BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a pull-out faucet having a spray head according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof showing the spray head in a pulled out position and a retracted position (in phantom);
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the spray head;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the spray head taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing the spray head in its normal position in which a diverter valve is positioned to route flow to an inner set of discharge orifices;
FIG. 5 is sectional view similar to FIG. 4 albeit showing the diverter valve positioned to route flow to an outer set of discharge orifices;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 albeit showing a “pause” button positioned to interrupt flow to the discharge orifices;
FIG. 7 is an end sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 4 s showing the interface of the diverter valve with a diverter button used to operate the diverter valve; and
FIG. 8 is an end sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 4 showing a section of the spray head upstream from that shown in FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows a preferred version of a pull-out faucet 10 having a cane-shaped spout body 12 and a spray head 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the faucet's spray head 12 can be pulled, in this case downwardly at first, from the retracted position shown in FIG. 1 to an extended position. The faucet 10 can thus be used as a conventional faucet in which the spray head 14 is mounted to the spout 12, or with the spray head 14 separated from the spout 12 to be moved freely, limited only by the length of the attached spray hose 16 connected via a primary valve to water inlet line(s) of the building's plumbing system.
Any water mixing components of the spout 14 and the weighted flexible lines that provide for the pull-out feature of the faucet 10 can be generally of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,921, hereby incorporated by reference as though fully disclosed herein, and are commercially available from Kohler Company of Kohler, Wis. Briefly, as is conventional, the faucet 10 can have an attached or separate control handle 18 (shown in FIG. 1) used to control mixing of hot and cold water. Separate hot and cold water lines are connected to a mixing valve (not shown) controlled via the handle 18 by the user. The weighted hose 16, sized to be longer than the spout 12, extends from the outlet side of the mixing valve through the hollow interior of the spout 12 and is connected to the inlet side of the spray head 14. Over-sizing the hose 16 allows the spray head 14 to be pulled out from the spout 12.
Turning now to the construction and operation of the spray head 14, with reference to FIG. 3, the spray head 14 has an outer shell 20 that is open at each end and has two openings 22 and 24 through its annular wall. The outlet end of the spray head 14 has an outlet defined by an aerator cartridge 26 (as known in the art) with inner discharge orifices 28 and an outlet ring 30 with outer discharge orifices 32. Flow through the aerator cartridge 26 provides an aerated column or stream pattern and the outlet ring 28 provides a shower-like spray pattern.
A valve body 34, a diverter valve assembly 36, a flow restrictor 38 having two spaced apart valve seats 39 and 41 (see FIG. 4) and various seals, gaskets and rings (as shown) are housed inside the shell 20. A diverter or spray selector rocker button 40 and a pause assembly 42 for controlling flow through the spray head 14 are accessed through openings 22 and 24, respectively, in the shell 20. The pause assembly 42 includes pause button 44 that the user depresses to move a plunger valve 46 against a return spring 48. The plunger valve 46 is retained by a clip 48 and carries o-rings or other seals (in associated circumferential grooves) to keep water from flowing out of the opening 24.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the valve body 34 has a threaded inlet opening 52 to which the hose 16 attaches. The valve body 34 also defines a passageway 54 from the inlet opening 52 to its opposite open end where water can flow through to the outlet of the spray head 14. The pause assembly 42 fits into a transverse cavity 56 in the valve body 34 that aligns with the opening 24 in the shell 20. The transverse cavity 56 intersects the passageway 54 such that the plunger valve 46 can control flow therethrough, as described below. The valve body 34 also defines an axial cavity 58 wherein the diverter valve assembly 36 can slide along a valve axis 60 in response to movement of the rocker button 40 to route flow from the passageway 54 to either the aerator cartridge 26 or the outlet ring 30. The diverter valve assembly 36 includes a spool-like valve member 62 with a narrow neck 64 and a head 66. The valve member 62 carries suitable o-rings or seals (in associated circumferential grooves) on both its body to prevent water from flowing out through opening 22 and on its head 66 to seal so that each of two seal surfaces of the head o-ring can be alternately seated against the valve seats 39 and 41 when routing flow to the outlet ring 48. The valve member 62 also has a circumferential groove 67 in an intermediate portion of its body for engagement with the diverter rocker button, as described below.
Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 7, the diverter valve assembly 36 is made to translate back and forth along the valve axis 60 by pivoting the diverter rocker button 40 about an upstanding pivot post 68, integral with and extending up from the valve body 34 essentially perpendicular to the valve axis 60. The diverter rocker button 40 thus can pivot about a pivot axis 70, which extends through the center of a cylindrical section 72 of the pivot post 68, and about which a clip section 74 of the diverter rocker button 40 clips to attach it to the valve head 14. The diverter rocker button 40 is pivoted in one direction (counter-clockwise in FIG. 4) by depressing a forward section 76 of the diverter rocker button 40, which is located at the outlet side of the pivot axis 70, and in the opposite direction (clockwise in FIG. 4) by depressing an aft section 78.
The diverter rocker button 40 has two transversely depending legs 80 and 82 with small feet 84 extending laterally perpendicular to the valve axis 60 and parallel to the pivot axis 70. The legs 80 and 82 extend into respective openings 86 and 88 in the valve body 34 so that the feet 84 fit into the groove 67 in the diverter valve member 62. The legs 80 and 82 (and feet 84) can be easily formed integrally with the diverter rocker button 40. And, assembly of the diverter rocker button 40 to the valve head 14 is simplified by the legs 80 and 82 deflecting slightly as the feet 84 pass over the body of the valve member 62 before fitting into the groove 67.
With reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 8, the spray head 14 operation of the spray 14 will now be described. One state of the spray head 14 is shown in FIG. 4. The spray head 14 is biased in this state by virtue of the spring 48 keeping the plunger valve member 46 of the pause assembly 42 unseated and frictional forces and/or water pressure acting on the diverter valve member 62 keeping one sealing surface of the head seal seated against valve seat 41. In this state, water can flow from the hose 16 into the valve body 34 through the inlet end 52. Water can pass into the passageway 54 through an opening 90 and around a narrowed section of the plunger valve member 46. Water flows through the passageway 54 to the center of the flow restrictor 38 and into the aerator cartridge 26. Water exits the spray head 14 through the discharge orifices 28 in the aerator cartridge 26 in a column-like pattern. Water flow is diverted from the aerator cartridge 26 to the outlet ring 30 by depressing the aft section 78 of the diverter rocker button 40 against the water pressure. This causes the legs 80 and 82 to move the feet 84 to engage the valve member 62 and drive it axially forward toward the outlet end of the spray head 14 so that the other sealing surface of the head seal seats in the valve seat 39, as shown in FIG. 5. Water is thus prevented from flowing to the aerator cartridge 26 and is routed to the discharge orifices 32 of the outlet ring 30 where it exits the spray head 14 in a shower like spray pattern.
As shown in FIG. 6, water flow from the spray head 14 can be temporarily interrupted by depressing the pause button 44, which causes the plunger valve member 46 to move one of its seal against a seat of the opening 90 in the valve body 34 and thereby close off flow from the inlet opening 52 to the passageway 54.
It should be appreciated that a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above. However, many modifications and variations to the preferred embodiment will be apparent to those skilled in the art, which will be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be limited to the described embodiment. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims should be referenced.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
The invention provides an improved spray head suitable for a pull-out faucet having spray selection and pause controls.
Patent Application
20080067264
