Claims] A spring member for urging the water discharge head in a protruding direction, a lock mechanism for locking the water discharge head at a retracted position, and releasing the lock by the lock mechanism. A water discharge device comprising a release operation unit. 2. The water discharge device according to claim 1, wherein a slide tube is provided so as to be integrally movable with the water discharge head, and the slide tube is slidably fitted to the guide tube. 3. The water discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the slide tube and the guide tube form a water discharge tube main body following the water discharge head. 4. The water discharge device according to claim 3, wherein the spring member, the lock mechanism, and the release operation unit are provided on a water discharge pipe including the water discharge pipe main body and the water discharge head. 5. The slide tube according to claim 2, wherein the lock mechanism engages with an engagement recess formed in the slide tube and prevents the slide tube from sliding. A water discharge device, comprising a lock member, wherein the release operation portion releases engagement of the lock member with the engagement recess. 6. The release operation unit according to claim 2, wherein the lock mechanism includes a lock member that presses against the slide tube and prevents sliding movement of the slide tube by a frictional force. Is configured to release the pressure contact of the lock member with the slide tube. 7. The water discharge head according to claim 2, wherein the water discharge head is a shower head, and a shower hose is connected to the shower head through the guide tube and the slide tube. Water spouting device. 8. The water discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the water discharge head is capable of protruding and retracting in the front-rear direction.