WO2001088283A1

WO2001088283A1 - Plumbing fixtures and plumbing fitment system

Info

Publication number: WO2001088283A1
Application number: PCT/GB2001/002231
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon John Wilson; Howard John Birch
Original assignee: Aston Matthews Limited
Priority date: 2000-05-18
Filing date: 2001-05-18
Publication date: 2001-11-22
Also published as: AU5857001A; GB0012060D0

Abstract

The invention provides plumbing fixtures and a plumbing fitment system which is adaptable in configuration to accommodate various operational, aesthetic and configurational requirements dictated by their intended use, location and mounting. Typically there is increased requirement for a stylised and attractive plumbing fixture, such as a tap, that may be attached to a variety of fittings whilst directing the flow of fluid in a specified direction. Addressing these demands, the invention provides a plumbing fixture containing, within a tubular casing, a manually controllable valve for controlling the flow of fluid through the casing. An outlet carrier extends outwardly from the casing and is receptive to different fluid outlet components. Typically, the fluid outlet components comprise either spout-like fixtures with differing angles between the conduit and a receptacle for fluid exiting therefrom, or shower or bidet conversion fixtures.

Description

PLUMBING FIXTURES AND PLUMBING FITMENT SYSTEM

The present invention relates to plumbing fixtures and a plumbing fitment system. At the present time, a tap typically comprises an integral stem and spout assembly; the stem comprising a tubular casing, containing a valve. The spout is also generally tubular, and typically leaves the stem somewhat at right angles thereto and curves downwards to face into the basin, bath or other receptacle it is intended to service.

The flow of fluid through the tap and out of the spout is controlled by way of a handwheel which is operatively connected to a rotatable actuator forming part of the valve.

Within a domestic situation, taps are commonly found in sinks, basins, baths, showers and bidets and are usually located in more than one room of the house. In these circumstances, the varying operational, aesthetic and configurational requirements placed upon taps, depending upon their intended use, location and mounting, dictates that manufacturers produce, and merchants and practitioners keep in stock, a wide range of different products.

Moreover, in the commercial market, further operational and design criteria have resulted in a still more diverse range of tap designs. Changes in traditional design have, moreover, led to taps being mounted in unusual orientations and/or positioning. Hence, whilst still the norm, it is no longer^' axiomatic that taps will be mounted with their stems extending vertically from a surface with their spouts curving down to service a receptacle.

It is becoming increasingly common for taps to be positioned with their stems in, for example, a horizontal plane extending from a vertical surface, and so on. Where conventional taps are mounted in non-conventional positioning, they can, in general, no longer fulfill the requirement of accurately directing the flow of fluid into the desired receptacle or of directing the flow of fluid in the correct direction.

The above problems have given rise to the need for a wide range of plumbing fixtures, of which taps are merely one example, which increase the functionality of the tap whilst maintaining an aesthetically pleasing appearance. In order to maintain the direction of flow of fluid, variations in the shaping and/or dimensioning of the spout of the tap are common.

Further, piping to which taps are attached may vary in diameter. Therefore, tap designs are usually produced in a range of diameters to ensure compatibility with all variants of piping.

The diameter of fittings to which a tap may be attached can vary between locations in, for example, one building. Where it is desired to install "matching" tap fittings throughout one building, the same aesthetic design of tap must be produced in a range of diametric sizes. Where the positioning of the mounting is changed and a "matching" tap is desired, the tap must still direct the flow of liquid/gas in the correct direction which is usually substantially downwards. Therefore, a range of taps with differing spouts and diametric sizes must be provided.

To overcome the above problems, it has previously been necessary for manufacturers to produce, and for merchants and practitioners to stock and store, large ranges of taps which vary in diametric sizes and also vary in their ability to direct the flow of fluid, depending on the specific positioning of the tap. The associated costs of producing, distributing and stocking large ranges of taps of the above nature, are high, and such costs have to be passed on to the consumer.

There thus exists a need for a stylised and attractive plumbing fixture, such as a tap, that may be attached to a variety of fittings whilst directing the flow of fluid in a specified direction.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plumbing fixture, and a plumbing fitment system which can substantially overcome or reduce the above mentioned problems. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a plumbing fixture comprising an elongate, generally tubular casing; said casing having an inlet aperture and an outlet carrier for fluid and containing a valve means capable of controlling the flow of said fluid from said inlet aperture to said outlet carrier; said valve means being manually controllable by user interaction with a moveable valve operator; and wherein said outlet carrier is integrally formed with or otherwise fixedly secured to said tubular casing, and comprises a generally tubular conduit which extends outwardly from the casing and transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof; said conduit being provided with coupling means whereby different fluid outlet components are alternatively attachable thereto in fluid-tight manner.

In typical embodiments, the fluid outlet components may comprise spout fixtures with differing angles between the conduit and a receptacle to which the fixture is intended to convey fluid; or shower or bidet conversion fixtures for example .

According to the invention from another aspect there is provided a plumbing fitment system comprising a pipework layout for conveying fluid to a plurality of locations, each adapted for fluid reception and/or usage; said system comprising, coupled to the pipework at each of said locations, substantially identical plumbing fixtures comprising, in each case, an elongate, generally tubular casing; said casing having an inlet aperture connectable to said pipework and an outlet carrier for fluid, and containing a valve means capable of controlling the flow of said fluid from said inlet aperture to said outlet carrier; said valve means being manually controllable by user interaction with a moveable valve operator; and wherein said outlet carrier is integrally formed with or otherwise fixedly secured to said tubular casing, and comprises a generally tubular conduit which extends outwardly from the casing and transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof; each said conduit being provided with coupling means whereby respective fluid outlet components of the system are attachable thereto in fluid-tight manner at each of said locations.

Preferably the inlet aperture is formed so as to render the casing connectable to pipework of a selected dimension, but can readily be adapted, by means of inserts, to accommodate pipework of other dimensions. Conveniently, the inlet aperture and inserts therefor are cylindrical and threaded in a complementary manner whereby an insert may be screwed into the inlet aperture in a secure fashion.

Conveniently, the insert is externally threaded, in whole or in part, and exhibits a stepped change in diameter from that intended to be screwed into the inlet aperture to that intended to be connectable to an outlet point of a pipework layout.

In the above mentioned manner, one standard sized tap stem can be adapted, by means of inserts, to fit differing layouts comprising pipework of varying dimensions. Therefore, the need to produce the same tap stem in a variety of dimensions is reduced. Likewise, as described previously, differing fluid outlet components can be added to identical tap stems; the outlet components costing significantly less than the tap stem to produce, and thus to stock, whereas economies of scale can be made in respect of the most costly item which, by means of the invention, can be largely standardised.

Furthermore, tap stems may be re-used in conjunction with different outlet components simply by replacing one outlet component by another. Therefore, the tap stem may be recycled, further reducing associated costs.

The tap stem may be adapted so that its function is altered. For example, identical tap stems may be used as the basis for a shower unit, bidet, fountain or as a more traditional sink tap. Conveniently the tap is releasably attachable to a tail attachment and flow directing device. In this manner, the tap stem may be quickly and cheaply adapted to fit specific requirements .

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein; -

Figure 1 shows, in cross-sectional view, the principal element, comprising a tap stem, of a fixture or system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows, in cross-sectional view, an outlet component which is attachable to the tap stem;

Figure 3 shows, in cross-sectional view, an insert for coupling the tap stem for to pipework connections of smaller diameter than that for which the tap stem itself is configured; and Figure 4 shows, in cross-sectional view, a shower diverter assembly which is compatible with, and particularly advantageous for use in conjunction with, fixtures in accordance with the invention. Figure 1 illustrates the main body of a fixture in accordance with one example of the present invention, wherein a tap comprises an operating portion (1) which is located at one end of the tap stem (4), a threaded inlet aperture (8) located at the opposite end of the tap stem (4) in relation to the operating portion (1), and an outlet carrier, comprising conduit (5), extending outwardly from the longitudinal axis of the tap stem (4) .

A valve mechanism (3) of any convenient kind is located within the operating portion (1) and tap stem (4); the mechanism (3) having an operating extension (3a) which extends beyond stem (4) into the volume surrounded by the operating portion (1) . The operating portion (1) is releasably attached to the operating extension (3a) of the valve mechanism (3) via a screw (2) . The operating portion (1) is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the tap stem (4) . Rotation of the operating portion (1) about the longitudinal axis rotates, as is conventional, the operating extension (3a) and thus controls the opening and closure of the valve mechanism (4), and thus the flow of fluid from the inlet aperture (8) through the outlet carrier comprising conduit (5) . The exact valve mechanism (4) may take any convenient form and is thus not specifically depicted.

Figure 2 illustrates a fluid outlet component (9) intended for fluid-tight attachment to the conduit (5) . The component (9) is releasably or fixedly attached to the tap stem (4) via the conduit (5) . In the illustrated embodiment, the outwardly extending arm of the conduit (5) can be inserted into a corresponding opening (11) of the fluid outlet component (9). In this example, the component (9) comprises a T-junction component, intended to split fluid exiting from conduit (5) into two streams, one aligned with and the other orthogonal to the conduit. Such an arrangement may be used, for example, for a shower attachment and internal valving may be provided to preferentially direct fluid along one or other of the paths offered by the component (9) . Alternatively, one or the other of the paths may be blanked or constricted or coupled to further attachments as desired. In other circumstances, instead of using a T-junction component such as component (9), alternative outlet components, such as spout-like components or bidet or shower components can be used. As previously mentioned, the invention is advantageous in that it provides the capability of using a common tap stem

(4) with a variety of outlet connectors such as (9). In particular, outlet components having several different angles of fluid conduction relative to the conduit (5) can be made available to allow the tap stem (4) to be used with variously orientated pipework outlets, whilst still directing fluid downwardly into a receptacle.

Thus, the main body comprising the tap stem, conduit and operating portion can be coupled to a single attachment to make a single functioning tap as a hot or cold tap, with pairs thereof being arrangable to provide hot and cold taps. Alternatively, two main bodies can be coupled to the openings 11 either side of the component (9) in figure 2 with a suitable attachment being coupled to the remaining opening so that mixer taps are created. This is particularly advantageous since existing pairs of main bodies in situ can be converted from separate taps to a mixer tap or vica versa simply by changing of the attachments coupled to the conduits

(5) of the main body. It will be appreciated that this coupling of different attachments to the conduit of the main body provides a wide variety of possible arrangements and appearance of tap, in addition to various orientations and locations for the functioning tap and the provision of the fluid, all from a common body. Whatever form the outlet component (9) takes, it is preferred that, after insertion of the conduit (5) into the outlet component (9), the component (9) is secured to the conduit (5) via a screw (10) . When the screw (10) is inserted transversely through the wall of the flow directing device (9) the tail of the screw (10) resides within a circumferentially extending groove (7) formed in the conduit thereby securing the structure. Suitable O-ring seals (6) are provided, as is conventional, to prevent fluid leakage at the point of join; the O-rings (6) being mounted in respective grooves in the conduit (5) such that their outer diameters extend outside of the grooves and are deformed when engaged with the inner surface of the opening (11) of the component (9).

The outlet component (9) is configured to conduct fluid in a specific direction. Its exact configuration may therefore vary. In this respect, as already indicated, the tap stem (4) and operating means (1) may be mounted via the threaded inlet (8) at any angle and/or orientation. The outlet component (9) therefore directs the flow of fluid to the direction desired.

If necessary, the tap stem (4) may be coupled to a pipe via a tail attachment (12) . Figure 3 illustrates the tail attachment (12) of which the threaded portion (13) is complementary to the threaded inlet (8) . The threaded portion (13) is screwed into the threaded inlet (8) in a secure fashion.

The threaded portion (14) of the tail attachment (12) is inserted into the outlet coupling of a fluid-carrying pipe. In this manner, the tap stem (4) is attachable to a variety of fluid-carrying pipes by the addition of a tail attachment (12) wherein the dimensions ■ of the threaded portion (14) may be chosen to fit those of the pipe connection.

Referring now to Figure 4, there -is shown in cross- sectional view a shower diverter assembly (15) which is compatible with, and particularly advantageous for use in conjunction with, the plumbing fixtures described hereinbefore. The diverter assembly (15) shown in Figure 4 is fixed to a pair of taps (not shown) , disposed in mixer format as described earlier, which taps provide respective input supply connections from opposing sides of the assembly; such connections running perpendicular to the plane of the paper and one of them being shown at (30) . The shower outlet from the diverter (15) is shown as a threaded outlet (16) which feeds a tubular extension (not shown) running upwards to a region at which is located a shower head outlet. As will be understood, the tubular extension may take any of a number of forms, such as a flexible tube with a shower head attached that can be clipped (fixedly or removably) to a wall or other support, or a rigid pipe intended to be plumbed into, or affixed to, the wall or other support.

The tap outlet from the diverter assembly (15) is shown at (17) and this, as will be appreciated, overlies a bath or other receptacle into which water is to be run from the assembly.

As is well known, when arrangements of this general kind are used it is necessary to provide a user of the arrangement with some means for selecting whether water will issue from the outlet (16) or the outlet (17) at any given time. In this particularly convenient arrangement, an intermediate tubular portion (18), associated with the tap outlet (17), carries a valve component (19) supporting a seal (20) . The seal (20) is shown as being in position to prevent the flow of water through the shower outlet (16) , by sealing an opening (21) that leads to the shower outlet, and thus permitting water to issue through the tap outlet (17) when one or other (or both) of the taps forming part of the mixer unit as a whole is (or are) turned on. In accordance with a particularly convenient configuration of the assembly, the valve seal (20) is capable of rightwards linear movement relative to the opening (21) , to a location at which it blocks an opening (22) leading to the tap outlet (17); the said rightwards motion being effected by a user simply pulling on the tap outlet (17) . Since, as can be seen from Figure 4, the valve component (19) is fixedly mounted within the intermediate portion (18) of the tap outlet (17), such pulling motion causes the seal (20) to be withdrawn from opening (21) and inserted into the opening (22) . It will be appreciated in this respect that a tubular, fixed central portion (23) of the assembly (15) is coaxially disposed with respect to the intermediate portion (18) and is formed with annular water seals (24) and (25) designed to accommodate relative sliding motion between the components (17) and (18), on the one hand, and the fixed central portion (23) on the other hand. The sliding motion can be controlled as to its limits by means of a grub screw (26) or similar device attached to the intermediate portion (18) of the tap outlet (17) and accommodated within a groove (27) formed in the fixed component (23) and disposed, in this example, between the mounts for the two seals (24) and (25) . Thus, by means of the assembly (15) shown in figure 4, a particularly simple and convenient means of diverting water to a shower outlet or a tap outlet is provided; the diversion being achieved merely by pulling or pushing the tap towards or away from the user. It will be appreciated in this connection that the assembly may be provided with graphic material indicating how to use the diverter; this being particularly called for when installed in hotels or other locations where users may comprise many different people from differing backgrounds.

In particular, bearing in mind that, in the specific assembly described with reference to and shown in Figure 4, the tap will be pulled out when the shower is to be used, it may be arranged that the relevant part of the external surface of the fixed central portion (23) that will be exposed by such movement is brightly coloured to attract attention.

Claims

1. A plumbing fixture comprising: - an elongate casing having an inlet aperture and an outlet carrier for fluid; a valve means provided in said stem and capable of controlling the flow of said fluid from said inlet aperture to said outlet carrier, said valve means being manually controllable by user interaction with a moveable valve operator; and wherein said outlet carrier is integrally formed with or otherwise fixedly secured to said casing, and comprises a generally tubular conduit which extends outwardly from the casing and substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof, said conduit being provided with coupling means whereby different fluid outlet components are attachable thereto in fluid-tight manner.

2. A fixture according to claim 1 wherein the fluid outlet components comprise spout fixtures with differing angles between the conduit and a receptacle to which the fixture is intended to convey fluid.

3. A fixture according to claim 1 wherein the fluid outlet components comprise shower or bidet conversion fixtures .

4. A diverter assembly connected to a pair of fixtures according to any preceding claim, the assembly having first and second outlets, selectable by a user, for fluid from said fixtures, the assembly further including a diverter valve capable of selectively sealing one or other of said outlets, and wherein said diverter valve includes a sealing means that is movable in response to motion applied by a user to one or other of said first and second outlets.

5. An assembly according to claim 4 wherein said motion comprises rectilinear sliding motion of a mobile tubular member, comprising one of said outlets, relative to a fixed tubular member comprising part of said assembly; annular sealing means being provided between the mobile and fixed tubular members to accommodate said sliding motion.

6. An assembly according to claim 5 wherein a travel limiter is provided to control said sliding motion, said travel limiter comprising co-operative components associated respectively with said fixed and mobile tubular members.

7. A plumbing fitment system comprising a pipework layout for conveying fluid to a plurality of locations, each adapted for fluid reception and/or usage; said system comprising, coupled to the pipework at each of said locations, substantially identical plumbing fixtures comprising, in each case, an elongate casing; said casing having an inlet aperture connectable to said pipework and an outlet carrier for fluid, and containing a valve means capable of controlling the flow of said fluid from said inlet aperture to said outlet carrier; said valve means being manually controllable by user interaction with a moveable valve operator; and wherein said outlet carrier is integrally formed with or otherwise fixedly secured to said tubular casing, and comprises a generally tubular conduit which extends outwardly from the casing and substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof; each said conduit being provided with coupling means whereby respective fluid outlet components of the system are attachable thereto in fluid-tight manner at each of said locations.

8. A fixture according to any of claims 1 to 6 or a system according to claim 7, wherein the inlet aperture is formed so as to render the casing connectable to pipework of a selected dimension, but can be adapted, by means of inserts, to accommodate pipework connections of other dimensions.

9. A fixture or system according to claim 8 wherein the inlet aperture and inserts therefor are cylindrical and threaded in a complementary manner whereby an insert may be screwed into the inlet aperture in a secure fashion.

10. A fixture or system according to claim 8 or claim 9 wherein the insert is externally threaded, in whole or in part, and exhibits a stepped change in diameter from that intended to be screwed into the inlet aperture to that intended to be connectable to an outlet point of a pipework layout.

11. A fixture or system according to any preceding claim wherein the said outlet component comprises a means of directing fluid to flow in a specified direction.

12. A fixture or system according to claim 11 wherein the said outlet component comprises a spout adapted to direct liquid to flow in a substantially downward direction.

13. A plumbing fixture substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. A plumbing fitment system substantially as herein described.

15. An elongate tubular insert for attachment to a plumbing fixture in fluid-tight fashion, the insert having at one end thereof external connection means for connection to the fixture and at the other end thereof a relatively reduced diameter portion for connection to an outlet point of a pipework layout.

16. A shower diverter assembly for selecting fluid flow to first or second outlets, the assembly comprising a diverter valve capable of selectively sealing one or other of said outlets, and wherein said diverter valve includes a sealing means that is movable in response to motion applied by a user to one or other of said first and second outlets.