US3768513A

US3768513A - Water tap

Info

Publication number: US3768513A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ponsa C Sauret
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-01-05
Filing date: 1972-08-07
Publication date: 1973-10-30
Anticipated expiration: 1990-10-30

Abstract

A tap has two mirror symmetrically shaped shell sections connected to each other to form an internal cavity having only inlet, outlet and two lateral openings. A fluid supply member having two ducts, which communicate with said cavity, seals the inlet cavity. Means, portions of which have cross sections smaller than said lateral openings, pass through the latter and regulate the quantity of fuel which may flow from said ducts into the cavity prior to being discharged through said outlet opening.

Description

[ Oct. 30, 1973 United States Patent [1 1 Sauret-Ponsa 3,194,270 7/1965 Viessmann...................... 251/367 X WATER TAP [76] Inventor: Carlos Sauret-Ponsa, 7 & 9, Calle FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Pelayo, Barcelona, Spain 1922366 Aug. 7, 1972 "004,059

1/1958 Germany............................ 251/367 3/1952 137/606 [22] Filed:

Primary Examiner-Robert G. Nilson Attorney-Michael S. Striker 21 Appl. No.: 278,649

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 524, Jan. 5, 1970, Pat. No.

[57] ABSTRACT A tap has two mirror symmetrically shaped shell sections connected to each other to form an internal cavity having only inlet, outlet and two lateral openings. A fluid supply member having two ducts, which communicate with said cavity, seals the inlet cavity.

Means, portions of which have cross sections smaller than said lateral openings, pass through the latter and References Cited- UNITED STATES PATENTS regulate the quantity of fuel which may flow from said ducts into the cavity prior to being discharged through said outlet opening.

137/606 X 137/606 137/606 X 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1,740,156 Crane 1,747,640 2/1930 Morris 1,916,553 7/1933 Bersted............

WATER TAP CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a divisional application of the copending application Ser. No. 524 filed Jan. 5, l970, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,733.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Taps 'for wash basins and baths have been manufactured in various form. Typically, such a tap consists of a tubular member having an inlet opening and an outlet opening through which the water passes and whose rate of flow may be regulated. An adjustable valve device is interposed in the fluid flow path to open or close the tap. Many taps are manufactured in cast bronze or brass requiring special molds, and once the casting has been made, it must be machined to the final dimensions and shape according to the type of tap that is to be manufactured. Following this, they must be well polished prior to being nickel-plated or chromium-plated and finally joined to the remaining valve assembly and made ready to function as a tap. It is obvious that the manufacture of such taps is most complicated and it requires multiple operationsbefore the tap may be considered finished, ready to be offered for sale to the public.

Furthermore, manufacturing taps in accordance with traditional methods has had a further disadvantage in that it has resulted in more metal being wasted than necessary. The reason for this is that castings have irregularities in their surfaces that must afterwards be smoothed out by mechanical operations. For this reason, they are made with dimensions greater that those strictly required so that there would be no danger of rendering them unsusable because of their size after the subsequent machining referred to above, so that they will be finished to have the correct size and possess a pleasing exterior appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, is an object of the present invention to provide a tap forfluids which does not possess the disadvantages known in similar prior-art taps.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a tap under discussion which is simple in construction and economical-to manufacture.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a water tap which minimizes the amount of metal wasted during manufacture of the taps.

According to the present invention, the tap comprises two mirror symmetrically shaped shell sections connected to each other to form an internal cavity which is completely closed with the exception of an inlet and an outlet and a lateral opening inat least one of said sections. Fluid inlet means are provided which extend through said'inlet opening into said cavity. A valve assembly is provided which comprises a plurality of components each having over a major portion of its length a cross section smaller than that of said lateral opening, extending with said major portion thereof into said cavity and connected to said fluid inlet means for regulating fluid to be delivered through said outlet opening.

In accordance with a presently preferred embodiment, said shell sections are made from stamped stainless steel plates which are approximately 1 millimeter thick. Also, a lateral opening is provided in each shell section. Said fluid inlet means comprises a member provided with two ducts, and means for sealingly connecting said fluid inlet means to said shell sections so as to close said inlet means are provided, each of said ducts being accessible externally of and communicating with said cavity.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its methods of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood fromthe following description of specific embodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross section of a water tap in accordance with the present invention, showing the major portions in an exploded manner; and

FIGS. 24 are fragmentary views of the tap as shown in FIG. 1 during various stages of construction, the tap being shown assembled in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIG. 1, the tubular body of the tap comprises of two mirror-symmetrically shaped prefabricated, stamped shell sections 1 and 2. The shell sections are preferably made from stainless steel 1 millimeter thick. However, the shell sections may be made from other material having a different thickness. When the shell sections are made from stainless steel plate, they can be fixed to one another by arc-welding them together at their edges. A joining line designated by the reference numeral 3-defines a longitudinal plane of symmetry of the tap. The two sections together form a cavity 2a which is totaly sealed except as described below.

The connected sections have a rear portion 4 which is provided with a recessed zone 5, the latter being provided with a wide central orifice or inlet opening 6. To each side of the joining line-3, the shells l and 2. are provided with flat lateral portions -7 and 9. Widediameter orifices or a lateral openings '8 and 10 are provided in the lateral portions 7 and 9, respectively. The 7 tap is provided with an orifice or' outlet opening 12 which acts as the mouth through which water or like may flow at the front portion 11 of the tap.

Once the sections 1 and 2 are welded together at the line 3 and the openings 6, 8 and 10 are formed, an outer part 15 of a fluid supply means or fluid supply member is inserted through the inlet opening 6 until its flange 14 is positioned inside the recessed zone 5, to be then sealingly connected by welding with silver or bronze solder 18. In this condition, an end portion 13 of the part extends through the inlet opening 6 into the internal cavity 2a, while the major portion of the outer part 15 remains exteriorly of the cavity. The outer part 15 is provided with two substantially parallel ducts l6 and 17 whose outer. ends are accessible exteriorly of the internal cavity 2a while their inner ends communicate with the latter. The portion of outer part 15 extending outside the cavity 2a when the tap is assembled is adapted for the purpose of fixing the tap in a wall or wash basin, as is the usual practice with cast-metal taps, and the

ducts

16 and 17 are connected to hot and cold water fittings by soldering the latter and the outer part to one another.

An inner part 19 of the fluid supply member has two branching

portions

23 and 27 which diverge from one another at an angle of 90. Each of the branching portions is directed toward a respective one of the lateral openings 8 and 10. The inner part 19 has two parallel ducts 20 and 21 and two

diverging ducts

26 and 30. The

ducts

26 and 30 open towards the lateral openings 8 and respectively. The ducts 20 and 2] communicate with the respective ducts l6 and 17 of the outer part when the annular flange 22 of the inner part 19 is joined to the end portion 13 of the outer part, either by threading or welding.

The branching portions are externally threaded and are provided at their free ends with

annular projections

25 and 29 which surround the open ends of the

ducts

26, 30 respectively. Each annular projection serves as a valve seat for an on-off (open-close) device, as to be described hereafter.

Once the various parts have been welded and fixed into place, the hollow cylindrical valve assembly 34 is inserted through-orifice 8. The valve assembly 34 is provided with a threaded portion at one end and is adapted to be screwingly engaged with threaded portion 23. The valve assembly 34 has, at its upper end 32, a flange 23, which, when the valve has been meshed with the threaded portion 23, remains supported on the exterior wall of the hollow body of the tap, about the exterior peripheral lateral portion 7 of the lateral opening 8, and is then welded onto this lateral portion to prevent leakages of water. An open-close (on-off) device is threadingly inserted inside the valve assembly 34, as is to be described, and orifices 34' are provided in its lateral facing so that the water which flows from the duct 16 to duct 26 passes through the orifices 34' to the interior of the body or internal cavity 2a of the tap and leaves by the outlet opening 12 at its front portion 11. Similarly, a hollow cylindrical valve assembly 38 is provided which cooperates with threaded portion 27. The valve assembly 38 is similar to the aforementioned valve assembly 34 and also has at its end 36 a flange 37 which is supported by and soldered onto the lateral postion 9. The valve assembly 38 is similarly provided with orifices 38' which connect the interior of the valve assembly with the internal cavity 2a of the tap.

Once the tap has been assembled in the manner described, the open-close (on-off) elements are fitted, i.e. they are screwingly meshed to the interiorly threaded portions 39 of the

valve assemblies

34, 38. The elements are of the type used for valves not only of this but of other types used in plumbing work and are well known. The threaded portions 39 on the interior faces of the hollow

cylindrical valve assemblies

34 and 38 maintain some of the open-close elements fixed relative to the valve seats 25, 29. The open-close (on-off) devices include sleeves 40 which have internal threads which engage with the screw threads of the stems 41 for control of the valve. The stems are movable in axial directions, i.e. along the axes of the

ducts

26, 30 and towards or away from the

seats

25, 29 respectively. Each stem or spindle carries a valve member, e.g. a washer 43 or the like. Each washer 43 is movably mounted by means of a ball and socket arrangement 42 for ensuring that the washer 43 is urged to its sealing position upon engagement with the valve seat 25, respectively 29. In

this manner, a perfect air and water tight seal is obtained whenever the spindle 46 is turned so as to bring the washer into engagement with the respective valve seat. Sealing means 44, 45 are provided about the spindle 46 for preventing leakages of water. A knob (not shown) is connected to the spindle to facilitate the turning of the same.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of a water tap differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a water tap which is to be constructed from symmetrically shaped shell sections which are made from stamped stainless steel plates and which are constructed by connecting to these shells valve and conduit means, it is not intended to be limited to'the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analyzes, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art fairly constitutute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptation should and is intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

1. A tap of an integrated construction, comprising a housing consisting of two interconnected mirror-symmetrically shaped shell sections defining an internal cavity communicating with the surroundings by means of an outlet opening, said housing being provided with an axial opening for accommodation of fluid inlet means and at least one lateral opening for accommodation of fluid flow control means; said fluid inlet means extending through said axial opening into said cavity and comprising two parts, the major portion of a first one of said parts being located externally of said hous' ing for attachment to fluid supply pipes, the minor portion of said first part being inserted into said axial opening for sealingly attaching said first part to said housing, the second one of said parts being accommodated inside said cavity and attached to said first part so as to communicate therewith, both of said parts being provided with passage means for separate conduction of a first and a second fluid to be mixed in said cavity in an adjustable. ratio; said fluid flow control means comprising cylindrical means fittingly accommodated in said lateral opening and sealingly attached to said housing and to said second part of said fluid inlet means, said cylindrical means having a wall bounding an internal chamber and provided with an opening communicating with said chamber and with said cavity, and valve means accommodated in and sealingly attached to said cylindrical means and cooperating with a valve seat provided on said second part of said fluid inlet means for controlling the fluid flow from said fluid inlet means into said chamber and from there via said opening into said cavity.

2. A tap as defined in claim 1, wherein said shell sections are made from stamped stainless steel sheet.

3. A tap as defined in claim 2, wherein said sheet is approximately 1 mm. thick.

for securing positive seating of said valve member on said valve seat.

- 5. A tap as defined in claim 1, said'wall of said cylindrical means being provided with additional openings connecting said chamber with said cavity, all of said openings being arranged so as to assure turbulent flow inside said cavity and thus thorough mixing of said fluids.

Claims

1. A tap of an integrated construction, comprising a housing consisting of two interconnected mirror-symmetrically shaped shell sections defining an internal cavity communicating with the surroundings by means of an outlet opening, said housing being provided with an axial opening for accommodation of fluid inlet means and at least one lateral opening for accommodation of fluid flow control means; said fluid inlet means extending through said axial opening into said cavity and comprising two parts, the major portion of a first one of said parts being located externally of said housing for attachment to fluid supply pipes, the minor portion of said first part being inserted into said axial opening for sealingly attaching said first part to said housing, the second one of said parts being accommodated inside said cavity and attached to said first part so as to communicate therewith, both of said parts being provided with passage means for separate conduction of a first and a second fluid to be mixed in said cavity in an adjustable ratio; said fluid flow control means comprising cylindrical means fittingly accommodated in said lateral opening and sealingly attached to said housing and to said second part of said fluid inlet means, said cylindrical means having a wall bounding an internal chamber and provided with an opening communicating with said chamber and with said cavity, and valve means accommodated in and sealingly attached to said cylindrical means and cooperating with a valve seat provided on said second part of said fluid inlet means for controlling the fluid flow from said fluid inlet means into said chamber and from there via said opening into said cavity.

4. A tap as defined in claim 1, said valve means comprising a sleeve sealingly attached to said cylindrical means and accommodating a spindle mounted for rotation and simultaneous axial movement in said sleeve, a valve member for closing and adjustably opening said passage means in dependence upon the axial displacement of said spindle, and a sealing member consisting of a sealing ring and a sealing cap, said valve member being attached to said spindle by means of a ball joint for securing positive seating of said valve member on said valve seat.

5. A tap as defined in claim 1, said wall of said cylindrical means being provided with additional openings connecting said chamber with said cavity, all of said openings being arranged so as to assure turbulent flow inside said cavity and thus thorough mixing of said fluids.