Patent Application
20120111973
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handheld and multi-section water distributor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A showering equipment, such as a shower head, is apply a rotary-disc watering distributor to shift a water level, but the rotary-disc watering distributor is fixed on an outlet end of the shower head, according a size of the outlet end of the shower head has to be increased that is not easy to be held during operation. Besides, the rotary-disc watering distributor is merely used on an outlet end of the shower head without being fixed on other components of the shower head.
To overcome above-mentioned problem, a pressed watering distributor is developed and includes a disk-shaped water distributing member to be acted by a water pressure and a spring to engage with an opposite disc. The disk-shaped water distributing member includes a plurality of first holes communicating with each other and is pushed by a pressing element to rotate, such that the first holes of the water distributing member are controlled to communicate with second holes of the opposite disc, shifting water level.
However, such a pressed watering distributor still has the following defects.
An inlet direction and an outlet direction of the pressed watering distributor are perpendicular to the disc. To arrange the second holes of the disc, a size of the water distributing member has to be increased, thereby obtaining a larger watering area pressed by the water flow. Furthermore, a structure of the watering distributor is limited, therefore at least one orifice to release pressure can not be formed on the water distributing member, so a user has to press the pressing element forcefully that can not achieve a force saving purpose.
Likewise, when desiring to obtain more shifting levels, such as up to six-section shifting levels, the size of the water distributing member has to be increased greatly.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a handheld and multi-section water distributor that is capable of overcoming the shortcomings of the conventional water distributor.
To obtain the above objectives, a handheld and multi-section water distributor provided by the present invention contains:
a body including an inlet end, an outlet end, and a chamber defined between the inlet end and the outlet end; the chamber including an inflow room disposed on an upper side thereof, an operating room fixed on a lower side thereof, and a closing room defined between the inflow room and the operating room; the closing room being formed in a cone shape and extending downward decreasingly; the inlet end of the body including an entering channel extending toward a first internal face of the inflow room to communicate with the inflow room; the outlet end including al least two outflow channels, each extending toward a closed inner wall of the chamber to communicate with the chamber; a bottom wall of the operating room including a hole disposed thereon so that the operating room communicates with an outer environment through the hole; a second internal face of the operating room including a plurality of toothed blocks extending radially therealong, and between any two adjacent toothed blocks being defined a recess, and each toothed block including a ratchet plane fixed on a top end thereof;
a pressing element including a push segment and a press segment integrally connected on a bottom end of the push segment and extending out of the operating room from the hole of the operating room; the push segment including a plurality of sliding projections radially extending from a peripheral side thereof to be retained in the recesses respectively, and each sliding projection including a first inclined face formed on a top end thereof to match with a tilted angle of the ratchet plane of the toothed block;
a plugging member including a plug segment and a retaining segment integrally extending from a bottom end of the plug segment; the plug segment being formed in a cone shape and extending downward decreasingly to define an outer sealing wall so as to closely engage with the inner sealing wall of the closing room of the body; the outer sealing wall further including at least one flowing tunnel to communicate with the outflow channel of the body; the retaining segment including a number of protrusions arranged around a peripheral side of a bottom end thereof to be retained in the recesses of the body respectively, and each protrusion including a third inclined face disposed on a bottom end thereof to be pushed by the first inclined face upward so as to disengage from the recess, and then the protrusion rotably sliding into an adjacent recess along the ratchet plane of the toothed block, retaining the protrusion in the recess;
a resilient element fixed between the inflow room and a top fence of the plugging member to push the plugging member.
The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to
The body 10, as shown in
The chamber 13 includes an inflow room 13a disposed on an upper side thereof, an operating room 13b fixed on a lower side thereof, and a closing room 13c defined between the inflow room 13a and the operating room 13b.
The closing room 13c is formed in a cone shape, extends downward decreasingly, and includes an inner sealing wall 131 formed therein.
The inlet end 11 of the body 10 includes an entering channel 14 extending toward a first internal face 132 of the inflow room 13a to communicate with the inflow room 13a so that the first internal face 132 forms an entrance to flow water inward.
The outlet end 12 includes a plurality of outflow channels 15, each extending toward a closed inner wall 131 of the chamber 13 to communicate with the chamber 13. As illustrated in
A bottom wall 133 of the operating room 13b includes a hole 16 disposed thereon as shown in
A second internal face 134 of the operating room 13b includes a plurality of toothed blocks 135 extending radially therealong and spaced apart from each other equally, wherein between any two adjacent toothed blocks 135 is defined a recess 136, and each toothed block 135 includes a ratchet plane 137 fixed on a top end thereof. In this embodiment, there are twelve toothed blocks 135 provided as illustrated in
The body 10 is comprised of a seat 10a and a covering member 10b as shown in
The pressing element 20, as illustrated in
The push segment 21 includes a plurality of sliding projections 211 radially extending from a peripheral side thereof and spaced apart from each other equally, and there are twelve sliding projections 211 provided in this embodiment to be retained in the recesses 136 respectively, and each sliding projection 211 includes a first inclined face 212 formed on a top end thereof to match with a tilted angle of the ratchet plane 137 of the toothed block 135. In this embodiment, the top end of the sliding projection 211 is formed in a conical tooth shape and includes the first inclined face 212 and a second inclined face 213.
The plugging member 30, as illustrated in
The plug segment 31 is formed in a cone shape and extends downward decreasingly to define an outer sealing wall 311 to closely engage with the inner sealing wall 131 of the closing room 13c of the body 10; the outer sealing wall 311 further includes two flowing tunnels 312 arranged on two opposite sides thereof individually to communicate with the outflow channel 15 of the body 10 as shown in
Between a top fence 33 and a bottom fence 34 of the plugging member 30 are defined a number of orifices 35 to communicate with the inflow room 13a of the operating room 13b. In this embodiment, there are five orifices 35 provided, and the five orifices include a first orifice 351 located at a central portion between the top and the bottom fences 33, 34 and four second orifices 352 arranged around the first orifice 351 and spaced apart from each other evenly, wherein any two opposite second orifice 352 are located at an inner side of the flowing tunnels 312 and communicate with the flowing tunnels 312 respectively as illustrated in
The top fence 33 of the plugging member 30 includes a plurality of fan-shaped ribs 314 formed thereon as shown in
The retaining segment 32 includes a number of protrusions 321 arranged around a peripheral side of a bottom end thereof. In this embodiment, there are twelve protrusions 321 provided as illustrated in
When the pressing element 20 is pressed to move upward, the protrusions 321 of the pressing element in the recesses 136 are pushed upward by the first inclined faces 322 individually to slide upward along the recesses 136 until they disengage from the recesses 136 as illustrated in
Because the plugging member 30 and the body 10 include the twelve protrusions 321 and the twelve recesses 136, when the pressing element 20 is pressed and released every time, the plugging member 30 is driven to rotate 30 degrees as illustrated in
It is to be noted that inclined angles of the ratchet plane 137, the first inclined face 212, and the third inclined face 322 have to be matched with one another, and inclined directions of the ratchet plane 137, the first inclined face 212, and the third inclined face 322 are used to determine a rotary positioning direction of the plugging member 30 when the plugging member 30 is driven. In this embodiment, the plugging member 30 is guided to rotate along a clockwise direction.
Besides, due to an area of the top fence 33 of the plugging member 30 to receive a water flowing pressure of the inflow room 13a is larger than that of the bottom fence 34 to receive a water flowing pressure of the operating room 13b, and inner water pressures of the inflow room 13a and the operating room 13b are capable of being kept balanced by ways of the orifices 35, therefore an water-pressure effect forcing on the top end of the plugging member 30 is larger than that forcing on the bottom end of the plugging member 30 so that the plugging member 30 is forced to generate a downward pressing force in a normal state so that the outer sealing wall 311 and the inner sealing wall 131 of the closing room 13c engage with each other tightly.
The resilient element 40 is a compression spring in this embodiment, and includes two ends fixed between the groove 139 of the inflow room 13a and the top fence 33 of the plugging member 30 so that the resilient element 40 pushes the plugging member 30 downward, and the protrusions 321 disengage from the recesses 136 of the body 10, and then rotably slides into the adjacent recesses 136 along the ratchet planes 137 of the toothed blocks 135 by using an elastic force of the resilient element 40, hence the plugging member 30 is pressed to slide rotably and returns its original position. Furthermore, an action force of the water pressure on the top end of the plugging member 30 is more than that of the water pressure on the bottom end of the plugging member 30 to generate a downward pressing force, thus enhancing a closing effect between the plugging member 30 and the closing room 13c of the body 10.
The top fence 33 of the plugging member 30 includes a second spring positioning structure fixed at a position thereof relative to the resilient element 40, and the second spring positioning structure is selected from a second groove 139 and a second extended post to retain the resilient element 40.
In assembly, the pressing element 20, the plugging member 30, and the resilient element 40 are fixed in the chamber 13 from the intake 101 of the body 10, and the covering member 10b is screwed to the body 10 to finish the assembly process, wherein the pressing element 20 is fixed downward by ways of the press segment 22 so that the press segment 22 extends out of the hole 16 of the operating room 13b to be pressed by the user.
The water distributor 1 in this embodiment is used to various water spray equipments, such as a handheld shower head or a top shower head, accordingly when the water distributor 1 is turned on, the water flows into the inflow room 13a via the entering channel 14, wherein as the plugging member 30 is located at a first shifting position as shown in
When the user presses and releases the pressing element 20 one time, the plugging member 30 rotates 30 degrees in the clockwise direction to be positioned at a second shifting position, as illustrated in
Thereby, the user allows to press and release the pressing element 20 one time, and then the plugging member 30 rotates 30 degrees in the clockwise direction to be fixed at a third to a twelfth shifting positions in turn wherein when the plugging member 30 is located at the third shifting position, the water in the inflow room 13a flows into the first and the second outflow channels 151, 152 from one of the flowing tunnels 312 to generate a third watering mode as shown in
It is to be noted that when the plugging member 30 is rotated to fix at a seventh shifting position, because the plugging member 30 has been rotated for 180 degrees, the water in the inflow room 13a flows into the first and the third outflow channels 151, 153 along the flowing tunnels 312 to obtain the first watering mode, hence the watering modes at the seventh and the first shifting positions are the same. Likewise, the watering modes at the eighth and the second shifting positions are the same; the watering modes at the ninth and the third shifting positions are the same; the watering modes at the tenth and the fourth shifting positions are the same; the watering modes at the eleventh and the fifth shifting positions are the same; the watering modes at the twelfth and the sixth shifting positions are the same. Thereby, when the pressing element 20 is pressed continuously, the plugging member 30 is positioned from the first shifting position to the twelfth shifting position, and the first to the sixth watering mode are capable of being shifted in turn to obtain a multi-section shifting function so that the user shifts a desired watering mode freely based on requirement.
However, the watering mode with six shifting levels are not limited, e.g., a number of shifting levels are determined based on a rotary positioning angle after the plugging member 30 is pressed and a number of the outflow channels 15, and it is preferable that a separated angle between two central portions of any two adjacent outflow channels 15 is equal to a rotating angle of the plugging member 30 so that when the user presses continuously, the water is controlled to flow out of one or two outflow channels 15 repeatedly.
Thereby, there are at least two outflow channels 15 to be provided in this present invention to achieve a shifting level with at least three watering modes.
With reference to
Referring to
Of course, a single outflow channel 156 is capable of being applied to simplify the structure of the water distributor, but such a single outflow channel is not an ideal embodiment.
The water distributor 1 of the first embodiment is capable of being changed on a basis of various watering equipments, such as a water distributor 1 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
The water distributor 1 allows to be used in a top shower head equipment 3 as shown in
The plugging member 30 of the first embodiment is made of a signal material, such as a metal or hard plastic material, and the plugging member 30 of the second embodiment, as shown in
The water distributor also includes a tilted face 316 formed on one side of the flowing tunnel 312 according to a rotating direction of the plugging member and a vertical face 317 fixed on another side of the flowing tunnel 312 as illustrated in
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
