Emergency eyewash apparatus

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6520431
  • Patent Number
    6,520,431
  • Date Filed
    Friday, May 25, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 18, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
An eyewash apparatus is disclosed that can be utilized on either side of an associated bowl or sink. Piping extending from spray heads to a housing overlaying a valve can be rotated into position over the sink or bowl. Rotation of the piping initiates or shuts off water flow to eyewash outlets at one end of the piping. The amount of rotation is limited by interaction of a pin traveling in an arcuate slot formed in that part of the apparatus secured to a surface adjacent the sink or bowl. The apparatus can be used on opposite sides of the sink or bowl without a structural change to any components of the apparatus.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




A. Field of the Invention




This invention relates generally to an emergency eyewash apparatus designed to flush harmful contaminants from the eyes and/or face. More specifically, this invention relates to an emergency eyewash apparatus which is more readily operable by a person whose cognitive faculties (sight, smell orientation) are adversely affected by contaminants or caustics. The claimed apparatus is adapted to be installed on a top of a surface next to a sink either in a left or right hand position and activated by simply pulling rotatable swing piping equipped with spray heads.




B. Description of the Related Art




Emergency eyewash devices are generally known in the art for emergency flushing of hazardous substances out of human eyes and face. Usually, such a device includes one or more spray nozzles or spray heads installed on water piping associated with water supply lines. Typically, water flow is initiated by pushing an enlarged push plate that opens a valve in the water supply line, such as described in Wright U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,315.




Other approaches to initiating flow to an eyewash are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,999,249, 5,530,972 and 5,740,569. In each of these patents, the eyewash apparatus is arranged adjacent a sink and flow to, and through, the eyewash is initiated by rotating the piping associated with the eyewash from a stored position outside the perimeter of the sink to a position over the sink. In these prior art devices, piping leading from the water source to the eye wash outlets is arranged to be pivoted in such a way that a slight pull by the user causes rotation of the piping to a position over the sink, which automatically initiates water flow through the eye wash nozzles. The pivotal piping is normally rotated through about ninety degrees between its non-use storage position to its active position over the sink. This rotation can be from the left or right side of sink depending on preselected installation. Stopping means are used to limit the pivotal movement of the piping and adjustment means are disclosed in these patents for accommodating installation at either the left or right side of the sink.




Various approaches to accommodate left side, right side or pull down mounting of the eyewash on a sink are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,972 issued to Tanner. This patent also addresses the need for stops to limit the amount of rotation (usually 90°) when the piping bearing the eye wash is rotated from a storage position into an operating position over the sink (See FIGS. 4-5 and column 4 of Tanner patent). This patent also discloses pivotably mounted protective covers for the eyewash nozzles to limit collection of dust, dirt or contaminants in the eyewash nozzles between use.




U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,569 granted in the name of Albert Gurries et al. on Apr. 21, 1998 describes an arrangement for left side or right side mounting of an emergency eyewash adjacent to a sink and pivotal movement thereof over the sink. As in the Tanner patent, complex means are provided to limit rotation of the piping carrying the eye wash nozzles to 90°.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide an emergency eyewash apparatus with increased reliability in use and improved safety in functioning.




Another object of the invention is to provide easy and simple mounting when reversible installation is desired.




A further object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus which is simple in maintenance owing to simplified assembly.




In accordance with the invention, the eyewash apparatus comprises tubular piping with spray heads attached thereto, a rotatable housing carrying said piping overlying a shank affixed to a surface adjacent the sink, a vertical valve rotatably connected to the housing carrying the piping and a water supply pipe.




The piping with spray heads is capable of being rotated with the valve about a vertical axis. Typical rotation of the piping and associated valving is about 90°, and is controlled by an arcuate slot in a housing overlying the valve. An adjustably mounted pin in the housing extends through the slot to limit movement of the housing carrying the piping. The arcuate slot and associated pin are designed to permit left or right hand installation of the eyewash, in relation to the sink bowl.




Concentrically aligned within the housing carrying the eye wash piping is a valve, preferably a ceramic valve of the type disclosed in Denham et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,770 assigned to Speakman Company of Wilmington, Del. This valve operates between full-open and full-close with a simple 90° rotation of the valve stem and is of the non-rising type because control of flow is accomplished without vertical movement of the valve stem. This valve is especially suited for use in this eyewash apparatus because its rotation corresponds to that of the eyewash piping when swung from a stored to fall flow position over the sink or bowl.




In operation, the piping arm with spray heads thereon is normally disposed in a non-use position alongside the sink, so that the valve is in a no-flow position. When the eyewash needs to be activated, e.g., to wash contaminants from the eyes or face of a user, the piping connecting the valve to the eyewash is rotated about a vertical axis that preferably passes through the vertical axis of the valve. This rotation of the piping is translated to the stem of the aforementioned valve. Because the valve can be fully opened with a mere 90° rotation of its stem (See column 2, lines 38-40 of Dehnam et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,770) full water flow through the eyewash is accomplished by a corresponding 90° rotation of the piping from its stored position into place over the sink. Conversely, to halt flow of water, the piping can be rotated 90° back to its storage position.




Use of this non-rising valve with ceramic discs provides an extremely reliable operation for the eyewash. As noted in Denham et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,770, the ceramic valve disclosed in that patent is extremely durable (over 2,000,000 cycles without failure or leakage) and requires very little force to operate. This provides a more reliable control of water through the eyewash than the valving in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,972 (FIG. 5) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,569 (FIG. 3).




The eyewash can be positioned on either the left or right side of a sink or bowl without adjustments or changes to the eyewash apparatus. This evenhandedness is facilitated by a valve shank fixed and mounted on a surface adjacent the sink or bowl. The housing to which the eyewash piping is attached overlies the portion of the shank extending above the surface adjacent the sink. An adjustable pin in the sidewall of that housing can be rotated so that it extends into an arcuate slot in the shank. The slot typically extends across a 90° arc on the outside surface of the shank. Rotation of the housing carrying the eyewash piping is thereby limited to 90° rotation (from storage to a position over the sink) by the pin in the sidewall of the housing reaching either end of the arcuate slot.




If the eyewash apparatus is to be mounted on the left side of the sink, the arcuate slot in the shank is positioned on the countertop next to the sink so that the piping can be rotated in a clockwise direction (when viewed by a person looking into the sink). When mounted on the right side of the sink, the shank is positioned on the countertop so that the arcuate slot permits counterclockwise rotation. Since evenhandedness is obtained by this orientation of the shank when the eyewash is installed, the same apparatus can be used for either left or right handed positioning of the apparatus. There is no need for the cumbersome and complex adjustments shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,972.




When the position of the eyewash apparatus needs to be changed from the left to right side or vice versa, a locator pin extending from the supporting shank into the surface adjacent to sink is released from its fixed position on that surface. The supporting shank of the apparatus is rotated, about a vertical axis by the angle of 90°, and then the shank is fixed onto the surface on the opposite side of the sink or bowl by the same position locating pin. By this arrangement of the shank, the arcuate slot in the shank is oriented relative to the sink so that stop ends in the slot for stop pin carried on the housing are also shifted.




Inside the upper side of the housing is a splined female opening that mates with the splined end of a valve stem on the ceramic valve described above. Rotation of the piping attached to the housing is thereby transmitted to the valve so that water flow through the valve into the interior portions of the shank and then through the piping to the spray heads, is initiated. Counter rotation of the piping in the opposite direction, shuts off the valve and water flow. Rotational movement of the spray heads and associated piping is limited by abutment of the pin in the housing reaching either end of the arcuate slot in the shank.




Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:





FIG. 1

is a front elevational view of the emergency eyewash apparatus embodying the present invention, solid lines showing said apparatus in right-hand installation and rotated into full flow position over a sink, and dotted lines showing said apparatus in left-hand non-flow installation;





FIG. 2

is a top plan view of the emergency eyewash apparatus, wherein solid lines show said apparatus in right-hand installation) operating fluid flow position, while dotted lines show both right and left hand installations next to a sink, and a sink facility;





FIG. 3

is a top cross-sectional plan view through line


3





3


of

FIG. 1

in in-use position, right-hand installation;





FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional plan view similar of to

FIG. 3

except in non-use position, right-hand installation;





FIG. 5

is a cross-sectional elevational view taken along line


5





5


of FIG.


4


.





FIG. 6

is a is a cross-sectional plan view through line


6





6


of

FIG. 1

in in-use position, left-hand installation;





FIG. 7

is a is a cross-sectional plan view similar to

FIG. 4

in non-use position, left-hand installation;





FIG. 8

is a cross-sectional elevational view taken along line


8





8


of

FIG. 7

; and





FIG. 9

is a cross sectional elevational view taken along line


9





9


of FIG.


2


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.




Turning now to the drawings and specifically

FIGS. 1 through 9

, an emergency eyewash apparatus


10


embodying the present invention is illustrated. The emergency eyewash apparatus


10


includes tubular piping


12


with spray heads


14


attached thereto, a hollow cylindrical housing


16


rotatably carrying piping


12


and spray heads


14


, a cylindrical shank


18


situated vertically and having hollow coaxial channel


20


adapted to be coupled to a coupling


22


of a water supply pipe


24


by a lower threaded projection


26


of the said shank


18


.




The housing


16


is adapted to be rotatably mounted over shank


18


in a sealed relationship with shank


18


. Thus, when piping


12


is grabbed by a user to wash his or her face or eyes, housing


16


is rotated relative to shank


18


which is fixed onto surface


38


surrounding sink


40


(shown in phantom in

FIGS. 1

,


2


). Shank


18


is secured in a non-rotational relationship with surface


38


by location pin or screw


36


which extends from the plate


42


on shank


18


. Pin


36


may be driven or screwed into surface


38


to secure it thereto (See FIG.


9


).




The rotation of the piping initiates flow through the piping


12


to, and out of, the spray heads


14


which bathe the face, eyes or other body parts subjected to containments. A water supply


24


is connected to the eyewash apparatus


10


through suitable connectors


22


that can include an adjustable volume control. The connectors


22


are sealingly attached to threaded hollow pipe


26


typically extending downwardly from shank


18


through the surface


38


surrounding the sink or bowl


40


.




Water flow from source


24


to and through spray heads


14


is controlled by valve


35


which is arranged in scaled engagement with the interior of shank


18


by O-rings (not shown). Valve


35


is preferably a ceramic valve with non-rising stem such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,770, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Flow of water entering the bottom of Valve


35


through passage


20


is controlled by ceramic valve elements


28


and


29


. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,770 and illustrated in

FIGS. 3-4

and


6


-


7


, passage of water through the valve depends upon alignment of ceramic element


29


relative to ports


30


in ceramic clement


28


. When ceramic element


29


is rotated into a position covering ports


30


there is no flow through Valve


35


(FIGS.


4


and


7


). Conversely when ceramic element


29


is rotated through angle A (typically 90°) to a position where it no longer covers ports


30


in ceramic element


28


, water freely flows through Valve


35


(FIGS.


3


and


6


).




Ceramic valve element


29


is attached to a stem with splined end


25


which extends outside the body of Valve


35


(See FIG.


9


). The splined end


25


fits into a mating female splined cap


17


in the top of housing


16


. Rotation of housing


16


transmits that rotation to stem


25


of Valve


35


and to ceramic valve clement


29


, thereby controlling flow of water through Valve


35


to spray heads


14


. As illustrated in

FIG. 1

a 90° rotation of housing


16


moves piping


12


from storage to its intended use position with spray heads


14


located over the sink or bowl


40


. That rotation of housing


16


transmits a like 90° rotation to valve stem


25


and attached ceramic element


29


, thereby opening fill flow of water from water supply


24


to spray heads


14


.




The rotation of housing


16


is limited by the relationship of stop pin


34


in the side of housing


16


to the arcuate slot


32


in shank


18


. The amount of housing rotation needed to provide water flow to the spray heads


14


can be controlled by the angular extent of slot


32


. Thus, in the embodiment shown, the slot


32


extends across a 90° arc in the side of shank


18


. The shank


18


is fixed to surface


38


by location pin


36


. Movement of the housing


16


relative to the fixed shank


18


is limited by pin


34


that may be adjusted by rotation into and out of the periphery of housing


16


. When housing


16


is placed over the outer surface of shank


1


.


8


, pin


34


is backed out of the housing so that it does not protrude beyond the inner wall of housing


16


. After the housing


16


is in place over shank


18


the pin


34


is advanced into the arcuate slot


32


so that it stops movement of housing


16


when the pin


34


abuts against either end of arcuate slot


32


.




This abutment of pin


34


against the ends of slot


32


prevents excess rotation of Valve


35


as well as the spray heads


14


. Alignment of the spray heads


14


over the sink


40


is important so that water flow through the heads can be collected in the sink and not on the floor or surface


38


. Similarly, control of valve rotation is important to assure water flow through Valve


35


. If pin


34


in slot


32


did not stop rotation of the valve stem


25


, ceramic element


29


might block opening


30


in ceramic element


28


thereby preventing, or unduly limiting, needed water flow through Valve


35


to spray heads


14


.




The use of this eyewash apparatus


10


on either the left or right sink for a sink or bowl


40


is facilitated by the construction just described,

FIGS. 3 and 4

illustrate use of the apparatus


10


in a right-hand installation, i.e. on the right side of a sink. In

FIG. 3

piping


12


with associated heads


14


has been rotated into position over sink


40


(not shown). In that position, pin


34


abuts against one end of slot


32


preventing further counterclockwise movement of housing


16


and piping


12


. This assures placement of the piping


12


and spray heads


14


in the proper position over sink


40


. Abutment of pin


34


against the end of slot


32


also assures proper alignment of ceramic valve elements


28


and


29


so that water flow through ports


30


is facilitated. When not in use the piping


12


is in the position illustrated in FIG.


4


. In this non-use position, pin


34


abuts against the opposite end of arcuate slot


32


. In this position the flow of water through Valve


35


is shut off. Abutment of pin


34


against the end of slot


32


assures that piping


12


does not rotate any further thereby maintaining ceramic element


29


over ports


30


in ceramic valve element


28


to prevent water flow through Valve


35


in this non-use, storage position of apparatus


10


.




Left hand operation of apparatus


10


does not require any change to the shank


18


or housing


16


, A simple repositioning of locator pin


36


on surface


38


and twist of piping


12


is all that is needed to change from right hand to left hand operation. More particularly, in left hand to operation the arcuate slot


32


is positioned so that it is rotated clockwise about 90° from its position for right hand operation. (Compare location of slot


32


in

FIG. 3

with FIG.


6


). This is accomplished by placement of locator pin


36


in surface


38


at a different position (5 o'clock as shown in

FIGS. 6

,


7


) from its position for right-hand operations (2 o'clock as shown in

FIGS. 3

,


4


). There is thus, no structural change to any parts needed to accommodate either right or left-hand operation of the apparatus. To complete the change from right to left hand operation all that need be done is to twist piping in housing


16


so that the bend in the piping is facing away from the sink (See FIG.


1


). Thus, identical components of the eyewash apparatus can be used for either right or left hand operations.




The invention has been illustrated by detailed description and examples of the preferred embodiment. Various changes in form and detail will be within the skill of persons skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention must be measured by the claims and not by the description of the examples or the preferred embodiments. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. An emergency eyewash apparatus arranged for use over sink or bowl comprisinga. spray heads for discharging fluid toward and onto a user, b. piping connecting the spray heads to a housing overlying a valve, c. a valve stem extending from the valve into engagement with the housing, d. a shank arranged in sealing engagement with the housing and having a location pin extending therefrom capable of affixing the shank in a non-rotatable relationship with a surface adjacent the sink or bowl, e. an arcuate slot on an upstanding wall of the shank cooperating with a pin extending through the side of the housing to limit rotational movement of the housing and valve stem.
  • 2. The eyewash apparatus of claim 1 wherein the valves utilizes a non-rising stem.
  • 3. The eyewash apparatus of claim 1 wherein the valve is a ceramic valve.
  • 4. The eyewash apparatus of claim 2 wherein 90° rotation of the valve stem permits full fluid flow through the valve.
  • 5. The eyewash of claim 1 wherein the eyewash apparatus can be used on opposite sides of the sink or bowl without a structural change to shank, housing or valve.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Number Name Date Kind
2999249 Logan et al. Sep 1961 A
3106722 Logan et al. Oct 1963 A
3925829 Bost Dec 1975 A
4585175 Formentos Apr 1986 A
4651770 Denham et al. Mar 1987 A
4675924 Allison et al. Jun 1987 A
5008963 Stein Apr 1991 A
5530972 Tanner Jul 1996 A
5566406 Demeny et al. Oct 1996 A
5647531 Kline et al. Jul 1997 A
5695124 Demeny et al. Dec 1997 A
5740569 Gurries, II et al. Apr 1998 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
WO 9749021 Dec 1997 WO
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry
Excerpts from www.ces.clemson.edu/chemeng/uolab/valve3.html web page, “Valves” (Feb. 9, 2001).