Patent Application
20120285569
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water supply and, more particularly, to a faucet to spray water.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional faucet comprises a housing, a valve seat mounted in the housing, a water control valve mounted between the housing and the valve seat to control a water output from the housing, a control handle pivotally mounted on the housing and connected with the water control valve to control operation of the water control valve, and a pipe unit connected with the water control valve via the valve seat to supply water into the housing. The pipe unit is usually made of metallic material, and the valve seat is also made of metallic material. Thus, the pipe unit may be connected with the valve seat by soldering. However, the pipe unit and the valve seat are made of metallic material, thereby increasing the cost of fabrication of the faucet. The valve seat may be made of plastic material to decrease the cost of fabrication. However, it is difficult to fit the valve seat made of plastic material with the pipe unit made of metallic material.
In addition, the valve seat is usually made of a copper alloy. Recently, many developed countries have strict standards to limit the amount of the heavy metal contained in the copper alloy so as to prevent pollution caused by the heavy metal. For example, according to the NSF standard of the USA and the 65 proposition of the state of California, the heavy metal, such as lead, contained in the material used by the faucet is limited, and the manufacturer has to use a copper alloy with greater components so that the cost of fabrication is increased largely. Thus, a plastic material with high strength is used to replace the copper alloy. The plastic material is integrally formed directly without needing a secondary working process, thereby decreasing the cost of fabrication. However, the plastic material cannot fit the metallic material so that the plastic material is not connected with the metallic material easily.
The first prior art reference was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,770, entitled “MODULAR LAVATORY FAUCET SPOUT MOUNTING”. However, many working procedures are needed in the working process of the housing of the faucet, thereby consuming much working time. In addition, the precision of the faucet is reduced largely during so many working procedures so that the faucet easily produces leakage.
The second prior art reference was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,987, entitled “FAUCET WITH A MOVABLE EXTENSION NOZZLE”. However, many working procedures are needed in the working process of the housing of the faucet, thereby consuming much working time. In addition, the precision of the faucet is reduced largely during so many working procedures so that the faucet easily produces leakage.
The third prior art reference was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,766,043, entitled “FAUCET INCLUDING A MOLDED WATERWAY ASSEMBLY”. However, when the faucet is assembled, the faucet needs many assembling steps, thereby causing inconvenience in assembly of the faucet, and thereby increasing the cost of assembly.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a faucet, comprising a housing having an inner portion provided with a receiving space, a fixing plate affixed to the housing, a valve seat mounted in the receiving space of the housing and located between the housing and the fixing plate, a water control valve mounted between the housing and the valve seat, a pipe unit extended through the fixing plate and connected with the valve seat, and at least one retaining member secured on the pipe unit and located between the valve seat and the fixing plate to affix the pipe unit to the fixing plate so as to prevent the pipe unit from being detached from the valve seat.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a faucet that can be assembled easily and quickly.
According to the primary advantage of the present invention, the end portion of the pipe unit is extended through the through hole of the fixing plate and is inserted into the guide hole of the valve seat so that the pipe unit is connected with the valve seat easily and quickly, thereby facilitating a user assembling the pipe unit and the valve seat.
According to another advantage of the present invention, the retaining member is located between the valve seat and the fixing plate to affix the pipe unit to the fixing plate so that the pipe unit is directly inserted into the valve seat to decrease the working process of the valve seat and to decrease the costs of fabrication.
According to a further advantage of the present invention, the retaining member is mounted in the retaining groove of the pipe unit and is located between the valve seat and the fixing plate so that the retaining member can connect the valve seat and the pipe unit of different material.
According to a further advantage of the present invention, the housing, the valve seat and the fixing plate are combined together by the locking bolts so that the valve seat and the pipe unit of different material are positioned by the retaining member without needing a secondary working process.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings and initially to
The housing 10 has a side provided with a water outlet portion 13 connected to the receiving space 12. The water outlet portion 13 of the housing 10 has an open bottom, and the faucet further comprises a bottom cover 132 mounted on the open bottom of the water outlet portion 13 by a plurality of fastening screws 131 to cover the water outlet portion 13 of the housing 10. The receiving space 12 of the housing 10 has a rim provided with a plurality of screw bores 14 and has a peripheral wall provided with an inner threaded portion 15.
The valve seat 30 is made of plastic material. The valve seat 30 has an inner portion provided with a receiving chamber 34 connected to the receiving space 12 of the housing 10 to receive the water control valve 20. The valve seat 30 has an end portion provided with at least one guide hole 32 to allow insertion of the pipe unit 50. The valve seat 30 has a rim provided with a plurality of locking holes 33 aligning with the screw bores 14 of the housing 10 respectively. The valve seat 30 has a peripheral wall provided with an outer threaded portion 31 screwed into the inner threaded portion 15 of the housing 10 to lock the valve seat 30 in the receiving space 12 of the housing 10.
The fixing plate 40 is made of metallic material. The fixing plate 40 has a surface provided with at least one through hole 41 aligning with the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 to allow passage of the pipe unit 50. The fixing plate 40 has a periphery provided with a plurality of fixing holes 42 aligning with the locking holes 33 of the valve seat 30 respectively, and the faucet further comprises a plurality of locking bolts 43 in turn extended through the fixing holes 42 of the fixing plate 40 and the locking holes 33 of the valve seat 30 respectively and screwed into the screw bores 14 of the housing 10 respectively so that the housing 10, the valve seat 30 and the fixing plate 40 are combined together by the locking bolts 43.
The pipe unit 50 is made of metallic material, such as a copper alloy and the like. The pipe unit 50 is extended through the through hole 41 of the fixing plate 40 into the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30. The pipe unit 50 has an end portion 51 which is extended through the through hole 41 of the fixing plate 40 and is fully inserted into the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30. The end portion 51 of the pipe unit 50 has a surface provided with at least one annular mounting groove 510 for mounting at least one O-ring 52 which is inserted into the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 and biased between the end portion 51 of the pipe unit 50 and the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 to provide an air-tight effect between the pipe unit 50 and the valve seat 30. The end portion 51 of the pipe unit 50 has a periphery provided with a retaining groove 53 for mounting the retaining member 54. The retaining groove 53 of the pipe unit 50 has an annular shape, and the retaining member 54 also has an annular shape.
The retaining member 54 is a C-shaped snap. The retaining member 54 is located between the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 and the through hole 41 of the fixing plate 40. The retaining member 54 has a size greater than that of the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 and greater than that of the through hole 41 of the fixing plate 40.
The water control valve 20 is located between the receiving space 12 of the housing 10 and the receiving chamber 34 of the valve seat 30. The water control valve 20 has a first end provided with a control shaft 21 which is driven by the control handle 11 and has a second end provided with at least one water inlet hole 22 aligning with and connected to the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30, and the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 is connected between the water inlet hole 22 of the water control valve 20 and the pipe unit 50 so that the pipe unit 50 is connected to the water inlet hole 22 of the water control valve 20 through the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the valve seat 30 has three guide holes 32, the water control valve 20 has three water inlet holes 22 aligning with the guide holes 32 of the valve seat 30 respectively, the fixing plate 40 has three through holes 41 aligning with the guide holes 32 of the valve seat 30 respectively, and the pipe unit 50 includes a hot water inlet pipe 501, a cold water inlet pipe 502 and a mixed water outlet pipe 503 each extended through a respective one of the through holes 41 of the fixing plate 40 into a respective one of the guide holes 32 of the valve seat 30. The mixed water outlet pipe 503 of the pipe unit 50 has a distal end provided with an aerator 5031 mounted in the water outlet portion 13 of the housing 10 and partially protruded outward from the bottom cover 132. The faucet comprises three retaining members 54 secured on the hot water inlet pipe 501, the cold water inlet pipe 502 and the mixed water outlet pipe 503 of the pipe unit 50 respectively.
In assembly, the water control valve 20 is placed into the receiving space 12 of the housing 10, and the control shaft 21 of the water control valve 20 is connected with the control handle 11. Then, the valve seat 30 is placed into the receiving space 12 of the housing 10 to surround the water control valve 20. Then, the outer threaded portion 31 of the valve seat 30 is screwed into the inner threaded portion 15 of the housing 10 to lock the valve seat 30 in the receiving space 12 of the housing 10 so that the water control valve 20 is located between the receiving space 12 of the housing 10 and receiving chamber 34 of the valve seat 30. Then, the end portion 51 of the pipe unit 50 is extended through the through hole 41 of the fixing plate 40. Then, the retaining member 54 is mounted in the retaining groove 53 of the pipe unit 50, and the O-ring 52 is mounted in the mounting groove 510 of the pipe unit 50. Then, the end portion 51 of the pipe unit 50 together with the O-ring 52 is inserted into the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 so that the pipe unit 50 is connected to the water inlet hole 22 of the water control valve 20 through the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30. Then, the fixing plate 40 abuts the valve seat 30, and the fixing holes 42 of the fixing plate 40 align with the locking holes 33 of the valve seat 30 respectively. Then, the locking bolts 43 are in turn extended through the fixing holes 42 of the fixing plate 40 and the locking holes 33 of the valve seat 30 respectively and are screwed into the screw bores 14 of the housing 10 respectively so that the housing 10, the valve seat 30 and the fixing plate 40 are combined together by the locking bolts 43. At this time, the retaining member 54 is located between the valve seat 30 and the fixing plate 40 to affix the pipe unit 50 to the fixing plate 40 so as to prevent the pipe unit 50 from being detached from the valve seat 30. Finally, the bottom cover 132 is locked onto the open bottom of the water outlet portion 13 by the fastening screws 131 to cover the water outlet portion 13 of the housing 10.
Referring to
Referring to
Accordingly, the end portion 51 of the pipe unit 50 is extended through the through hole 41 of the fixing plate 40 and is inserted into the guide hole 32 of the valve seat 30 so that the pipe unit 50 is connected with the valve seat 30 easily and quickly, thereby facilitating a user assembling the pipe unit 50 and the valve seat 30. In addition, the retaining member 54 is located between the valve seat 30 and the fixing plate 40 to affix the pipe unit 50 to the fixing plate 40 so that the pipe unit 50 is directly inserted into the valve seat 30 to decrease the working process of the valve seat 30 and to decrease the costs of fabrication. Further, the retaining member 54 is mounted in the retaining groove 53 of the pipe unit 50 and is located between the valve seat 30 and the fixing plate 40 so that the retaining member 54 can connect the valve seat 30 and the pipe unit 50 of different material. Further, the housing 10, the valve seat 30 and the fixing plate 40 are combined together by the locking bolts 43 so that the valve seat 30 and the pipe unit 50 of different material are positioned by the retaining member 54 without needing a secondary working process.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.
