Patent Application
20250019946
Examples relate generally to the field of faucets for dispensing liquids, and more specifically this application relates to beverage and primary faucets dispensing liquids in multiple formats such as filtered, carbonated, instant hot (near boiling), and cold filtered.
Traditional faucets are limited to dispensing liquids from cold and hot water inlets, typically unfiltered water, configured to control the temperature of the water via mixing valves. In kitchens, residential or commercial, there is a need for a faucet system that is configured to dispense not just hot and cold tap water, but other types of water. For example, a faucet that can, in addition to tap water, dispense filtered water, boiling or near boiling water, chilled filtered water, carbonated water, other types of treated water, and combinations thereof.
There are systems configured to dispense one of these types of liquids, such as an auxiliary or beverage faucet, in addition to a primary faucet, that dispenses water readily, such as filtered or boiling water. However, there is no system that can serve as a primary faucet assembly that dispenses both unfiltered, temperature-controlled tap water and filtered or carbonated temperature-controlled water, or a beverage faucet assembly that dispenses filtered water that can be near boiling, chilled, carbonated, or the like. There is need for a faucet assembly that can serve as a primary faucet installation that is also configured to readily dispense filtered water at a desired temperature, whether chilled or heated, and carbonated water.
Examples of the present disclosure relates to a faucet assembly that can serve as the primary faucet system in a kitchen (or any other desirable location), such as a pull-down faucet with spray and sweep capabilities configured to dispense temperature-controlled liquid from hot and cold inlets, or an auxiliary faucet configured to dispense filtered water from a cold inlet. The faucet assembly is configured to dispense a variety of liquid types and temperatures readily, as disclosed below.
One example of a faucet assembly is configured for installation into a single hole installation in a surface. In such examples, the faucet assembly comprises a spout, a base, a puck, and a dispensing appliance. The spout defines an internal channel through which liquids pass, entering the spout from the dispensing appliance and exiting the spout at an outlet. The spout may further comprise an extendable sprayhead, wherein a user can extend the reach of the spout. The puck and the spout are affixed to the base.
In one example, the puck comprises a user interface and a wheel. The wheel can be physically manipulated, such as by turning clockwise or counterclockwise to control settings of the faucet assembly, such as water type, water temperature, rate of fluid being dispensed, volume of primary water to dispense, and/or other setting such as carbonation level, boiling water temperature, chilled water temperature, or combinations thereof. In another example, instead of a wheel, one or more buttons can be actuated to control the settings of the faucet assembly. In yet another example, a combination of a wheel and one or buttons or sensors can be rotated, pressed, or otherwise actuated to control the settings of the faucet assembly.
The user interface in any of the examples can have a variety of configurations, dependent on the configuration of the dispensing appliance. In one example, the user interface has one or more buttons that can be manipulated by a user as described above. In an alternative example, the user interface can additionally comprise a display screen, which is configured to display alerts, warnings, data, or other information. In one example, the display screen is a touch screen used for input to control the settings of the faucet assembly.
The dispensing appliance is configured to deliver liquids to the spout of the faucet assembly. This may include standard tap water, hot/cold tap water, filtered water, boiling water, carbonated water, etc. The user interface controls the dispensing appliance either through a wired connection or a wireless connection. The dispensing appliance can be powered by electricity.
Another example of the present disclosure relates to a faucet assembly configured for multiple hole standalone installation. In this example, the spout and the puck are mounted in discrete holes on a surface. The puck and dispensing appliance are configured in substantially the same way described supra.
It is understood that the above general description is exemplary and explanatory only and is not restrictive of the system as claimed. The system can be capable of other examples and of being carried out in various ways. Alternative exemplary examples can relate to other features and combinations of features.
While various examples are amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof, have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the claimed disclosures to the particular examples described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the claims.
According to examples, a faucet assembly 100 generally can comprise a spout 102, a base 106, a puck 108, and a dispensing appliance (not pictured). The spout 102 defines one or more internal channels (not pictured) that can carry one or more liquids from the dispensing appliance through the faucet assembly 100 to an outlet 104 to be dispensed therefrom. In one example, the faucet assembly 100 can be a primary faucet for dispensing a temperature- and volume-controlled mix of hot and cold fluids and any or all of instant hot or boiling filtered water, chilled filtered water, and carbonated chilled filtered water. In another example, the faucet assembly can be an auxiliary faucet that only dispenses any or all of instant hot or boiling filtered water, chilled filtered water, and carbonated chilled filtered water.
In an example in which the faucet assembly 100 is a primary faucet, the spout 102 may further comprise an extendable sprayhead (not shown). The extendable sprayhead is affixed to the faucet assembly and can comprise a hose, which is housed in the internal channel of the spout 102. In examples with an extendable sprayhead, the outlet 104 is defined by the end of the extendable sprayhead. The extendable sprayhead can be removed from and redocked to the spout 102 by the user pulling and pushing the extendable sprayhead.
The hose can comprise multiple channels, such as a channel for delivering mixed unfiltered water, and a channel for delivering filtered water. The outlet 104 can comprise multiple channels (not shown) and spout 102 can include one or more diverters (not shown) for diverting fluid through one or more channels of the outlet 104. These channels define how the faucet assembly dispenses the liquids. For example, in one example, the outlet comprises two channels. One channel is a standard aerated flow defined by one outlet with a relatively large opening or a plurality of small channels. The other channel is a sweep spray defined by an arrangement of smaller openings arranged in a spray pattern. The two channels can be arranged at the outlet 104 in any suitable way. A user can select what channel to dispense liquids by manipulating a mechanical or digital valve at the outlet (not pictured).
Referring to
Referring back to
A variety of liquids can be readily available for dispensing by the faucet assemblies described herein. For example, in an example in which the faucet assembly 100 comprises a primary faucet, unfiltered water can be dispensed at a desired temperature, controlled, for example, via the wheel 112 of the puck 108. Filtered water, heated or chilled, can be dispensed by selecting the corresponding switch on the user interface 110 of the puck 108. Similarly, chilled carbonated water or sparkling water (lower carbonation) can be dispensed by selecting the corresponding switch on the user interface 110 of the puck 108.
Referring to
The wheel 312 can be manipulated by the user to control a variable of the dispensing water, such as temperature and/or flow rate. For example, manipulating the wheel 312 to rotate in the clockwise direction can increase the temperature or flow rate of the dispensed water. Manipulating the wheel 312 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction can result in the opposite effect, a decrease in the temperature or flow rate of the dispensed water. In some examples, rotating the wheel can also be used to adjust carbonation level and boiling and/or chilled temperature settings of filtered water, in addition to the flow rate and temperature control of the unfiltered water.
In another example, a puck 400 comprises a user interface 402 and a wheel 414. The user interface 402 can comprise a plurality of discrete buttons in combination with wheel 414 or as an alternative to the wheel, and a display 412. Like the user interface 300 depicted in
The display 412 can depict status updates or alerts for the faucet assembly. For example, in the depicted example, the display 112 can convey the temperature of the water being dispensed. In alternative examples, the display 112 can communicate other alerts or warnings, such as the water filter (not pictured) is approaching maximum capacity, components of the dispensing appliance need to be replaced, the detection of a leak, faulty pressure or temperature settings, or poor incoming water quality.
The user interfaces of
Alternative examples may be configured with other suitable methods to achieve a similar functionality of the user interface 110. For example, instead of traditional capacitive touch zones described supra, the user interface can be configured with metal over capacitance buttons. In such an example, when the user presses a button on the user interface 110, the user interface 110 can deform slightly, creating a detectable change in the sensor capacitance. This may be a desirable in an example that is not equipped with haptic feedback. In another example, the user interface 110 comprises a touch screen, in which touching the screen in a defined location or on a specific icon to control the functionality of the faucet assembly.
The dispensing appliance of the faucet assembly can be configured to dispense instant hot (or boiling) water, instant chilled still water, instant chilled sparkling water, and instant chilled carbonated water.
Referring to
Referring to
When the dispensing appliance 600 is dispensing unfiltered water from the inlets, the dispensing appliance 600 can control the temperature of the water dispensed through the primary outlet stream 620 via one or more digital valves. The user of the faucet assembly manipulates the temperature by prompting certain commands on a puck (not shown). When the dispensing appliance 600 is dispensing filter water, the water can be hot, cold, sparkling, and/or carbonated. The dispensing appliance 600 draws water from the cold water inlet 604 and sends it through the filter assembly 608. Depending on the desired temperature and/or type selected, the water is next sent either the hot unit 612 or the cold unit 614 via actuation of one or more solenoid valves. The hot unit 612 can be configured to dispense boiling or instant hot water readily. If the water is sent to the cold unit 614, it can be further sent to the carbonator 616 or not. In the carbonator 616, as described supra, the water is infused with carbonation such that when the faucet assembly dispenses the water, it is chilled and sparkling or carbonated depending on the desired carbonation selected by the user. When the dispensing appliance 600 dispenses filtered water, the filtered water exits as either a filtered heated stream or filtered chilled and optionally carbonated stream, which join at tee 618 to form the filtered outlet stream 622 connected to the faucet.
The disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential attributes; therefore, the illustrated examples should be considered illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The claims provided herein are to ensure adequacy of the present application for establishing foreign priority and for no other purpose.
Various examples of systems, devices, and methods have been described herein. These examples are given only be way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed disclosures. It should be appreciated, moreover, that the various features of the examples that have been described may be combined in various ways to produce numerous additional examples. Moreover, while various material, dimensions, shapes, configurations, locations, etc. have been described for use with disclosed examples, others besides those disclosed may be utilized without exceeding the scope of the claimed disclosures.
Persons of ordinary skill in the relevant arts will recognize that the subject matter hereof may comprise fewer features than illustrated in any individual example described above. The examples described herein are not meant to be an exhaustive presentation of the ways in which the various features of the subject matter hereof may be combined. Accordingly, the examples are not mutually exclusive combinations of features; rather, the various examples can comprise a combination of different individual features selected from different individual examples, as understood be persons of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, elements described with respect to one example can be implemented in other examples even when not described in such examples unless otherwise noted.
Any incorporation of reference of documents above is further limited such that no claims included in the documents are incorporated by reference herein. Any incorporation by reference of documents above is yet further limited such that any definitions provided in the documents are not incorporated by reference herein unless expressly included herein.
For purposes of interpreting the claims, it is expressly intended that the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) are not to be invoked unless the specific terms “means for” or “step for” are recited in a claim.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/513,093, filed Jul. 11, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63513093 | Jul 2023 | US |
