Patent Application
20160047485
The disclosure relates to valve devices and more particularly pertains to a new valve device for opening the valve by stepping on a switch.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that may be positioned on a support surface. An inlet is coupled to the housing. The inlet may be coupled to a fluid source. A valve is coupled to the housing. The valve is coupled to the inlet. The valve may selectively allow and restrict a flow of fluid from the inlet. A pedal is movably coupled to the housing. The pedal may be stepped on. A switch is coupled to the pedal. The switch engages the valve when the pedal is stepped on. The switch opens the valve. An outlet is coupled to the housing. The outlet is coupled between the valve and a hose. A fluid is delivered to the hose when the pedal is stepped on.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
An inlet 24 extends through a front side 26 of the outer wall 14 of the housing 12. The inlet 24 is fluidly coupled to a fluid source 28. The fluid source 28 may be a water hose of any conventional design. A valve 30 is coupled to an inner surface 32 of a first lateral side 34 of the outer wall 14 of the housing 12. The valve 30 is fluidly coupled to the inlet 24. The valve 30 may selectively allow and restrict a flow of a fluid 36 from the inlet 24.
A lever 38 is movably coupled to the valve 30. The lever 38 moves the valve 30 between an open position and a closed position. A spring biasing member 40 is positioned between a free end 42 of the lever 38 and the bottom wall 16 of the housing 12. The spring biasing member 40 biases the lever 38 upwardly to position the valve 30 in the closed position.
A pedal 44 is provided. The pedal 44 comprises a lip 46 extending downwardly from an outer edge 48 of an upper side 50 of the pedal 44. The upper side 50 of the pedal 44 may be stepped on. A bottom edge 52 of the lip 46 is hingedly coupled to the top edge 18 of the outer wall 14 of the housing 12. The pedal 44 closes the housing 12 when the pedal 44 is stepped on. Additionally, the pedal 44 is biased upwardly from the housing 12.
A switch 56 is provided. The switch 56 comprises a lower portion 58 of the switch 56 hingedly coupled to an upper portion 60 of the switch 56. An upper end 62 of the upper portion 60 of the switch 56 is coupled to a lower surface 63 of the upper side 50 of the pedal 44. The switch 56 extends downwardly from the pedal 44. The lower portion 58 of the switch 56 engages the lever 38 on the valve 30 when the pedal 44 is stepped upon so the valve 30 is opened.
An outlet 64 extends through the first lateral side 34 of the outer wall 14 of the housing 12. The outlet 64 is fluidly coupled to the valve 30. The outlet 64 is additionally fluidly coupled to a hose 66. The fluid 36 is delivered to the hose 66 when the pedal 44 is stepped on. The fluid 36 may be water.
In use, the pedal 44 is stepped on so a user 68 may wash the user's hands 70 with the hose 66. The assembly 10 prevents the user 68 from touching the valve 30 when the user's hands 70 are dirty. Additionally, the pedal 44 may be stepped on to dispense the fluid 36 for any reason.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
