Patent Application
20060011748
It is known that there are devices known as flow regulators or aerators, which are designed to be inserted at the end section of ducts that convey water in output from faucets installed in sanitary fixtures or in kitchen sinks in order to provide a well-aerated cylindrical jet that does not spray.
These devices comprise an external enclosure, which is provided with ports for the passage of air that is meant to mix with the stream of water and comprises at least one screen that is crossed by such stream: at the input section, a wire mesh and an underlying jet breaker plate provided with holes adapted to break up the stream, are provided.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a flow regulator that has maximum functional efficiency.
The proposed aim is achieved by a flow regulator according to the invention, comprising an enclosure, which in turn comprises at least one screen designed to be crossed by the stream and is provided, at the input section, with a wire gauze and with an underlying jet breaker plate provided with holes adapted to break up the stream, characterized in that the holes provided in the jet breaker plate are distributed along closed geometrical figures centered on the plate, a barrier with ridges located at said holes being provided directly below said plate.
Further characteristics and advantages will become better apparent from the description of preferred but not exclusive embodiments of the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting examples in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, the reference numeral 1 generally designates the flow regulator, which comprises the enclosure 2, which has, at the water input section, the wire gauze 3, which is dome-shaped with a recess at its central region and is further provided with the jet breaker plate 4, which has holes adapted to break up the stream of incoming water and is fixed to the enclosure 2 by means of teeth 4a, which are designed to engage with a snap action the edge of the ports 2a provided in the wall of the enclosure 2 in order to allow the inflow of air that is meant to mix with the water.
The holes provided in the jet breaker plate 4 are distributed along concentric circles and therefore the holes 5 are distributed so that their centers lie within the external circumference, the holes 6 are distributed so that their centers lie within the intermediate circumference, and finally the holes 7 are distributed so that their centers lie within the internal circumference; all such three circumferences are shown by means of dot-and-dash lines in
Directly below the plate 4 there is a barrier 8, which is detachably inserted within the enclosure 2 and is provided with concentric circular ridges located at the holes provided in the plate 4: in this way, the ridge 8a is arranged at the holes 5 on the external circumference, the ridge 8b is located at the holes 6 on the intermediate circumference, and finally the ridge 8c is located at the holes 7 on the internal circumference.
This circumstance is clearly illustrated in
Advantageously, an appropriate mutual sizing of the holes provided in the plate 4 and of the ridges in the barrier 8 causes the jets that exit from said holes to be affected by said ridges at at least 50% of the cross-section of said jets.
It should also be noted that the cross-section of the ridges of the disk 8 is shaped like a cusp directed toward the inlet of the stream, with planes 8d that converge at the vertex and are inclined by at least 30° with respect to the horizontal; the cusp might also be provided by means of arc-like surfaces.
Below the barrier 8 there are, in order to constitute additional screens designed to be crossed by the stream that passes through the device, the two barriers 9 and 10, provided with ridges that are adapted to form grids with square meshes of different sizes, which reach the external perimeter of said barriers; said barriers are detachably associated with the enclosure 2 by way of reference means for positioning them.
Such means comprise peripheral notches 9a and 10a respectively for the barrier 9 and for the barrier 10, which are adapted to be associated with ribs 2b provided at the wall of the enclosure 2.
Another screen 11, designed to be crossed by the water stream, is provided monolithically at the bottom of the enclosure 2 by means of ridges arranged so as to form a grid with square meshes, which extends along the entire extent of said bottom.
A variation of the means for reference in positioning the barriers detachably associated with the external enclosure is now described with reference to
In such figures, the reference numeral 12 designates the external enclosure provided at its bottom, which comprises ridges such as 12a, with the central stem 12b, which has a rectangular cross-section, and the reference numeral 13 designates a barrier that is inserted detachably in the enclosure 12 and is provided with a central port that is complementary with respect to the cross-section of the stem 12b, so as to force the positioning of said barrier with respect to said enclosure.
In such figures, the reference numeral 14 designates the external enclosure provided at its bottom, which comprises ridges 14a, with the two stems 14b and 14c, and the reference numeral 15 further designates a barrier that is inserted detachably in the enclosure 14 and is provided with ports that are complementary with respect to the cross-section of the stems 14b and 14c.
An additional embodiment of the invention is shown in
The described invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations in addition to those described, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept: thus, for example, between the barrier arranged directly below the jet breaker plate and the bottom of the external enclosure it is possible to provide no further barriers or it is possible to detachably insert barriers that have no means for reference in positioning with respect to said enclosure.
Moreover, the holes that are provided in the jet breaker plate can be distributed along closed geometric figures of any kind that are centered on the plate, such as for example regular polygons, and directly below said plate there is always a barrier provided with ridges located at said holes.
The disclosures in Italian Patent Application no. MN2004A000015, from which this application claims priority, are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| MN2004A000015 | Jul 2004 | IT | national |
