Patent Application
20060219304
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to faucets which control the mixing of hot and cold water. More particularly, the invention relates to faucets of the foregoing type wherein a movable disk is both rotated and directed in a linear manner over a stationary disk by an operating spindle.
2. Prior Art
There are problems with certain mixing valves which utilize movable and stationary disks (e.g. ceramic disks). Prior art arrangements of faucets and mixing valves (e.g. cartridges) appear to suffer from common disadvantages such as (a) they restrict area of inlet water to a mixing chambers. (b) they require additional space for larger cartridges if more area is needed. (c) they require larger exterior components to house a larger cartridge if more area is needed. (d) they are more expensive to manufacture due to larger exterior components if more area is needed. (e) they are more expensive to manufacture due to larger cartridge if more area is needed. (f) they have a hot and a cold inlet hole that is positioned at the front of the cartridge which means that the cartridge outlet must be routed between the hot and cold inlet valve seat holes in order to get to a commonly positioned faucet spout. Also, cold and hot water inlet area at mounting surface of cartridge is often greater than inlet area of the control surface. Control surface refers to where a movable control disk and a fixed control disk form a seal plane for mixing.
Alternate cartridge designs that allow for increased area from hot and cold inlets do not maintain a seal beyond a perimeter of a movable disk. Such a problem can be particularly of concern when a control insert valve is employed like that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,965 by Werner Lorch, when a fluid stream is not contained within the perimeter of a movable disk. More specifically, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,965 refers to a cartridge e.g. control insert with a condition where all inlet fluid streams do not pass through openings in the movable control surface. Since the fluid crosses a control surface boundary rather than pass through a movable control surface, fluid beyond the perimeter of a movable disk requires a sealed cartridge housing and additional seals to contain fluid inside such a cartridge. Also, use of such a cartridge for only one outlet use can result in stagnant water inside of the cartridge. Further, to use a cartridge with increased inlet area can require 4 inlet ports on the bottom of such a cartridge. Cartridge designs that allow for increased area have 2 inlet ports connecting to hot water and 2 inlet ports connecting to cold water at cartridge mounting surface.
Other cartridge designs claim optimal volume by enlarging the area of inlets in U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,489 by Chia-Bo Chang. Optimal volume cartridge described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,489 is declared to be a step toward increased area for cartridges that employ a simple central mix chamber in or directly above control disks. Simple mixing chambers are bound by the underside of a movable control disk or simple mixing chambers are bound by the mixing plane in combination with the central area of a movable control disk in addition to a seal interfacing a drive part that provides an upper boundary. Smaller cartridges that have simple mixing chambers are numerous and common in most faucets yet they all seem to share inlet area limitations at the seal plane.
There are temperature controlled mixer valves like the one in U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,025 by Gerhard Ginter, where a fluid cartridge employs a temperature regulating unit. Such cartridges are not well suited for applications where a smaller cartridge is desirable.
There are also cartridges that have an outlet channel that can route the outlet to the front of a cartridge in the valve cartridge base. Such a cartridge is in existence and currently being sold by Kuching International LTD. Of Taiwan. Though the cartridge is a clever design, limitations present themselves when such a cartridge is desired in smaller sizes where space is tight. Such cartridges are available in sizes 35 mm and 40 mm. These cartridges are approximately 3 mm taller in order to accommodate the additional flow channel. Further, these cartridge require a larger surface area for mounting and therefore a larger surface area must have adequate finish in order to seal properly. Added cost and complexity in manufacturing and accommodating such disks can be unwanted.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) to provide a cartridge with a larger area for hot and cold water to enter a mixing chamber;
(b) to provide a cartridge with outer walls or peripheral components that do not contain fluid.
(c) to provide a smaller cartridge in new applications that require larger existing cartridges based on desired flow area
(d) to provide smaller components of cartridges
(e) to provide smaller components housing cartridges
(f) to provide designers more freedom to make more appealing designs based on smaller possible shapes
(g) to provide a cartridge with increased area for hot and cold inlet at control surface without necessarily requiring 2 input ports for hot water and 2 input ports for cold water at cartridge base
(h) to provide a replacement cartridge for existing faucets that currently have inadequate flow area
(i) To provide a cartridge that can have an outlet port that is positioned at the front of the valve
(j) To provide numerous cartridge sizes that can have an outlet port that is positioned at the front of the valve
Further objects and advantages are to provide a compact cartridge that may be suitable for applications that require more area than similar sized cartridges that are currently available. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
The invention provides increased inlet area at a control surface to facilitate the efficient mixing of hot and cold water. The inlet area at the control surface of this cartridge compares to much larger cartridges. The invention can be utilized in current applications that have inadequate inlet area at a given size requirement. Shower and bath applications where larger flow areas are common may also benefit from such an invention. Also, cartridges that have an outlet at the front can be combined with very simple valve plates and further simplified faucet arrangements. Finally, cartridges that can have the inlets positioned at various locations with respect to the cartridge bottom have additional functionality that is not available in similar 3 port cartridges.
The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter relative to non-limitative embodiments and the attached drawings, wherein:
FIGS. 16 to 20 are diagrammatically positions of fixed and movable control disks.
Referring to the attached drawings
Referring to the FIGS. 1,3,4 and 5, the moveable disk 22 is a smaller diameter than the aforesaid cartridge 20. There is an eccentric shaped cavity 48 in the upper surface of the movable disk 22. The cavity 48 corresponds with a similar shaped protrusion feature 42 on the underside of the transmission element 38. The transmission element 38 is able to be inserted into the moveable disk 22 and to be mounted in the cartridge 20 while moving freely relative to the fixed control disk 24. Also, there is a mixing chamber 50 in the movable control disk 22. The mixing chamber 50 is connected to openings 66 and 68 in the movable control disk.
A valve seat 26 inserts and engages at bottom of the cartridge 20 and positions a seal 53, a bottom fixed disk 29 and the fixed control disk 24 in the cartridge. The moveable disk 22 is subjected to the movement of the control rod 30 and is able to move and overlap the fixed control disk 24. The control rod 30 drives the moveable disk 22 and alters various positions of the moveable disk 22 in relation to the fixed disk 24 (see FIGS. 16 to 20). The movable control disk 22 (
See FIGS. 1,2,7,8 and 21. Below the movable control disk 22, the fixed control disk 24 is secured in the cartridge by void 82 in the fixed control disk 24 and by protrusion 81 in valve seat 26. The fixed control disk 24 has an upper limit surface 59 which forms the fixed control surface. The fixed control disk 24 has inlets 148,149 that receive flow from inlet cavities 46 and 44 respectively. The only diagrammatically represented fixed control disk 24 rest partly on the seal 53 and valve seat 26. Below the fixed control disk 24, there is a fixed disk 29 that does not have a control surface. In FIGS. 11 to 15, the fixed disk 29 contains channels 79 and 80 which have varying geometric cross sections suitable to accommodate desired flow area. In
The valve seat 26 has A protrusion 81 which can secure the fixed control disk 24 and the fixed disk 29. Also, protrusion 81 can limit and balance compression of the fixed disk 24 with respect to seal 53 if assembled with a number of protrusions similar to protrusion 81 with accompanying notches as well. Seal 53 seals flow paths between the fixed disk 29 and the valve seat 26.
In
It is common practice to use a flat surface of two disks to form a seal plane by placing what we call control surfaces against each other to form a seal plain where one of the control surfaces can move with respect to another control surface.
In order to be clear, the term opening zone in a control surface means an opening in a control surface where an edge of said opening zone does not share an edge with a perimeter or boundary of said control surface.
With reference to
If the moveable control disk 22 is now rotated clockwise, then the situation is as shown in
If the moveable control disk 22 is moved upwards from the position in
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 and 21, there can be instances where a facility might want to maintain the temperature of the hot water a bit hotter than some people might feel is comfortable. Such facilities could use this invention where one of the dual hot water inlets 54 or 52 is not present in the fixed control disk 24. Therefore, the proportion of hot water to cold water could be changed and some people might find such conditions favorable. Similarly, this invention can also function as a cartridge that reduces the use of hot water. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,917 by Mei-Li Chen a cartridge can be designed so as to reduce the use of hot water by changing the amount of inlet area overlapping with the control surfaces.
Also, there are certain applications where a facility might not keep the hot water at a high enough temperature for a majority of the patrons that use their rest rooms. These patrons could run the water excessively before the temperature is hot enough for their comfort. Such facilities could use this invention without one of the dual cold water outlets 56 or 58 in the fixed control disk 24 thereby reducing the waste of water and improving the response time in a mid position orientation of the cartridge handle.
The newly invented cartridge can also reduce inventory requirements by using the same fixed disk 24 in all assembled cartridges. In applications where higher flow is not desired, the movable control disk 22 can simply be fabricated without one of the two openings 64 or 68. Thus, a current typical cartridge performance may be achieved. Also, that typical cartridge performance can be coupled with an outlet port that is at the front of the valve. Or, the cartridge could be constructed where opening 66 only operates as an outlet. In the absence of diametrically opposed inlets in the fixed control disk, opening 68 could be the only inlet point for the mixing chamber and therefore a cartridge that functions with only one hot and one cold opening in a fixed disk could function with similar flow to existing cartridges with the added benefit of having an outlet positioned at the front of the cartridge.
There are some applications where the invention can be used to mix and have two separate mixing outlets. It is very simple to divide the outlet chamber into two separate outlets. And, it would be easy to have two different mixing paths with different mixing rations due to different areas on the diametrically opposed inlet holes of the fixed control disk. Tub and bath applications could be an excellent use for the inventions.
The newly invented cartridge could easily have the translation or volume controlling throw positions divided into two index-able positions to allow for choosing typical cartridge flow or the newly improved cartridge flow.
Also, the geometric features of the movable control disk 22 and fixed control disks 24 lend themselves to being fabricated out of ceramic, alumina etc. or even polymeric materials that may provide reasonable cost, life and performance. Furthermore, The movable and fixed control disks can be molded or formed by simple male and female molds without the need for slides or inserts.
The following lists some specific conditions for the valve cartridge referencing
Also the cartridge 20 can be seated on a surface that allows for two fluid inlets at 145,174 and one fluid outlet 146.
In addition, the cartridge 20 can be seated on a surface that allows for two fluid inlets at 147,174 and one fluid outlet 144.
Further, the cartridge 20 can be seated on a surface that allows for one fluid inlet at inlet cavity 44 and one fluid outlet 146.
Another alternate cartridge can have four separate fluid inlets and one or two outlets to function like similar 4 in port cartridges that have more components, are more complex, costly and therefore less desirable. However, this 4 in port would be a more simple 4 in port cartridge than those that are currently available.
The newly invented cartridge can be used with inlet 174 and modified fixed control disk opening zone shapes. Such a cartridge could operate as a proportioning valve where the shapes of the opening zones are similar to the current shapes or they could be arranged with shapes that do not allow for the complete closing of the cartridge. In other words, at least one of the opening zones might always overlap opening 66 at any given position. In this way, a proportioning of outlets 144 and 147 could be achieved. Similarly, a proportioning of a 4 output cartridge could be achieved in a similar manner.
Also, the cartridge can be constructed using similar protrusion notches or pawls to secure the moveable control disk to the motion transmission element as is done in current cartridge designs.
Furthermore, the cartridge can be constructed using similar protrusion notches or pawls to secure and balance the fixed control disk to the valve seat as is done in current cartridge designs.
Additionally, the cartridge can be constructed using similar snap locking features that are currently used to secure the cartridge outer shell to the valve seat.
Similarly, the cartridge can be constructed similar to existing cartridges without requiring additional parts. From an appearance standpoint, the main differences distinguishing this invention from other cartridges are related to the geometry of the control disks, fixed disk and sealing.
When the invention is compared to equal size compact cartridges, the cost and complexity of cartridges are similar.
When the invention is compared to cartridges with equal overlapping control surface inlet areas, the cost of the newly invented cartridge and surrounding components can be substantially less.
The moveable control disk of this invention can be used to control the flow in other cartridge assemblies that do not have diametrically opposed inlets. Implementing such a design could reduce inventory of alternate parts for differing cartridges.
Also, the shapes of opening 66 and 68 in moveable control disk 22 can be modified so that equal or unequal areas can be accommodated for reasons which effect flow rates, timing or flow proportions through the channels 78 and 80 of fixed disk 29.
Also, the elimination of channels where only one inlet for each respective stream is necessary would be a simple variation.
Further, the shapes of inlets 52,54,56 and 58 in fixed control disk 24 can be modified for reasons that effect various flow rates or flow proportions through the channels 78 and 80 of fixed control disk 24. In some instances, the elimination of channels 78 and 80 would be appropriate. Also, an embodiment could require the elimination of one of the diametrically opposed fixed control disk 24 inlets for each case hot and cold. Desired conditions can dictate the aforementioned geometry descriptions. For instance, sound, flow, quality or operation feedback needs may be manipulated by such changes in addition to the frontal position of an outlet with respect to a typically positioned spicket.
Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention.
Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by examples given.
Advantages
The numerous advantages in the aforementioned items generally relate to flow area, size, cost and versatility. The newly invented cartridge can be used in many different applications where the smaller diameter is desired or where the in port locations can have preferred location. Also, the cartridge may be used in applications where a cheaper alternative cartridge is desired. There may be numerous applications for which this cartridge may be preferred over the prior art.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/667,289 filed 2005 April 01 by the present inventor.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60667289 | Apr 2005 | US |
