US3512711A - Faucet fountain - Google Patents

Description

May 19, 1970 B. R. ABBOTT FAUCEI FOUNTAIN Filed Aug. 8, 1968 I'll-Ill I Ill-ll FlGn2 BOBBY R. ABBOTT INVE'NIOR United States Patent O 3,512,711 FAUCET FOUNTAIN Bobby R. Abbott, 3808 SW. 40th Place, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73119 Filed Aug. 8, 1968, Ser. No. 751,174 Int. Cl. E03b 9/20 US. Cl. 239-25 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tubular body having a wall opening is coaxially connected to the discharge end of a water faucet. A sleeve having a wall port, rotatively surrounds the body. A laterally and upwardly extending tube, connected with the sleeve around its port, ejects water when in register with the body opening.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a faucet and more particularly to an attachment for faucets having a threaded discharge end for forming a fountain.

This invention is an improvement over my Pat. No. 3,371,868, dated Mar. 5, 1968 for Faucet Fountain.

The above mentioned patent features a discharge nozzle which is contained by the faucet fountain body and pivots outwardly through aligned openings whereas in this invention the fountain forming discharge nozzle or tube is fixed to the periphery of a rotatable sleeve to con vey water from aligned ports.

This invention is distinguishable over other prior patents, such as the patent to Wollmershauser No. 3,237,863 and Jacobson No. 3,335,957 by its compactness, simplicity of construction and operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A centrally bored cylindrical body, having internal threads at one end and external threads at its other end, is threadedly connected :by its internal threads to an adaptor which is in turn connected to the threaded end of a faucet by a sleeve nut. The body is provided with a plurality of relatively small ports, grouped in rectangular shape, in its wall portion. A sleeve, having a fluid ejection tube secured to its periphery around a port in the sleeve wall, rotatably surrounds the body for mating and mismating of the port in the sleeve with the ports in the body to provide communication between the bore of the body and the tube. A convention aerator is secured to the external threads of the body which diverts a fraction of the fluid flow from the faucet through the tube when the ports are aligned. Stated another way, this faucet fountain is interposed between the ejection end of a water faucet and an aerator so that the faucet fountain is operable by simply rotating the tube supporting sleeve to align the tube with ports in the body.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a faucet fountain of simple construction and operation which may be easily connected with any existing faucet having an aerator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the faucet fountain and a water aerator connected to the discharge end of a water faucet;

FIG. 2. is a vertical cross-sectional view, to a larger scale, taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, to a different scale, of the fountain body, per se; and,

-FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view, partially in elevation, taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.

The reference numeral 10 indicates a fragment of the discharge end of a water faucet having external threads 12 (-FIG. 2) which are normally engaged with a conventional aerator, indicated at 14.

The numeral 15 indicates the device, as a whole, comprising a body 16 having a sleeve 18 rotatably surrounding the body. The body 16 is tubular in general configuration having internal threads 20 at one end portion and external aerator receiving threads 22 at its other end. The outer surface of the body wall is recessed, as at 24, to define a rectangular shape and provided with a plurality of rows of relatively small closely spaced apertures or ports 26 extending through the body wall within the rectangular area. A groove 28 is for-med in the outer surface of the body wall in close spaced relation around the rectangular recess 24 for receiving packing or a gasket 30 for the reasons readily apparent.

A centrally bored adaptor 32 connects the body to the faucet 10. The adaptor 32 is threadedly engaged at one end portion with the body threads 20 and is characterized by an outstanding annular flange 34 which overlies the adjacent end surface of the body 16 and underlies the adjacent end of the faucet 10. A sleeve nut 36, having an inwardly projecting flanged edge 38, underlies the adaptor flange 34 and connects the adaptor to the faucet threads 12. An annular gasket 40 is interposed between the adaptor flange 34 and the adjacent end surface of the faucet 10 to form a water tight seal. The adaptor 32 is further characterized :by a screwdriver slot 42 to facilitate its connection with the body 16.

The sleeve 18 closely surrounds the body 16 and is provided at its upper end with an inwardly projecting flange 44 which is interposed between the sleeve nut flange 38 and the upper end surface of the body 16. The wall of the sleeve is provided with a diamond-shaped port or opening 46.

One end of a fluid discharge nozzle or tube 48 coaxially surrounds the sleeve port 46 and is secured to the sleeve. The tube 48 extends arcuately outward and upward from the sleeve port 46 and terminates in an open end 50 laterally spaced outwardly of the sleeve and in spaced relation below the horizontal plane defined by the upper end of the sleeve.

A substantially crescent shaped ring 52 is secured at its respective ends to the periphery of the sleeve in horizontal spaced relation above the open end 50 of the tube to prevent contact between a users mouth and the tube end. The aerator 14 is secured to the body threads 22.

OPERATION In operation the faucet fountain 15 is normally assembled as a unit having the adaptor 32 secured to the body 16 which maintains the sleeve nut 36 and sleeve 18 in place. The aerator 14 is removed from the faucet 10. The gasket 40 is placed within the sleeve nut and the latter is connected to the faucet while manually holding the body and sleeve, with the port 46 aligned with the apertures 26, in a desired position for the tube 48 with respect to a user. The aerator 14 is connected to the body threads 22. Thereafter, when the faucet valve, not shown, is opened a fraction of the fluid discharged by the faucet 10 is directed outwardly and upwardly through the tube 48. The rate of flow of fluid through the tube 48 is regulated by the quantity of water released to flow from the faucet 10 and the back-pressure of fluid against the aerator.

The purpose of the rectangular vertical wall surface defining the recess 24 is to form a water receiving cavity substantially aligned with the sleeve port 46 and provide an outer body Wall surface encompassing the plurality of apertures. The apertured portion of the body wall thus forms a screen and a restriction of fluid flow as opposed to the force of a stream if the body wall were provided with an opening substantially equal in area to the sleeve port 46.

When it is desired to interrupt the flow of fluid through the tube 48, the tube 48 and sleeve are manually rotated around the body, in either direction, to mismate the sleeve port 46 with the rectangular recess 24 wherein the gasket 30, sealing with the interior surface of the sleeve Wall, prevents any leakage of fluid to the tube 48. Manually rotating the sleeve to align or partially align the sleeve port 46 with the body recess 24 again places the faucet fountain in operation.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to some change or alteration Without defeating its practicability, and I therefore do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein, further than I am limited by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a water faucet having a threaded downwardly directed discharge nozzle end portion and an aerator connected therewith, the improvement comprising: a faucet fountain interposed between said aerator and said nozzle, said fountain comprising a centrally bored cylindrical body having external aerator receiving threads at one end and having internal threads at its other end, said body having a plurality of relatively small apertures in its wall; adaptor means connecting saidbody to said discharge nozzle; a sleeve closely sur- '4 rounding said body, said sleeve having a port mating and mismating with the apertures in said body as the sleeve is rotated; and a relatively short outwardly and upwardly directed tube connected with said sleeve around the port therein.

2. Structure as specified in claim 1 in which said adaptor means includes a centrally bored cylindrical adaptor threadedly engaged at one end with the internal threads of said body and having an annular flange overlying the adjacent end surface of said body; and a sleeve nut threadedly engaged with said discharge nozzle, said nut having an inwardly directed annular flange interposed between said adaptor flange and said body.

3. Structure as specified in claim 2 in which the outer wall surface of said body is characterized by a recess forming a rectangular Wall surface lying in a vertical plane defining the position of the body apertures.

4. Structure as specified in claim 3 in which said sleeve is characterized by an inwardly directed annular flange interposed between said sleeve nut flange and said body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1968 Abbott 23927 5/1969 McDonnell 23927 US. Cl. X.R. 239428.5

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