Patent Application
20070039654
This invention generally relates to a ball valve for a faucet. More particularly this invention relates to mounting of a ball valve assembly within a faucet.
Faucet assemblies are known that include a ball valve for selectively controlling flow from a hot water and a cold-water inlet. The ball valve is typically disposed within a cavity defined by a faucet housing. The ball valve includes a stem that is manipulated to control the mixture of hot and cold water. The stem extends upward through a seal that prevents leakage along the stem of the ball valve. The inlets for the hot and cold water include seals that are biased against the ball valve. The ball valve is supported within the housing by a top seal disposed around the stem, and bottom seals for each of the inlets. Support of the ball valve assembly between the pliable top and bottom seals results in an undesirable spongy feel to the ball valve during operation.
Disadvantageously, the pliable surfaces provided by the seals wear and set over time. Once the seals have set or worn, slight downward pressure can cause undesirable leakage. Further, the spongy feel that is provided by substantially pliable top and bottom seals does not provide a desired positive feel to operation of the faucet assembly.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a ball valve assembly that provides a positive feel with improved sealing properties for a desired operational life of the faucet assembly.
This invention is a faucet assembly including a ball valve that is held within a cavity by a cam. The cam is in positive and direct contact with the ball valve to provide a rigid and positive location of the ball valve within the cavity.
An example faucet assembly according to this invention includes the housing that defines a cavity. Also defined within the cavity are inlets and outlets that communicate fluid to the cavity for regulation by the ball valve. The ball valve includes a plurality of openings that correspond with the inlets and outlets defined within the cavity. Movement and rotation of the ball valve within the cavity selectively directs fluid flow to the outlet.
The ball valve is held in a positive manner within the cavity by a cam. The cam includes a cam surface that directly abuts the ball valve. The cam provides a rigid placement of the ball valve within the cavity. As appreciated, prior art ball valve assemblies include elastomeric seals that maintain the ball valve within the cavity. The elastomeric seals often would wear resulting in undesirable movement of the ball valve.
The ball valve assembly of this invention includes a positive location within a cavity that is provided by a non-sealing cam surface of the cam. An upper seal is disposed and supported with the cam and is in sealing contact with the ball valve in an area that is not in direct contact with the cam surface. In this way, the ball valve positioning function is separated from the sealing function. The separation of the sealing and location functions provide for the increased durability of the seal.
Accordingly, the faucet assembly of this invention provides a positive feel to the ball valve for the entire operational life of the ball valve without requiring replacement or seal adjustment.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.
Referring to
The ball valve 32 is held within the cavity 20 by a cam 36. The cam 36 positively locates and holds the ball valve 32 within the cavity 20. The cam 36 is held within the housing 12 by a cap 26. A cover 25 is assembled over the housing 12. O-rings 54 are disposed between the cover 25 and the housing 12. The O-rings 54 provide a desired sealing function and also provide a friction fit that holds the cover 25 onto the housing 12.
The ball valve 32 includes a stem 34 that extends upwards through a cam slot 35 defined by the cam 36. The cam slot 35 is shaped to limit spherical movement of the ball valve 32 within the cavity 20 to communicate selectively with the first and second inlets 16, 14 and the outlet 18. A handle 28 is attached and secured to the stem 34 by way of the fastener 30. Movement of the handle 28 rotates the ball valve 32 within the cavity 20 to provide the desired mix of fluid that will exit through the spout 22.
The ball valve 32 is rotatable about a point 24. The ball valve 32 is held and prevented from moving axially upward in a direction out of the cavity 20 by the cam 36. The cam 36 includes cam surfaces 44 that are in direct abutting contact with a surface 33 of the ball valve 32. This direct abutting contact positively and directly locates the ball valve 32 within the cavity 20 of the housing 12.
The interface between the ball valve 32 and the cam surface 44 provides for positive location of the ball valve 32, however, this positive location does not provide for sealing against leakage of fluid. Accordingly, a seal 46 abuts the surface 33 of the ball valve 32 in a location that is not in contact with the cam surface 44 of the cam 36. In this way, the location function and sealing function are separated. The tolerance stack up for locating the ball valve 32 does not include a pliable member such as a seal and therefore the ball valve 32 is positively located within the cavity without the requirement for an adjustment device.
The seal 46 includes a lip portion 48 that is in direct sealing contact with the surface 33 of the ball valve 32. The seal 46 also includes a cam-sealing surface 47 that abuts an inner surface of the cam 36. The seal 46 therefore provides the sealing function required to prevent fluid flow or leakage around the ball valve 32.
The seal 46 also includes a biasing member 50. The biasing member 50 provides an energization function that biases the lip 48 towards and against the surface 33 of the ball valve 32. The biasing member 50 is a metal ring that is disposed within a cavity between the lip 48 and the cam-sealing surface 47. The biasing member 50 may also be provided and fabricated from other material besides metal, for example plastic.
Referring to
The ball valve 32 is held within the cavity 20 against sliding surfaces provided by the housing 12 and by the cam 36. The cam 36 includes the cam surfaces 44 that directly contact the ball valve 32 and prevent the ball valve 32 from moving substantially linearly within the cavity 20.
The ball valve 32 includes an outlet opening 64 that communicates with the outlet 18 (
Referring to
Accordingly, a faucet assembly according to this invention provides a cam 36 providing a cam surface 44 that directly and positively contacts an outer surface 33 of the ball valve 32. This direct contact positively locates the ball valve 32 such that a pliable member such as seal does not provide for holding the ball valve 32 in place, thereby improving seal durability.
Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.
