WO1998002622A1

WO1998002622A1 - Anti-theft water outlet nozzle

Info

Publication number: WO1998002622A1
Application number: PCT/IB1997/000740
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Curty
Original assignee: Paul Curty
Priority date: 1996-07-12
Filing date: 1997-06-19
Publication date: 1998-01-22
Also published as: AU2974997A

Abstract

The invention relates to an inner member (1) which is arranged to be freely rotatable in a carrier sleeve (8). The inner member (1) has a stop member with an abutting slope (12) and a blocking surface (10). The carrier sleeve (8) also has a stop member with an abutting slope (9) and a blocking surface (13). The inner member (1) and the carrier sleeve (8) arranged to be freely rotatable thereon can therefore not be separated from each other. By exertion of a compression force on the carrier sleeve (8), said sleeve is compressed resiliently to produce a frictional connection with the inner member (1). The material and the wall thickness of the smooth carrier sleeve (8) are selected in such a manner that it cannot be compressed by exertion of human force, thereby preventing unauthorised removal by screwing of the water outlet nozzle.

Description

Theft-proof water outlet mouthpiece

The invention relates to a water outlet mouthpiece for sanitary fittings, with a thread arranged on the inlet side for screwing with an external thread for direct or indirect connection to a sanitary fitting.

These water outlet pieces are usually sleeve-shaped components for receiving inserts, for example aerators, sieves, water-saving inserts, sealing rings, etc. The sleeve-shaped components also have a thread, by means of which the water outlet mouthpiece with the inserts mentioned with the sanitary fitting, e.g. is screwed to a tap. The water outlet mouthpiece is either manually or with the help of a tool e.g. a fork wrench, which can be attached to appropriately designed parts of the mouthpiece, screwed onto the tap. These taps are stolen the longer the more often with installed taps by unscrewing them either manually or with the help of a generally and easily available open-ended wrench.

In order to counteract this theft and vandalism, mouthpieces have been developed which have designs on their end faces for receiving a specially designed tool. However, these mouthpieces are "thick" and "chunky", so unsightly. As is well known, great importance is attached to the aesthetic appearance of water fittings. For this reason, these mouthpieces have not been accepted by the consumer.

The aim of the invention is to create a water outlet mouthpiece by means of which the disadvantages mentioned are eliminated and which is theft-proof while maintaining an aesthetic appearance. The water outlet mouthpiece according to the invention is characterized by a sleeve-shaped inner piece containing the thread for receiving at least one specific insert to influence a continuous water flow, and by a flat-walled, radially elastically deformable driving sleeve surrounding the inner piece made of a material and with a wall thickness that is radial Compression by an immediately applied human force make it impossible, which flat-walled driving sleeve is freely rotatably arranged on the inner piece and locked against axial displacement, which driving sleeve can be brought into a frictional engagement with the inner piece in a radially elastically compressed state, so that when rotating the Driving sleeve the inner piece is carried by the same, in order to loosen the water outlet mouthpiece from a respective counter thread, or screw the water outlet mouthpiece onto e to be permitted in the respective counter thread exclusively by rotating the elastically compressed, flat-walled driving sleeve.

Advantageous developments of the subject matter of the invention result from the dependent claims. Due to the fact that the flat-walled outer driving sleeve is freely rotatable on the screwed-on inner piece, it is impossible to rotate the inner piece in order to loosen the screw connection, be it by manually rotating the outer driving sleeve or by rotating the same using a tool, eg pliers. Since the driving sleeve is flat-walled, any form-fitting intervention with a tool is not possible. It is also impossible to remove the driver sleeve, since the driver sleeve on the inner piece is locked against axial displacement. In order to make the inner piece rotate, the driving sleeve must be pressed together radially so that a Non-positive connection between the inside of the driving sleeve and the outside of the inner piece.

It is obvious that a minimum distance between the inside of the driving sleeve and the outside of the inner piece is chosen. For the elastic compression of the driver sleeve, a tool that is not available in general trade is required, the working surfaces of which clamp on the driver sleeve are adapted to the outer shape of the driver sleeve, so that they are not damaged by e.g. tooth-shaped formations on the clamping jaws are damaged or no plastic deformations occur during the compression of the driving sleeve due to the cross-sectional deformation. Such tools adapted to the driving sleeve are not commercially available and can only be bought together with the water outlet mouthpieces. They can hardly be used for any other purpose, so that theft, theft or vandalism is put an end to it. The subject matter of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings, for example. It shows:

Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section through a water outlet mouthpiece, Fig. 2 shows a section through an annular

Tool,

3 is a top view of the tool according to FIG. 2.

The water outlet mouthpiece shown in section in FIG. 1 generally has a sleeve-shaped inner piece 1 made of an expedient, conventional material, for example brass. The inner piece 1 has, in a known manner, an internal thread 2 arranged on the inlet side, for connection, for example, to a sanitary fitting, for example to the free end of the water outlet pipe of a tap. In the inner piece 1 a perolator of known design is used, which generally has a lateral slots 3 provided bushing 4, in which an outflow-side screen unit 5 and an upstream-side screen unit 6 are used. A sealing ring 7 is connected to the perolator, by means of which the water outlet mouthpiece screwed to a respective water outlet pipe is sealed against water leakage.

The inner piece 1 is freely rotatable in a driver bush 8, and secured therein against axial displacement. When the end of the inner piece 1 is removed from the internal thread 2, a locking member is formed. In the illustrated embodiment, this locking member is a projection extending in the circumferential direction of the inner piece 1. This protrusion has a run-out slope 9 that extends somewhat bulged outwards and ends at a blocking surface 10 that extends in the radial direction of the inner piece 1. In addition to this blocking surface 10, a recess 11 is also formed. The driver bush 8 has an inwardly projecting locking member which contains a flat, ramp slope 12 and a locking surface 13. There is a recess 9 next to it.

The driver sleeve 8 and the inner piece 1 can be made of a material that is customary for water outlet mouthpieces, for example brass, whereby the visible outer surfaces of the driver sleeve 8 can be chrome-plated.

To assemble the inner piece 1 m, the driver bush 8 is inserted, the two bevels 9; 12 a small elastic dodging takes place at the relevant points, after which a snap takes place. Because of the locking surfaces 10; 13, the two components 1; 8 (without damage or destruction) no longer pull apart, so that the driver bushing 8 can rotate freely, but in axial direction. ler direction is mounted immovably on the inner piece.

The driving sleeve 8 consists of an elastically deformable material. The material and the wall thickness of the driving sleeve 8 are now selected such that the driving sleeve 8 cannot be compressed by hand or by a fist, that is to say generally by applying a human force. Obviously, different materials can be selected for the production of the driving bush, on which the individual dimensions of the bushing depend on the fulfillment of the condition mentioned. As a non-limiting example, a driving sleeve 8 made of brass and with an outside diameter of 23.5 mm should be mentioned. The wall thickness of such a driving sleeve 8 at

The area of the thread 2 would be 0.25 mm and the area of the water-emitting end of the recess 19 (greatest wall thickness) would be 1.7 mm. The distance between the driving bushing 8 and the inner piece 1 would be 0.01 mm in the area of the thread 2 and 0.04 mm next to the upstream end of the recess 11.

Is the water outlet mouthpiece at the end of a pipe, e.g. screwed on a faucet, it cannot be unscrewed because any rotation of the driving sleeve 8 cannot be transferred to the inner piece 1. The driving sleeve 8 is smooth-walled on its outside, so it does not offer a contact surface for a tool.

In order to be able to screw the inner piece away (and obviously also screw it onto a respective pipe piece), the driver sleeve 8 must be elastically pressed together using a tool specially designed for this purpose in order to achieve a frictional engagement, that is to say a frictional engagement between the driver sleeve 8 and the inner piece 1 to create.

The tool shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 serves this purpose. This tool is ring shaped and has an outer Tragerringkorper 14 for example made of a metal. An inner ring body 15 is inserted in the support ring body 14. This inner body 15, which can be inserted loosely, consists of an elastic material, for example rubber. The Tragerringkorper 14 is separated at one point by a slot 16. This slot 16 is bridged by a screw bolt 17 inserted in the support ring body 14. Furthermore, the support ring body 14 has at one end an inwardly facing shoulder 18 on which the inner body 15 rests.

To screw the water outlet mouthpiece on or off, the tool is pushed onto the driving bush 8 until the shoulder 18 abuts the front end of the driving bush 8. Then the elastomeric inner body 15 is in the correct position relative to the driving bushing 8. It should be noted that the elastomeric inner body 15 has a considerable length. If the tool has been put on, the

Screw bolt 17 tightened, in the example shown by means of an Allen key, and thus the elastomeric interior body 15 lies tightly against the driving bushing 8. In contrast to, for example, pliers, there is a considerably large area available for power transmission in the tool shown, so that no injury, for example plastic deformation, of the driving bush 8 can occur. The driving bush 8 is now tightly wrapped around the driving bush 8 by the continued tightening of the screw bolt 17, so that the latter is compressed elastically in order to lie firmly against the inner piece 1 on the inside. It should be noted that the contacting surfaces of the inner piece 1 and the driving bushing 8 do not necessarily have to be smooth-walled. They could be slightly roughened to increase the prevailing frictional forces. The fact that in the frictional engagement between the tool and the driver bush 8, and between the driver slave sleeve 8 and the inner piece 1 is present, the inner piece 1 is carried by the driving sleeve 8 when the tool rotates, and can be screwed onto a thread or unscrewed from a thread without further notice.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the tool is clamped using an Allen key.

A screwdriver should be used for other designs of the head of the screw bolt. Instead of the threaded bolt, a buckle-shaped tensioning device would also be conceivable.

Claims

claims

1.Water outlet piece for sanitary fittings, with a thread (2) arranged on the inlet side for screwing with a mating thread for direct or indirect connection to a sanitary fitting, characterized by a socket-shaped inner piece (1) containing the thread (2) for receiving at least one, continuous one Water flow to influence a specific application (5; 6), and by means of a flat-walled, radially elastically deformable driving bushing (8) which surrounds the inner stucco and is made of a material and with a wall thickness which make radial compression possible by an immediately applied human force effect , which flat-walled driving bush (8) is freely rotatably arranged on the inner piece (1) and locked against axial displacement, which driving bushing (8) can be brought into a non-positive connection with the inner piece (1) in a radially elastically compressed state, so that when the driving sleeve (8) rotates Inner piece (1) is taken along by them in order to allow the water outlet and part to be loosened from a respective counter thread or to screw the water outlet mouthpiece onto a respective counter thread exclusively by rotating the elastically compressed, flat-walled driving sleeve (8).

2. Water outlet mouthpiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the inner piece (1) has a first locking member (9, 10) and the driving sleeve (8) has a second locking member (12; 13) which interacts with the first, of which locking members (9, 10; 12, 13) at least one which is resiliently deformable in an at least approximately radial direction of the water outlet mouthpiece, which locking members (9, 10;

12, 13) with locking surfaces (10; 13) abutting one another, which cause a relative axial displacement between the inner pieces (1) and drive bushing (8) for the purpose of separating them.

3. Water outlet mouthpiece according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that both locking members (9, 10; 12, 13) each have a run-up slope (9; 12), which has a blocking surface (at least approximately radial direction of the water outlet mouthpiece) ( 10; 13) ends.

4. Water outlet mouthpiece according to claim 3, characterized in that the locking member (12, 13) of the driving bushing (8) has the shape of an inner peripheral rib, and that the locking member (9, 10) of the inner piece (1) has the shape of an outer peripheral rib, wherein a recess (11) extending in the circumferential direction of the inner piece is connected to the locking surface (10) of the last-mentioned locking member (9, 10).

5. Water outlet mouthpiece according to claim 4, characterized in that one (12) of the ramp bevels (9; 12) is flat and the other (9) of the same is bulged outwards.

6. Water outlet mouthpiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the thread (2) of the inner piece (1) is an internal thread.

7. Tool for actuating the driver bushing according to claim 1, characterized in that it has the shape of a ring which is slit open at least at one point (16) and which has an outer carrier ring body (15) made of an elastomeric material, and that the carrier ring body (14) is equipped with a tendon (17) bridging the slit point.

8. Tool according to claim 7, characterized in that the Tragerringkorper (14) at one end has an inwardly facing shoulder (18) which serves as a stop for the tool when placed on the driving bush (8).

9. Tool according to claim 7, characterized in that the tensioning member (17) is a screw bolt which penetrates the carrier ring body (14) at the slotted point (16) and engages in a thread formed in the carrier ring body (14).