NZ209561A - Non return valve for tap top assembly - Google Patents

Description

209561 Patents Form Mo. 5 PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION After Provisional No. 209561 Dated: 17 September 1984 "IMPROVEMENTS ON TAPS" WE, DORF INDUSTRIES PTY.LTD. a company incorporated under the laws of the State of Victoria, Australia, of 1503 Centre Road, Clayton,Victoria, Australia, hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- 209561 IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS 5 This invention relates to improvements in taps, and more particularly, taps of the type where only part of a full rotation of the tap spindle is necessary to facilitate full opening of the tap from a closed condition, usually a quarter turn, although some aspects 10 of the present invention are not restricted to application to such taps.

In some taps of the quarter turn type referred to above, an arrangement of discs, usually of ceramics, incorporating apertures therethrough have been proposed. 15 Adjacent faces of the discs are mounted to abut each 209561 other such that rotation of one of the discs relative to the other brings the apertures through the respective discs into and out of alignment to allow operation of the tap between fully opened and fully closed conditions with 5 only a part turn of the tap spindle, namely through 90° (quarter turn). A tap of the above general type is disclosed in the specification of Australian patent No. 526,072.

With the tap disclosed in the aforementioned 10 specification, rotation of the tap spindle is transmitted to a rotatable one of the ceramic discs via a pair of pins carried by an inner end portion of the tap spindle and which engage within cooperating holes formed in the rotatable ceramic disc. However, such a construction 15 complicates the manufacturing, and in particular the assembly, procedures, whilst in.addition ceramic disc assemblies are commercially available which do not lend themselves to modification to incorporate such a form of pin type transmission.

It is therefore an object of one aspect of the present invention to provide an improved tap top assembly for incorporation into, or as part of a tap, which is less complicated to manufacture and assemble and which lends itself to be easily adapted to the use of 25 commercially available ceramic disc arrangements.

According to the first aspect of the present invention there is envisaged a tap top assembly within, or adapted for incorporation within, a tap body, and comprising an arrangement of valve members incorporated 3 0 within a housing with adjacent faces of said members in abutting relationship whereby rotation of one member relative to an other causes at least one pair of apertures through said members to move into, and out of, alignment, to allow for fluid flow through said assembly, 35 a spindle assembly the inner end of which is adapted to 209561 drivingly engage an axial extension of the rotatable member, said assembly being adapted to be received within a tap body with an inner end of the housing of said assembly in sealing engagement with a valve seat within 5 the tap body.

It is also a requirement of some water supply authorities that a non-return valve facility be incorporated in tap assemblies. The tap top assembly disclosed in the specification of Australian patent No. 10 526,072 incorporates a non-return valve facility which is fabricated as part of the tap top assembly. However, the commercially available ceramic disc assemblies do not have non-return valve facilities, and it is therefore an object of a second aspect of the present invention to 15 provide a tap top assembly for incorporation in the tap body and having a non-return valve facility which can be clipped onto an existing tap top assembly. This second aspect of the invention is also applicable to use with tap top assemblies in addition to ceramic disc assemblies 2 0 provided the assembly is suitable.

According to the second aspect of the invention, there is envisaged a non-return facility that is clipped, or adapted to be clipped, to the housing of a tap top assembly, and is adapted to sealingly engage with 25 a valve seat within a tap body.

In addition, with tap assemblies of the type disclosed in the specification of Australian patent No. 526,072, the non-return valve facility comprises a discshaped closure member and means extending therefrom 30 having a series of radial fins providing guide members which are received within a fluid transfer port through which the non-return valve is guided. However, with such an arrangement the disc-shaped closure member provides an obstruction to fluid flow even when in the opened 35 position, and it is therefore an object of a third aspect 209561 of the present invention to provide a non-return valve facility which offers as little as possible obstruction to fluid flow when open. As with the second aspect of the invention, this third aspect of the invention is 5 applicable to non-return valves for a variety of tap top assemblies.

Therefore, according to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a non-return valve facility comprising a housing forming part of a housing of a tap 10 top assembly, or adapted to be attached to such a housing, and having an end wall with a transfer port therethrough, the inner edge of said transfer port providing a valve seat, a valve member, comprising a sealing ring to seat on said valve seat, a series of 15 radial guide fins extending through said transfer port to guide said valve member within said port during opening and closing movements of the valve member, and a series of radially extending spoke-like members on the •downstream side of said sealing ring and within said 20 non-return valve housing to guide the valve member within the interior of said housing, with the spaces between said spoke—like members providing for fluid flow past said valve member when saiff member is moved to an open position. ' Furthermore, in order to meet the standards set down by water supply authorities, including Australian water supply authorities, and with which taps must comply, the distance between the outer surface surrounding the access opening to the interior of a tap 30 body within which a tap top assembly is to be inserted, to the valve seat within the body, has a specified value within specified tolerances, and thus, as the inner end of the assembly is required to permanently seat in sealing engagement with the valve seat within the tap 35 body, the corresponding length of the tap top assembly 209561 - 6 must comply with the specified distance. However, the allowable tolerances can lead to a situation where the relevant length of the tap top assembly may be less than the specified distance for the tap body thus preventing 5 proper sealing engagement with the valve seat in the tap body, or if longer, preventing proper sealing of the tap top assembly with the tap body around the access opening within which the assembly is received.

Apart from the problems the above produce 10 during manufacture of complete taps, including bodies and assemblies, it is also desirable that tap top assemblies be provided as replacements for tap top assemblies in existing tap bodies so as to enable conversion of an existing tap to a quarter turn tap, and thus the relevant 15 dimensions may not be such as to ensure proper sealing engagement of the tap top assembly in the existing tap body.

It is therefore a fourth aspect of the invention to provide a tap top assembly which will allow 20 for adjustment of the relevant distance during insertion into a tap body to accommodate differences in the dimensions of the tap bodies resulting from manufacturing tolerances allowable underithe relevant standards.

Therefore, according to a fourth aspect of the 25 invention, there is provided a tap top assembly within, or adapted to be incorporated within, a tap body with the inner end of the tap top assembly in sealing engagement with the valve seat within the tap body, means within the tap top assembly for controlling fluid flow therethrough, 30 said control means, and a rotatable spindle cooperating therewith, being received within an externally threaded closure member, one end of said closure member being adapted to be screwed within the access opening to the tap body with the other end having an adjustable closure 35 nut in threaded engagement therewith, whereby, when the 209561 - i - tap top assembly is screwed into a tap body with the inner end in sealing engagement with the valve seat within the tap body, the adjustable closure nut externally of the tap body can then be screwed into tight 5 engagement with the body.

Two embodiments incorporating various aspects of the present invention, and as applied to quarter turn ceramic disc type tap top assembly, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-10 Figure 1 is a partially sectioned view of a tap top assembly incorporating three aspects of the invention and received within a tap body; Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1 with the assembly in a first operating 15 position; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 in a second operative position; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 1 with the assembly in the first operative 20 position; Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 with the assembly in the second operative position; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the arrangement for controlling fluid flow through the 25 assembly; and Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the assembly incorporating all four aspects of the invention.

Turning to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is 30 shown a tap top assembly, generally indicated as 10, inserted within a tap body 11 and operated by a handle 12. The tap top assembly includes a tap spindle 13 to which the handle is applied and which is received through a closure member 14 having an externally threaded 35 extension 15 threadably received within an access opening 209561 in the tap body, whilst a sealing washer 15a is interposed between a flange 16 on the closure member and the surface of the tap body surrounding the access opening.

With reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the drawings, the tap top assembly further comprises a ceramic disc assembly, generally indicated as 17, and which may be a commercially available assembly, comprising a housing 18 within which is received a pair 10 of ceramic discs 19 and 20 the faces of which are in abutting relationship. The upper ceramic disc 19 has a pair of diametrically opposed V-shaped cut-outs 21 formed therein which, when rotated relative to the other disc 20 which is fixed within the housing, align with apertures 15 22 throug-h the fixed disc 20 shaped as quadrants of circles and to allow fluid flow therethrough as shown in Figure 4, and such that, upon rotation through 90°, or a quarter turn, the cut-outs 21 progressively move out of alignment with the apertures 22 to progressively reduce 20 fluid flow through the assembly until they move out of complete alignment at the end of 90° of rotation and thus prevent fluid flow through the assembly (see Figure 5). In order to confine the limits of the 90° of rotation, i the tap spindle 13 has diametrically opposed, radially 25 outwardly extending, pin sections 23, which when the assembly is in the open position shown in Figure 4 engage one side of a pair of diametrically opposed abutments 24 formed on the end of the housing 18, as shown in Figure 2. Upon rotation of the spindle to move the upper 30 ceramic disc 19 to a position where the cut-outs and apertures are out of alignment, as shown in Figure 5, the pin sections 23 respectively engage the opposite sides of the other abutments as shown in Figure 3. 209561 In accordance with the first aspect of the invention, rotation of the spindle 13 is transmitted to the upper closure disc 19 via a centrally disposed extension 25a of the disc 19 and which is of appropriate 5 non-circular cross-section, for example, square, and which engages within a similarly shaped blind hole 25b formed within the inner end of the tap spindle 13.

Referring again to Figures 1 and 6 of the drawings, and in accordance with preferred forms of the 10 second and third aspects of the invention, a non-return valve, generally indicated as 26, is attached to the inner end of the tap top assembly and comprises a housing 27, stepped at 28, and on which step a sealing ring 29 is provided to seal against a valve seat 31 within the tap 15 body. A transfer port is provided through the end wall of the housing 27 to allow fluid flow to enter the tap top assembly from the inlet chamber 30 and thereafter pass through the aligned cut-outs and apertures through the cexamic discs such as to exit through openings 32 20 through the wall of the housing 27 and thereafter into the outlet chamber of the tap body. The housing 27 of the non-return valve carries a pair of diametrically opposed resiliently flexible lugs 33 having enlarged ends which, when the housing 2i is placed onto the end of the 25 housing for the ceramic discs, will engage within two diametrically opposed ones of the openings 32 to thus retain the non-return valve housing in position, whilst a sealing ring 34 within the end of the housing for the ceramic discs seals against the end of the non-return 30 valve housing as shown. The inner edge of the transfer port provides a valve seat 35. A valve member 36 is received within the non-return valve housing and comprises a main body portion 37 having a circumferential groove 38 for receiving an O-ring 39 which, under return 35 flow conditions when pressure downstream exceeds at 209561 upstream, will seat on the valve seat 35 to close the transfer port and prevent flow back through the tap top assembly from the outlet chamber to the imlet chamber of the tap body. The valve member 3 6 has a series of radial 5 guide fins 40 extending therefrom and receivable within the transfer passage to guide the valve member during opening and closing movements, whilst the series of radial spoke-like members 41 project radially from the valve member downstream of the sealing, ring 39 within the 10 non-return valve housing to guide the valve member within the housing, whilst the gaps between the spoke-like members 41 allow for fluid flow past the non-return valve when in the open position. A further axial extension 42 on the valve member inwardly of the housing engages a 15 central portion of the fixed ceramic disc 20 to limit opening movement of the valve member.

Turning to Figure 7 of the drawings, which shows an assembly incorporating preferred forms of all four aspects of the invention, the same reference 20 numerals have been used to denote components in common with the embodiments of Figures 1 to 6. However, the closure meimber 14 in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 6 is replaced with an elongate plosure member 43 having a threaded portion 44 around one end and which is to be 25 screwed into the access opening into the tap body (not shown), whilst a threaded section 48 at the other end of the closure member carries a closure nut 4 5, the position of which can be adjusted by screwing it along the threaded portion 48. A sealing ring 46 is received 30 within an groove 47 between the two threaded sections 44 and 48 to provide a seal between the closure member 4 3 and the closure nut 45. The valve spindle and the adjacent part of the housing for the ceramic disc assembly is received within a stepped passage 49 35 extending axially through the closure member 43 as shown, 209561 and the spindle has a circumferential groove 50 formed therein to receive a further sealing ring 51 to seal within the passage 49. After the threaded section 48 is screwed into the access opening to the tap body with the inner end of the assembly in tight sealing engagement with the valve seat within the tap body, the adjustable closure nut 45 can then be screwed down into tight engagement, via a sealing washer 52, with the external surface of the tap body surrounding the access opening.

Claims (8)

200561 rvr -12- '% WHA1 WE CLAIM IS;

1. A non-return facility arranged for clipping attachment to the housing of a tap top assembly and to sealingly engage with a valve seat within a tap body of the tap top assembly, said non-return facility having resilient lug means engageable with mating parts of the tap top assembly to form or provide said clipping attachment.

2. A non-return facility as claimed in claim 1, wherein the non-return facility comprises a housing having a fluid transfer port through one end surrounded by a sealing 3 ring- to sealingly engage the valve seat within the tap body," and plurality of resiliently flexible lugs extending from the other end and having enlarged ends which are adapted to engage within, recesses formed in the associated tap top assembly to hold the non-return valve facility in position.

' 3. A non-return facility as claimed in claim 2, wherein the inner edge of said transfer port provides a valve seat, a valve member, comprising a sealing ring to seat on said valve seat, a series of radial guide fins extending through said transfer port to guide said valve member within said port during opening and closing movements of the valve member, and a series of radially extending spoke-like members on the downstream side of said sealing ring and within said non-return valve housing to guide the valve member within the interior of said housing, with the spaces between said spoke-like members providing for fluid flow past said valve member when said member is moved to an open position. 4. A non-return facility as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in combination with a tap top assembly within, or O adapted for incorporation within, a tap body, said tap top assembly comprising an arrangement of valve members incorporated within a housing with adjacent faces of said members in abutting • relationship whereby rotation of one member relative to an other causes at least one pair of apertures through 'said w'1 members to move into, and out of, alignment, to allow for fluid flow through said assembly, a spindle assembly the inner end of which is adapted to drivingly engage an "axial-extension of the

- "S rotatable member, said assembly being adapted^gP^^i^ceived within a tap body with an inner end of the h^SsTing of°^iid jW tV vi} / - 13 - 209561 assembly in sealing engagement with a valve seat within the tap body.

5. A combination as claimed in claim 4, wherein the spindle assembly drivingly engages the axial extension of the rotatable member by means of a non-circular blind hole in the end of the spindle assembly within which the axial extension of similar cross-section engages.

6. A non-return facility as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in combination with a tap top assembly within, or adapted to be incorporated within, a tap body with the inner end of the tap top assembly in sealing engagement with the valve seat within the tap body, means within the tap top assembly for controlling fluid flow therethrough, said control means, and a rotatable spindle cooperating therewith, being received within an externally threaded closure member, one end of said closure member being adapted to be screwed within an access opening to the tap body with the other end having an adjustable closure nut in threaded engagement therewith, whereby, vhen the tap top assembly is screwed into a tap body with the inner end in sealing engagement with the valve seat within the tap body, the adjustable closure nut externally of the tap body can then be screwed into tight engagement with the body.

7. A non-return facility arranged, constructed and operable substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A tap top assembly and non-return facility within, or adapted for incorporation within, a tap body and arranged and construced with reference to the accompanying drawings. DORF INDUSTRIES PTY.LTD. By Their Authorised Attorneys, JOHN A. REMMINGTON & ASSOCIATES