JP2017002631A - Single lever water faucet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a single lever water faucet that enables its composition to be simplified and a luxurious operational feeling to be obtained.SOLUTION: A lever 32 is disposed between a lever handle and a movable valve body 22. When the lever handle is operated, the movable valve body 22 is actuated through the lever 32 to stop water discharge. A housing hole 40 is disposed between both side faces of the lever 32 so as to penetrate the lever. An engaging pin 42 is stored in the housing hole 40 so that the engage pin can move in an extension direction of the housing hole 40 in a state where both end parts of the engage pin protrude from both side faces of the lever 32. A spring 43 for giving elastic force to the engaging pin 42 in a direction toward a sliding face 37 is disposed in the housing hole 40. The spring 43 is made up of square cylindrical coil spring.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a single lever faucet in which water is discharged and stopped by a single lever handle.

This type of single lever faucet is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the single lever faucet of Patent Document 1 is provided with a lever 101 and a lever handle 102 connected to the lever 101 and operated by a user. It has been. Then, when the lever handle 102 is operated, water discharge is performed. A long hole 110 is formed in the lever 101, and an engagement pin 104 is inserted into the long hole 110 so as to be movable up and down. Both ends of the engaging pin 104 are in contact with the arcuate sliding surface 105 on the faucet body 111 side by the elastic force of the spring 106.

  For this reason, a frictional resistance is generated between the engaging pin 104 and the sliding surface 105 based on the elastic force of the spring 106. Accordingly, it is intended that an appropriate resistance is given to the operation of the lever handle 102, the play of the lever handle 102 is suppressed, and a high-grade operation feeling is given. Further, when the lever handle 102 moves between the fully open position and the intermediate position in the water discharge state, the engaging pin 104 gets over the protrusion 107 on the sliding surface 105. Thus, the amount of water discharged can be recognized by the operator.

JP 2002-106005 A

  By the way, in the single lever faucet of Patent Document 1, a hole 103 for a spring 106 is formed in the lever 101 downward from the upper end surface of the lever 101, and the spring 106 is inserted therein. Then, a set screw 109 is screwed into a female screw 108 formed at the upper end of the hole 103, and the spring 106 is prevented from coming out of the hole 103.

  Therefore, in the single lever faucet of Patent Document 1, after processing the lever 101, the hole 103 for the spring 106 is drilled, the internal thread 108 is threaded with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the hole 103, and the set screw 109 with respect to the internal thread 108 is used. And the lever 101 is manufactured and assembled. Moreover, since the set screw 109 is required, the number of parts increases and the structure becomes complicated.

  Further, it is difficult to make a hole having a large diameter as the hole 103. For this reason, the spring 106 having a small diameter is used. Therefore, the selection range of the spring 106 is narrowed, and a spring having a required spring constant cannot be used, and the operation feeling of the lever handle may be lowered.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a single lever faucet capable of simplifying the configuration and obtaining a high-grade operation feeling.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in the single lever faucet in which the valve body is operated via the lever by operating the lever handle, the lever is formed in a square shape in cross section. In addition, a receiving hole is provided between both side surfaces of the lever, and an engagement pin can be moved in the length direction of the lever with both ends projecting from both side surfaces of the lever. A spring for providing an elastic force in a direction toward the sliding surface formed in the faucet body with respect to the engagement pin is provided in the accommodation hole, and the spring is a rectangular tube coil. It is characterized by comprising a spring.

  With the configuration described above, a set screw for stopping the coil spring is no longer required and the configuration is simplified, and a housing hole for the coil spring is formed in the lever and a female screw for the set screw is formed. Manufacturing is simplified because it is not necessary to do this. In addition, since the coil spring can be accommodated in the wide accommodation hole provided between the both side surfaces of the lever, the restriction on the winding diameter of the coil spring is reduced. For this reason, the choice of the spring constant of a coil spring spreads, and it becomes possible to obtain a high-quality operation feeling.

  According to the single lever faucet of the present invention, the structure is simple, and an effect that a high-quality operation feeling can be obtained is exhibited.

Sectional drawing of a single lever faucet. FIG. 2 is a partially cut exploded perspective view of the single lever faucet of FIG. 1. The disassembled perspective view which shows the internal structure of a cartridge case, and parts related to a lever. The side view of a lever. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. (A)-(c) is the longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows a prior art example, a side view, and a cross-sectional view.

Embodiments of a single lever faucet embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cartridge case 15 is installed in the cover 10 fixed to the main body 11 of the single lever faucet of the present embodiment. The cartridge case 15 houses a fixed valve body 21 and a movable valve body 22 that is movable on the upper surface of the fixed valve body 21.

  A lid member 30 is fixed to the upper surface of the movable valve body 22. A shaft support 31 having a mounting groove 311 is provided at the upper portion of the cartridge case 15 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane around the central axis of the cartridge case 15.

  A lever 32 is supported in the guide groove 36 formed in the shaft support 31 via the support shaft 33 so as to be rotatable in the vertical plane. The lower end of the lever 32 is inserted and connected to the connecting portion 301 on the upper surface of the lid member 30. A lever handle 34 is fixed to the upper end of the lever 32. For this reason, the lever 32 and the lever handle 34 can be rotated up and down about the support shaft 33, and can be operated to rotate left and right within the horizontal plane around the center axis of the cartridge case 15 together with the shaft support 31. Is possible. Accordingly, by operating the lever handle 34, the movable valve body 22 is moved back and forth and right and left on the fixed valve body 21 via the lever 32 and the lid member 30 and rotated.

  Then, when the lever handle 34 is rotated in the left-right direction, the movable valve body 22 is rotated via the lever 32. As a result, the positional relationship between the water supply hole 23 of the fixed valve body 21 and the hot water supply hole 24 and the communication hole 26 of the movable valve body 22 located between the water discharge hole 25 changes, and the water supply passage 12 of the faucet body 11 changes. The communication relationship between the hot water supply passage 13 and the water discharge passage 14 is adjusted. For this reason, water, hot water, or mixed water of water and hot water is discharged from the water discharge pipe 20 through the water discharge passage 14. Further, when the lever handle 34 is rotated in the above direction, the movable valve body 22 is linearly moved in the horizontal plane. Thereby, the communication range of the communication hole 26 of the movable valve body 22 with respect to the water supply hole 23 and the hot water supply hole 24 of the fixed valve body 21 changes, and the discharge amount of water, hot water, or a mixed water of water and hot water is adjusted. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a lever guide 35 is provided at the upper end of the cartridge case 15 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. The lever guide 35 is formed with a guide groove 36 for the lever 32 to protrude upward. The lever guide 35 is rotated in the horizontal plane together with the lever 32. An arcuate sliding surface 37 is formed on both upper surfaces of the guide groove 36, a protrusion 38 is formed on the sliding surface 37, and a wall-like shape is formed on the outer periphery on both sides of the sliding surface 37. A restricting portion 39 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the lever 32 is formed into a substantially rectangular column shape as a whole by a stainless steel sintered body having a long rectangular cross section having front, rear, left and right planes.
A receiving hole 40 extending in the vertical direction is provided between the left and right side surfaces of the lever 32. A narrow pin accommodating portion 401 is provided in a lower portion of the accommodating hole 40, and a lower end of the pin accommodating portion 401 is formed in a semicircular arc shape. A spring accommodating portion 402 is provided in the upper portion of the accommodating hole 40 so as to be continuous with the upper end of the pin accommodating portion 401, and the upper end inner surface of the spring accommodating portion 402 has a long rectangular shape similar to the lever 32. The protrusion 403 is formed. Accordingly, the pin accommodating portion 401 and the spring accommodating portion 402 are opened on the left and right side surfaces of the lever 32.

  A shaft hole 44 through which the support shaft 33 passes is formed in the lower portion of the lever 32. Stoppers 45 are formed on both front and rear sides of the lever 32, and the rotation range around the support shaft 33 of the lever 32 is restricted by the contact between the stopper 45 and the shaft support 31.

As shown in FIG. 4, a chamfer 46 made of an inclined surface is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the lever 32, the outer peripheral edge of the protrusion 403, and the inner peripheral edge of the shaft hole 44.
An engaging pin 42 is inserted into the pin accommodating portion 401 so as to be movable up and down in the extending direction of the pin accommodating portion 401, both end portions thereof protrude to the outside, and the protruding portions are positioned on the sliding surface 37. . The length of the pin accommodating portion 401 in the vertical direction is the same as or larger than the diameter of the engagement pin 42.

  A coil spring 43 is accommodated in the spring accommodating portion 402. The upper end of the coil spring 43 is fitted onto the projection 403, and the lower end is pressed against the engaging pin 42 located on the sliding surface 37. . By this coil spring 43, the engaging pin 42 is brought into contact with the sliding surface 37 with an appropriate pressure.

  The coil spring 43 is formed in a rectangular shape having a flat rectangular shape as a whole. The dimension of the long side 431 of the coil spring 43 (the vertical dimension in FIG. 5), that is, the winding diameter on the outer peripheral side, is formed smaller than the thickness of the lever 32, and the coil spring 43 extends from the openings on both sides of the spring accommodating portion 402. It does not protrude to the outside. The long side 431 of the coil spring 43 is opposed to the inner surface of the spring accommodating portion 402 so as to be able to come into contact therewith.

In the above configuration, the lever 32 and the coil spring 43 are assembled as follows.
That is, when the coil spring 43 is assembled to the lever 32, the coil spring 43 is inserted into the spring accommodating portion 402 from the side opening of the spring accommodating portion 402 of the lever 32, and the upper end of the coil spring 43 is engaged with the protrusion 403. . At the same time, the engaging pin 42 is fitted in the pin accommodating portion 401. The lever 32 is inserted into the guide groove 36 of the lever guide 35, and in this state, the lever 32 is assembled to the shaft support 31 by the support shaft 33. In this way, the engaging pin 42 engages with the sliding surface 37 of the lever guide 35 and moves up in the pin accommodating portion 401 and is pressed against the lower end of the coil spring 43. In this state, the coil spring 43 can be prevented from coming off from the spring accommodating portion 402, and the engagement pin 42 is brought into contact with the sliding surface 37 with an appropriate pressure by the elastic force of the coil spring 43.

  Then, by the rotation operation of the lever handle 34 in the vertical direction, the engagement pin 42 is slid in a state where an appropriate frictional resistance is given by the coil spring 43 while being guided on the sliding surface 37 by the restricting portion 39, A high-quality operation feeling can be obtained without rattling. Further, when the lever handle 34 passes between the maximum amount of water discharge position and the intermediate amount of water discharge position, the click feeling is generated by the engagement pin 42 getting over the protrusion 38, so that the user can Can be recognized.

The above embodiment has the following effects.
(1) A spring accommodating portion 402 for accommodating the coil spring 43 is provided between the left and right side surfaces of the lever 32. A protrusion 403 for stopping the coil spring 43 from coming off is formed at the upper end of the spring accommodating portion 402. Therefore, the spring accommodating portion 402 and the protrusion 403 for holding the coil spring 43 can be formed simultaneously with the processing of the lever 32 by the mold for sintering the lever 32. Therefore, unlike the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is not necessary to form the spring accommodating portion 402 after the processing of the lever 32, to perform screw processing after the molding, or to attach a set screw. become.

  (2) Since the winding diameter on the outer peripheral side of the coil spring 43 is smaller than the thickness of the lever 32, the coil spring 43 can be prevented from protruding outward from the side surface of the lever 32. For this reason, even if the accommodation hole 40 is opened on the side surface of the lever 32, the coil spring 43 and the lever guide 35 can be prevented from interfering with each other when the lever handle 34 is assembled to the lever 32. Can prevent the lever handle 34 from being obstructed.

  (3) Since the coil spring 43 has a rectangular tube shape, the outer side surface of the long side 431 of the coil spring 43 is disposed along the inner side surface of the spring accommodating portion 402. Accordingly, the coil spring 43 is stably held in the spring housing portion 402.

  (4) Since the long side 431 of the coil spring 43 is opposed to the inner surface of the accommodation hole 40 so as to be able to contact, the buckling of the coil spring 43 can be suppressed, and the elastic force applied to the engagement pin 42 Fluctuations can be suppressed. Therefore, the lever handle 34 can always be moved smoothly.

  (5) Since the coil spring 43 has a rectangular tube shape, the contact area between the coil spring 43 and the inner surface of the accommodation hole 40 can be increased. Therefore, the buckling prevention can be achieved more effectively.

  (6) Since the accommodation hole 40 is formed so as to extend in the width direction of the lever 32 and is formed wide, the coil spring 43 may be a coil spring having a small winding diameter or a large winding diameter. Can be used. Therefore, the coil spring 43 can be used regardless of its strength. For this reason, the coil spring 43 having an appropriate elastic force can be selected to obtain a high-grade operational feeling of the lever handle 34.

  (7) Since the corner portions of the lever 32 and the protrusion 403 are chamfered 46, chipping of the corner portion can be prevented. Moreover, since the chamfer 46 is processed at the opening edge of the accommodation hole 40, the coil spring 43 can be smoothly inserted into the accommodation hole 40, and the assembly of the coil spring 43 is facilitated.

(Example of change)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be embodied in the following manner.
-The lever 32 is processed by cutting, not by sintering.

The lever 32 is formed into a circular cross section, that is, a cylindrical shape as a whole.
The chamfer 46 of the lever 32 is formed by an arc surface.
The winding diameter (width) of the coil spring 43 should be the same as the width of the accommodation hole 40 of the lever 32 in the penetrating direction.

(Other technical ideas)
The technical idea grasped from the embodiment is as follows.
(A) A lever mechanism located between the lever handle and the movable valve body,
A lever with a housing hole between both sides,
A pin which is accommodated in the accommodation hole and is movable in the extending direction of the accommodation hole in a state where both end portions protrude from both side surfaces of the lever;
A coil spring that is housed in the housing hole and that imparts an elastic force to the pin;
A lever mechanism in which the spring is constituted by a square cylindrical coil spring.

If comprised in this way, the effect similar to the said embodiment can be acquired.
(B) The single lever faucet according to item (A), in which the lever is interposed between the movable valve body and the lever handle.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Water faucet body, 21 ... Fixed valve body, 22 ... Movable valve body, 32 ... Lever, 34 ... Lever handle, 37 ... Sliding surface, 40 ... Housing hole, 42 ... Engagement pin, 43 ... Coil spring, 46 ... Chamfering 401 ... Pin housing part 402 ... Spring housing part 403 ... Protrusion.

Claims (7)

In a single lever faucet in which the valve body is operated via the lever by operating the lever handle,
The lever is formed in a quadrangular cross section, and a receiving hole is provided between both side surfaces of the lever, and an engagement pin is inserted into the receiving hole with both ends projecting from both side surfaces of the lever. A spring for applying an elastic force in a direction toward the sliding surface formed in the faucet body with respect to the engagement pin in the accommodation hole. A single lever faucet in which the spring is constituted by a square cylindrical coil spring.   2. The single lever faucet according to claim 1, wherein the housing hole is extended in a length direction of the lever, a protrusion is provided at an end portion of an inner surface of the housing hole, and one end of a spring is engaged with the protrusion.   The housing hole is constituted by a pin housing portion that supports the engaging pin and a spring housing portion formed wider than the pin housing portion, and the coil is located when the engaging pin is on the sliding surface. The single lever faucet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the single lever faucet is adapted to receive an elastic force of a spring.   The single lever faucet according to claim 3, wherein a width of the coil spring is equal to or smaller than a lever width.   The single lever faucet according to claim 4, wherein the coil spring is brought into contact with an inner surface of the spring accommodating portion.   The single lever faucet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lever is formed by sintering.   The single lever faucet as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which chamfered the periphery of the said accommodation hole.