AERATOR

Abstract

An aerator includes a tubular shell and an inner container; an inner wall of the tubular shell being provided with through slots disposed to pass through the tubular shell along an axial direction of the inner wall; and an outer wall of the inner container being provided with limiting ribs and a convex lip, the limiting ribs being distributed along an axial direction of the inner container and being matched with the through slots, and the convex lip being located on a water outlet end of the inner container and being pressed against end surfaces in an axial direction of the tubular shell. According to the present application, the stable connection between the inner container and the tubular shell is ensured, at the same time, the structure of the tubular shell is simplified, the production difficulty is lowered, and the production cost is reduced.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202211215046.6, filed on Sep. 30, 2022, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the field of bathroom accessories, in particular to an aerator.

BACKGROUND

In order to have a unified shape, color and texture in appearance with water supply devices such as a tap and a shower and satisfy a requirement for the connection strength at joints of the water supply devices, generally, an existing aerator may be additionally provided with a shell structure on the periphery of an inner container of the aerator, the shell is generally made of surface-treated copper, stainless steel or ABS plastics, etc., and at the same time, the shell structure can be matched with a corresponding structure inside the aerator to rotate, thereby achieving the switching of a water outlet gear.

For example, CN 2167893130 discloses a water outlet device and a basin mixer applied by the water outlet device, a tubular shell thereof is specifically referred. In this patent literature, the tubular shell is respectively matched with a vertical limiting block and a horizontal convex block by means of a vertical guide slot and a groove formed by an inner wall, so that the tubular shell can be clamped with a water outlet pipe body to further drive the water outlet pipe body to rotate, thereby switching the gear. For another example, CN 217301711U discloses a two-functional water turn-on/off aerator of which a shell and a water divider are also matched in a clamping manner, and correspondingly, an inner wall of the shell is required to be provided with a plurality of clamping slots matched with bulges and ribs on an outer wall of the water divider to drive the water divider to rotate by means of the shell, thereby achieving gear switching.

However, during production, the above-mentioned water outlet device and the shell structure in the aerator are required to reserve a greater wall thickness as an allowance for secondary machining, that is, the wall thickness is required to be reserved for slotting. However, due to the smaller size of such a shell structure, the secondary machining process is relatively complicated, the cost is higher, the material waste will occur, and the consumed time is also longer. Therefore, the shell structure made by secondary machining will lead to the increase of the production cost of the aerator.

SUMMARY

A technical problem to be solved in the present application is to provide an aerator by which the production difficulty of a shell is lowered.

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problem, an aerator is provided, including a tubular shell and an inner container; an inner wall of the tubular shell being provided with through slots disposed to pass through the tubular shell along an axial direction of the inner wall; and an outer wall of the inner container being provided with limiting ribs and a convex lip, the limiting ribs being distributed along an axial direction of the inner container and being matched with the through slots, and the convex lip being located on a water outlet end of the inner container and being pressed against end surfaces in an axial direction of the tubular shell.

The present application has the beneficial effects that the through slots are enabled to be formed synchronously in a process that a pipe fitting in a form of a raw material is formed, and the tubular shell in the present application can be made by only cutting the pipe fitting and polishing a notch of the tubular shell. At the same time, positions of the limiting ribs and the convex lip are adaptively adjusted on the outer wall of the inner container, so that the limiting ribs are adapted to the through slots, the inner container and the tubular shell keep relatively static in a circumferential direction, and then, the tubular shell can drive the inner container to rotate. The convex lip is disposed for achieving axial limitation. The aerator is assembled on a water outlet of a water outlet device such as a tap or a shower during actual use, and therefore, the water outlet end of the inner container is provided with the convex lip and is matched with the water outlet of the water outlet device. At the same time, two ends in the axial direction of the tubular shell are limited to ensure the connection stability between the tubular shell and the inner container. In the present application, it is unnecessary to reserve a thickness or perform secondary machining on the tubular shell, so that the usage amount of the raw material is reduced while the thickness of the tubular shell is reduced, and the production cost is reduced while the production difficulty is lowered.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of an aerator in embodiment 1 and embodiment 2 of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a local exploded view of the aerator in embodiment 1 and embodiment 2 of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of an aerator in embodiment 3 and embodiment 4 of the present application.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the aerator in embodiment 3 and embodiment 4 of the present application.

FIG. 6 is a front view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural view of an inner container in embodiment 3 and embodiment 4 of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In order to describe, in detail, the technical contents as well as purposes and effects achieved in the present application, the following description will be shown in conjunction with implementations and with cooperation with the accompanying drawings.

Refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 8, provided is an aerator, including a tubular shell 1 and an inner container 2; an inner wall of the tubular shell 1 being provided with through slots 11 disposed to pass through the tubular shell 1 along an axial direction of the inner wall; and an outer wall of the inner container 2 being provided with limiting ribs 21 and a convex lip 22, the limiting ribs 21 being distributed along an axial direction of the inner container 2 and being matched with the through slots 11, and the convex lip 22 being located on a water outlet end of the inner container 2 and being pressed against end surfaces in an axial direction of the tubular shell 1.

A working principle of the present application lies in that the through slots 11 are formed synchronously when a pipe for producing the tubular shell 1 is formed, the tubular shell 1 with the through slots 11 is obtained in a fixed-length cutting manner, and the limiting ribs 21 and the convex lip 22 are matched, so that the inner container 2 and the tubular shell 1 keep in a relatively stable connection relationship in a circumferential direction and an axial direction.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that the present application has the beneficial effects: the through slots 11 are enabled to be formed synchronously in a process that a pipe fitting in a form of a raw material is formed, and the tubular shell 1 in the present application can be made by only cutting the pipe fitting and polishing a notch of the tubular shell 1. At the same time, positions of the limiting ribs 21 and the convex lip 22 are adaptively adjusted on the outer wall of the inner container 2, so that the limiting ribs 21 are adapted to the through slots 11, the inner container 2 and the tubular shell 1 keep relatively static in a circumferential direction, and then, the tubular shell 1 can drive the inner container 2 to rotate. The convex lip 22 is disposed for achieving axial limitation. The aerator is assembled on a water outlet of a water outlet device such as a tap or a shower during actual use, and therefore, the water outlet end of the inner container 2 is provided with the convex lip 22 and is matched with the water outlet of the water outlet device. At the same time, two ends in the axial direction of the tubular shell 1 are limited to ensure the connection stability between the tubular shell 1 and the inner container 2. In the present application, it is unnecessary to reserve a thickness or perform secondary machining on the tubular shell 1, so that the usage amount of the raw material is reduced while the thickness of the tubular shell 1 is reduced, and the production cost is reduced while the production difficulty is lowered.

Further, the limiting ribs 21 are in transition or interference fit with the through slots 11.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that when one end of the inner container 2 is only provided with the convex lip 22, the limiting ribs 21 are in interference fit with the through slots 11, so that the connection tightness between each of the limiting ribs 21 and each of the through slots 11 is improved, and then, the connection tightness between the tubular shell 1 and the inner container 2 is improved; and under the condition that one end of the tubular shell 1 is only limited by the convex lip 22, the limiting ribs 21 are in interference fit with the through slots 11, so that the tubular shell 1 and the inner container 2 can also keep in a relatively stable connection relationship to avoid shaking. When each of two ends of the inner container 2 is provided with the convex lip 22, the limiting ribs 21 may be in transition fit with the through slots 11, which facilitates assembly.

Further, each of the limiting ribs 21 is provided with at least two first guide slopes 211 symmetrically disposed along the axial direction of the inner container 2, and the first guide slopes 211 are gradually protruded from a water inlet end to the water outlet end of the inner container 2.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that the first guide slopes 211 are disposed for playing a guiding role when the inner container 2 and the tubular shell 1 are assembled, thereby increasing the assembly efficiency.

Further, each of the limiting ribs 21 is provided with at least two second guide slopes 212 symmetrically disposed along the axial direction of the inner container 2, the second guide slopes 212 and the first guide slopes 211 are symmetrically disposed along a radial direction of the inner container 2, and the second guide slopes 212 are gradually protruded from the water outlet end to the water inlet end of the inner container 2.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that the second guide slopes 212 are disposed for playing a guiding role when the inner container 2 and the tubular shell 1 are assembled, thereby increasing the assembly efficiency.

Further, the first guide slopes 211 are in smooth transition connection with the second guide slopes 212 by connecting surfaces 213, and the connecting surfaces 213 are pressed against circumferential inner walls of the through slots 11.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that, due to the disposing of the first guide slopes 211 and the second guide slopes 212, a spacing between two ends of each of the limiting ribs 21 will be smaller than a width of each of the through slots 11, and therefore, the connecting surfaces 213 are disposed for ensuring the tight connection between each of the limiting ribs 21 and each of the through slots 11 and ensuring the stable connection between the inner container 2 and the tubular shell 1.

Further, the convex lip 22 is an annular convex lip 22.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that, by adopting the annular convex lip 22, the axial stressed area of the tubular shell 1 is increased, and the connection stability between the tubular shell 1 and the inner container 2 is improved.

Further, the convex lip 22 includes at least two limiting bodies uniformly distributed on a circumferential outer wall of the inner container 2.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that a plurality of limiting bodies are disposed to ensure that the tubular shell 1 is stably stressed in the axial direction.

Further, each of the water inlet end and the water outlet end of the inner container 2 is provided with the convex lip 22.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that each of two ends in the axial direction of the inner container 2 is provided with the convex lip 22 for limiting the tubular shell 1 in two directions to keep a structure intact before the aerator is connected to the corresponding water outlet device, and to avoid the separation of the tubular shell 1 from the inner container 2 during product transportation or assembly.

Further, the inner container 2 includes a water inlet body 23 and a water outlet body 24 coaxial with the water inlet body 23, the water inlet body 23 is detachably connected to the water outlet body 24, and an outer wall of each of the water inlet body 23 and the water outlet body 24 is provided with the convex lip 22.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that the water outlet body 24 and the water inlet body 23 are disposed for achieving split assembly, so that not only can the rapid assembly of the aerator be ensured, but also it can be ensured that the tubular shell 1 is limited by two ends of the aerator which is intactly assembled.

Further, a gap a is formed between at least one of the convex lips 22 and one of the end surfaces in the axial direction of the tubular shell 1.

It can be known from the above-mentioned description that the gap a is disposed for reserving an avoidance space between the tubular shell 1 and a contact surface between the water inlet body 23 and the water outlet device. When the shell 1 drives the water outlet body 24 to rotate relative to the water outlet device, the smoothness of rotation is ensured, and rotation incapability or rotation non-smoothness caused by tight resistance between the shell 1 and a mounting surface of the water outlet device during rotation is avoided.

Refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, embodiment 1 of the present application is that: provided is an aerator, including a tubular shell 1 and an inner container 2; an inner wall of the tubular shell 1 being provided with through slots 11 disposed to pass through the tubular shell 1 along an axial direction of the inner wall; and an outer wall of the inner container 2 being provided with limiting ribs 21 and a convex lip 22, the limiting ribs 21 being distributed along an axial direction of the inner container 2 and being matched with the through slots 11, and the convex lip 22 being located on a water outlet end of the inner container 2 and being pressed against end surfaces in an axial direction of the tubular shell 1. In the present embodiment, the limiting ribs 21 are in interference fit with the through slots 11 in a width direction. Preferably, four through slots 11 are disposed. In the present embodiment, the tubular shell 1 is generally made of a metal material, the tubular shell 1 in a form of a raw material is a pipe fitting, a required number of tubular shell 1 is segmented in a manner of cutting the pipe fitting with a fixed length, an axial notch of the tubular shell 1 is polished, and finally, the tubular shell 1 is obtained. The through slots 11 are formed at the same time when the pipe fitting is formed. if the pipe fitting is formed in an extrusion molding manner, the corresponding ribs are disposed on an extrusion opening, so that a pipe passes through the ribs during extrusion to form the through slots 11 in the inner wall.

Refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, embodiment 2 differs from embodiment 1 in that another structure of each of the limiting ribs is limited.

In the present embodiment, each of the limiting ribs 21 is provided with two first guide slopes 211 symmetrically disposed along the axial direction of the inner container 2, and the first guide slopes 211 are gradually protruded from a water inlet end to the water outlet end of the inner container 2.

In the present embodiment, each of the limiting ribs 21 is provided with two second guide slopes 212 symmetrically disposed along the axial direction of the inner container 2, the second guide slopes 212 and the first guide slopes 211 are symmetrically disposed along a radial direction of the inner container 2, and the second guide slopes 212 are gradually protruded from the water outlet end to the water inlet end of the inner container 2. Specifically, due to the disposing of the first guide slopes 211 and the second guide slopes 212, the width of one end of each of the limiting ribs 21 is gradually increased from the water outlet end to the water inlet end of the inner container 2, and the width of the other end of each of the limiting ribs 21 is gradually reduced from the water outlet end to the water inlet end of the inner container 2, so that the limiting ribs 21 can be rapidly inserted into the corresponding through slots 11 in a process that the tubular shell 1 and the inner container 2 are assembled, precise alignment is not needed, and then, the assembly efficiency is increased.

In the present embodiment, the first guide slopes 211 are in smooth transition connection with the second guide slopes 212 by connecting surfaces 213, and the connecting surfaces 213 are pressed against circumferential inner walls of the through slots 11. Two sides in width directions of the limiting ribs 21 are both provided with the connecting surfaces 213, the two connecting surfaces 213 are symmetrically disposed, and parts, overlapping with areas where the connecting surfaces 213 are located, of the limiting ribs 21 are in interference fit with the through slots 11.

In the present embodiment, the convex lip 22 is an annular convex lip. Preferably, an external diameter of the convex lip 22 is greater than an internal diameter of the tubular shell 1 and is smaller than an external diameter of the tubular shell 1. In other equivalent embodiments, the convex lip 22 includes at least two limiting bodies uniformly distributed on a circumferential outer wall of the inner container 2. Preferably, four limiting bodies are disposed.

Refer to FIG. 4 to FIG. 8, embodiment 3 of the present application differs from embodiment 1 in that each of two ends in the axial direction of the inner container 2 is provided with the convex lip 22.

In the present embodiment, each of the water inlet end and the water outlet end of the inner container 2 is provided with the convex lip 22, and the limiting ribs 21 are in transition fit with the through slots 11 in a width direction.

In the present embodiment, the inner container 2 includes a water inlet body 23 and a water outlet body 24 coaxial with the water inlet body 23, the water inlet body 23 is detachably connected to the water outlet body 24, and an outer wall of each of the water inlet body 23 and the water outlet body 24 is provided with the convex lip 22.

Refer to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, embodiment 4 of the present application is based on embodiment 1, 2 or 3, that is, a gap a is formed in the water inlet end of the inner container 2.

In the present embodiment, when it is necessary to rotate the water outlet body 24 relative to the water inlet body 23 to switch a water outlet gear, the gap a is formed between the convex lip 22 located on the water inlet end of the inner container 2 and an end surface in the axial direction of the tubular shell 1 to ensure the smoothness during the rotation of the water outlet body 24 and the tubular shell 1 relative to the water inlet body 23 and avoid gear switching non-smoothness caused by direct friction between the water outlet body 24 and the convex lip 22 located on the water inlet end of the inner container 2.

A working principle of the present application lies in that: the limiting ribs 21 are embedded into the through slots 11, and the convex lips 22 are pressed against the end surfaces in the axial direction of the tubular shell 1, so that the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the tubular shell 1 are limited at the same time, and the tubular shell 1 can drive the water outlet body 24 to rotate relative to the water inlet body 23, thereby achieving gear switching.

In conclusion, the present application provides an aerator by which it is unnecessary to perform secondary machining on the tubular shell, so that machining steps are reduced, and the machining time is shortened; it is also unnecessary to reserve a thickness on the tubular shell, so that the use and waste of materials are reduced; and it is only necessary to perform corresponding structural design on the limiting ribs and the convex lip, enable the limiting ribs to be adapted to the through slots of the tubular shell, enable the convex lip to be adapted to the tubular shell, and enable the inner container and the tubular shell to be limited in both of the axial direction and the circumferential direction, so that the stability is good, and the structure is simplified. Compared with the existing assembly of a shell structure and the inner container, the disassembly difficulty and the assembly difficulty are both greatly lowered.

Embodiments of the present application are only described as above, but they do not limit the patent scope of the present application. All the equivalent transformations made by utilizing the contents of the description and the accompanying drawings of the present application are directly or indirectly applied to relevant technical fields, and are similarly included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An aerator, comprising a tubular shell and an inner container; an inner wall of the tubular shell being provided with through slots disposed to pass through the tubular shell along an axial direction of the inner wall; andan outer wall of the inner container being provided with limiting ribs and a convex lip, the limiting ribs being distributed along an axial direction of the inner container and being matched with the through slots, and the convex lip being located on a water outlet end of the inner container and being pressed against end surfaces in an axial direction of the tubular shell.

2. The aerator according to claim 1, wherein the limiting ribs are in transition or interference fit with the through slots.

3. The aerator according to claim 1, wherein each of the limiting ribs is provided with at least two first guide slopes symmetrically disposed along the axial direction of the inner container, and the first guide slopes are gradually protruded from a water inlet end to the water outlet end of the inner container.

4. The aerator according to claim 3, wherein each of the limiting ribs is provided with at least two second guide slopes symmetrically disposed along the axial direction of the inner container, the second guide slopes and the first guide slopes are symmetrically disposed along a radial direction of the inner container, and the second guide slopes are gradually protruded from the water outlet end to the water inlet end of the inner container.

5. The aerator according to claim 4, wherein the first guide slopes are in smooth transition connection with the second guide slopes by connecting surfaces, and the connecting surfaces are pressed against circumferential inner walls of the through slots.

6. The aerator according to claim 1, wherein the convex lip is an annular convex lip.

7. The aerator according to claim 1, wherein the convex lip comprises at least two limiting bodies uniformly distributed on a circumferential outer wall of the inner container.

8. The aerator according to claim 1, wherein each of the water inlet end and the water outlet end of the inner container is provided with the convex lip.

9. The aerator according to claim 1, wherein the inner container comprises a water inlet body and a water outlet body coaxial with the water inlet body, the water inlet body is detachably connected to the water outlet body, and an outer wall of each of the water inlet body and the water outlet body is provided with the convex lip.

10. The aerator according to claim 8, wherein a gap is formed between at least one of the convex lips and one of the end surfaces in the axial direction of the tubular shell.

11. The aerator according to claim 9, wherein a gap is formed between at least one of the convex lips and one of the end surfaces in the axial direction of the tubular shell.