Patent Application
20070044850
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid control apparatus for a faucet, and more particularly to fluid control apparatus has a cartridge valve, and the cartridge valve has two water outlets.
2. Description of Related Art
Valves are commonly used to control the flow of a fluid between an inlet and an outlet in a plumbing fixture. For example, a common faucet uses at least one valve inside to control the flow of water. The faucet discharges a stream of water when the valve is opened. Some kinds of faucets, such as bathtub taps, kitchen faucets and dual operation electronic faucets need mixing valves and diverter valves to mix hot and cold water and vary the flow of mixing water to different outlets.
A bathtub tap uses both the mixing valve and the diverter valve so that the hot and cold water is mixed to adjust its temperature, and the mixing water flows out of the tap through either a showerhead or a spout in the tap. However, using two separate valves causes the bathtub tap to have complex assemblies and fabrications. The manufacturing cost is expensive. In addition, to maintain the bathtub tap is not easy.
Germs, bacteria, disease and other harmful materials may be spread from one person to another person by touching the handles of the faucets in the public places. The electronic faucets have become popular in public places because a person will not touch the handles of the electronic faucets, which improves public sanitation. However, an electronic faucet needs power to drive the solenoid valve to open or close. If the power to the electronic faucet or the solenoidvalve fails, the electronic faucet will not function normally to discharge water. A person will be inconvenienced in using the electronic faucet in such a situation.
A dual operation electronic faucet that provides two selectable modes of automatic and manual operations addresses the aforesaid problem of the conventional electronic faucet. In the automatic operation mode, the electronic faucet uses sensors to detect objects approaching the faucet, and then a control circuit opens an solenoid valve to provide a stream of water discharging out the faucet. In the manual operation mode, a person pushes the handle of the electronic faucet, which permits the electronic faucet to supply water before the control circuit is fixed or the power is supplied again. Therefore, the dual operation electronic faucet needs two separate water passages for different operation modes. Since the dual operation electronic faucet has two separate water passages, the dual operation electronic faucet needs a valve with two outlets communicated respectively with the water passages to selectively divert the water into one of the water passages. The conventional valve with two outlets for the electronic faucet has a complex structure and is expensive. Therefore, an inexpensive cartridge valve with two outlets is still in demand.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a fluid control apparatus that has a cartridge valve with two outlets to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a fluid control apparatus for a faucet, and the fluid control apparatus has two outlets to connect respectively two separate water conduits.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a fluid control apparatus for mixing hot and cold water and varying the mixing water to separate water conduits.
A fluid control apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes a cartridge valve with a stationary valve disk and a sliding valve disk. The stationary valve disk has a first and a second mixing water passage. The sliding valve disk is mounted on the stationary valve disk between a first and a second open position, and has a first and a second water mixing chamber. The first water mixing chamber mixes hot and cold water and is communicated with the first mixing water passage when the sliding valve disk is in the first open position. The second water mixing chamber mixes hot and cold water and is communicated with the second mixing water passage. Consequently, the fluid control apparatus provides two outlets to discharge variable temperature mixed water to extend convenient usages of faucets.
Other objectives, advantages and unique features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The valve seat 1 may be a hollow cylinder, has a top opening 10. The water conduits are connected to the valve seat 1 and include a hot water supply conduit 11, a cold water supply conduit 12, a first mixing water conduit 13 and a second mixing water conduit 14. The flows of the hot and the cold water flow through the hot and the cold water supply conduit 11,12 and enter the cartridge valve 2 in the valve seat 1.
The cartridge valve 2 mixes the hot and the cold water to adjust water temperature to a desired degree and redirects the mixing water out of the fluid control apparatus through either the first or the second mixing water conduit 13,14. The first and the second mixing water conduit 13,14 are connected respectively to a solenoid valve (not shown) and a spout (not shown) of a faucet.
The cartridge valve 2 is mounted in the valve seat 1 through the top opening 10, is held in the valve seat 1 and comprises a base 21, a stationary valve disk 22, a sliding valve disk 23, an actuating assembly 24 and a housing 25.
The base 21 has a top, two inlets 211,212, two outlets 213,214 and multiple positioning posts 215. The inlets include a hot water inlet 211 and a cold water inlet 212, are defined completely through the base 21 and communicate respectively with the hot and the cold water supply conduit 11, 12. The outlets include a first water outlet 213 and a second water outlet 214, are defined completely through the base 21 and communicate respectively with the first and the second mixing water conduit 13, 14. The positioning posts 215 are formed upwardly and radially on the top of the base 21.
The stationary valve disk 22 may be made of ceramic materials, is mounted on the top of the base 21 between the positioning posts 215 and has a hot water passage 221, a cold water passage 222, a first mixing water passage 223, a second mixing water passage 224 and multiple detents 225. Those passages 221,222,223,224 are defined completely through the stationary disk 22, are respectively arranged with the inlets 211,212 and the outlets 213,214 and communicate respectively with the corresponding inlets 211,212 and outlets 213,214 in the base 21. The detents 225 are formed and arranged corresponding to the positioning posts 215 in the base 21. Each detent 225 receives and holds a corresponding one of the positioning posts 215 so that the stationary valve disk 22 is held on the top of the base 21 in position.
The sliding valve disk 23 may be made of ceramic materials, is slidably mounted on the stationary valve disk 22 between a first and a second open position, and has a top and a bottom. The bottom of the sliding valve disk 23 is slidably mounted on the stationary valve disk 22 and has a first water mixing chamber 231 and a second water mixing chamber 232. The top of the sliding valve disk 23 has a recess 233.
With further reference to
With further reference to
With reference to
The actuating assembly 24 is mounted in the housing 25 above the sliding valve disk 23 to move and rotate the sliding valve disk 23 and comprises an inner seat 241, a pivot rod 242 and a pivot pin 243. The inner seat 241 is rotatably mounted and held in the housing 25. The pivot rod 242 is pivotally mounted in the inner seat 241 by means of the pivot pin 243 and has a top end 244 and a bottom end 245. The ends 244,245 of the pivot rod 242 extend respectively out the inner seat 241. The extended top end 244 is connected to a handle (not shown). The extended bottom end 245 is extended into and is held in the recess 233 in the sliding valve disk 23. Therefore, pivoting the pivot rod 242 by the handle will move the sliding valve disk 23 relative to the stationary valve disk 22 to open the cartridge valve 2 when the sliding valve disk 23 is either in the first or the second open position. Rotating the inner seat 241 relative to the housing 25 will permit to adjust water temperature when the cartridge valve 2 is open.
The housing 25 holds the inner seat 241 and the valve disks 22, 23 and is attached to the base 21.
The cartridge valve 2 in accordance with the present invention has a dual function of mixing and varying hot and cold water and can be used as a mixing valve and a diverter valve.
With reference to
With further reference to
Consequently, the cartridge valve 2 in accordance with the present invention has a dual function of mixing and varying water, which reduces an amount of components of a faucet. The manufacturing costs of the faucets will be lowered. Furthermore, the cartridge valve 2 allows an electronic faucet to provide two selectable operation modes including an automatic operation mode and a manual operation mode. Even if in a situation of that the power fails or the control circuit is damaged, the electronic faucet still can provide water by selecting the manual operation mode so that a person can conveniently use the electronic faucet any time.
Even though details of the structure and numerous advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, the disclosure is illustrative only. Persons skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications, within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
