Wave generator

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6565014
  • Patent Number
    6,565,014
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, July 23, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 20, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Fetsuga; Robert M.
    • Kontos; Lina R
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A wave generator including a base seat and an annular adjustment seat. A bottom face of the base seat is formed with a bubbling hole. Multiple sprinkling holes are formed along the circumference of the bubbling hole. The bottom edge of the adjustment seat is formed, with multiple downward extending parallel cleaning pins respectively corresponding to the sprinkling holes. When a user moves the base seat upward, permitting the water to flow out from the bubbling hole, the cleaning pins are respectively passed through the sprinkling holes to push out and clear off the dirt attaching to the wall faces of the sprinkling holes.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




A present invention is related to an improved wave generator adaptable to a faucet. The wave generator includes cleaning pins which are able to conveniently clear off dirt clogging the water outlets.





FIGS. 4



a


to


5




b


show a conventional multistage adjustable sprinkler. A center of the sprinkler is formed with multiple water outlets


71


. A periphery of the sprinkler is formed with multiple sprinkling holes


72


. A user can turn a rotary disc to selectively discharge the water from the outlets


71


or the sprinkling holes


72


.




A ring


74


and a fixing tray


75


are disposed in the sprinkler. The ring


74


is rotatable along with the rotary disc. The circumference of the ring


74


facing the sprinkling holes


72


is formed with multiple projecting cleaning pins


741


corresponding to the sprinkling holes


72


. The circumference of the ring


74


is further formed with multiple projecting blocks


742


distal from the sprinkling holes


72


. The fixing tray


75


is formed with upward inclined guide faces


751


corresponding to the projecting blocks


742


of the ring


74


.




When a user desires to clean the sprinkling holes


72


, the user can turn the rotary disc to rotate the ring


74


. The projecting blocks


742


of the ring


74


will move upward along the guide faces


751


of the fixing tray


75


. Accordingly, the cleaning pins


741


will extend out through the sprinkling holes


72


to clean up the dirt clogging the sprinkling holes


72


.




The center of a domestic wave generator is formed with a bubbling hole. The periphery of the wave generator is formed with multiple sprinkling holes. In the case that dirty accumulates on the wall of the sprinkling hole, the water flowing through the sprinkling hole will impact the dirt and irregularly sprinkle. This affects the using state. For example, the irregularly sprinkling water will splash onto the clothes of the user or wet unexpected area such as the floor. This leads to inconvenience. Therefore, it is also necessary to clean the sprinkling holes of the wave generator.




The aforesaid cleaning structure can be applied to the wave generator. However, the wave generator is screwed on a connector provided with a circular connector


51


(with reference to FIG.


1


), whereby a user can move the wave generator to change the angle thereof so as to adjust the sprinkling direction of the water flow. In the case that the rotary disc of the sprinkler is applied to the wave generator, when turning the rotary disc, the wave generator will be moved along with the rotary disc. Accordingly, the user needs to hold the wave generator with the other hand. This is troublesome.




Moreover, even if the wave generator is fixed and the angle thereof is unchangeable, when turning the rotary disc, the screwed section of the wave generator will be unscrewed from the connector and loosened.




In addition, the interior space of the wave generator is much smaller than that of the sprinkler. Therefore, the rotary disc must be minified. As a result, the force arm (radius of the rotary disc) is greatly shortened. Therefore, the user must exert a greater force for turning the rotary disc. Also, the user's fingers are hard to well touch and turn the minified rotary disc.




Moreover, the volume and internal space of the wave generator are relatively small so that it is hard to additionally mount the fixing tray and rotary disc therein. When mounting these minified parts into the small space of the wave generator, it is difficult to accurately assemble these parts.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved wave generator in which the bottom edge of the adjustment seat is formed with multiple downward extending cleaning pins respectively corresponding to the sprinkling holes. When a user upward moves the base seat, permitting the to flow out from the central bubbling hole, the cleaning pins are passed through the sprinkling holes to push out and remove the dirt attaching to the wall faces of the sprinkling holes. Therefore, it is convenient to clean up the sprinkling holes.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above wave generator in which when cleaning the sprinkling holes, the base seat is pulled up and down, whereby the cleaning pins can relatively extend through the sprinkling holes to clean the same. The base seat is linearly moved and not rotated so that the problems resulting from small volume of the wave generator and the difficulty in assembling the parts are eliminated.




It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above wave generator in which the base seat is often kept in an upward moved state, permitting the water to flow out from the bubbling hole. Therefore, in normal state, the cleaning pins are passed through the sprinkling holes so that the dirt is harder to attach to the wall faces of the sprinkling holes.




The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective exploded view of the present invention;





FIG. 2



a


is a sectional view of the present invention, showing that the base seat is pulled downward, permitting the water to flow out from the circumferential sprinkling holes;





FIG. 2



b


is a sectional view of the present invention, showing that the base seat is moved upward, permitting the water to flow out from the bubbling hole, in which the cleaning pins are respectively passed through the sprinkling holes;





FIG. 3



a


is a sectional view showing that the dirt attaches to the wall face of the sprinkling hole;





FIG. 3



b


is a sectional view showing that when the base seat is moved upward, the dirt attaching to the wall face of the sprinkling hole is pushed out by the cleaning pin;





FIG. 4



a


is a partially exploded view of a conventional sprinkler;





FIG. 4



b


is a view according to

FIG. 4



a


, showing the installation of the fixing tray and the ring;





FIG. 5



a


is a partially sectional view of the conventional sprinkler, showing that the cleaning pin is not passed through the sprinkling hole; and





FIG. 5



b


is a partially sectional view of the conventional sprinkler, showing that the cleaning pin is passed through the sprinkling hole.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Please refer to

FIGS. 1

to


3


. The wave generator of the present invention includes an up and down movable base seat


1


and an adjustment seat


2


. The base seat


1


is integrally molded. The top edge of the base seat


1


is inward and downward formed with a slope


141


. The base seat


1


is hollow. The center of the bottom face of the base seat


1


is formed with a bubbling hole


11


axially passing through the base seat


1


. A hollow column


12


upward extends from the circumference of the bubbling hole


11


. The top edge of the hollow column


12


has an inward extending annular rib


121


. The outer face of the hollow column


12


is formed with multiple annular arranged locating dents


122


. The locating dents


122


axially extend up to the top of the base seat.




The bottom face of the base seat


1


is further formed with multiple annularly arranged sprinkling holes


13


vertically passing through the bottom face. The sprinkling holes


13


are positioned between the hollow column


12


and the inner wall face of the base seat


1


.




The adjustment seat


2


is annularly shaped and inserted between the hollow column


12


and the inner wall face of the base seat


1


. The inner wall face of the adjustment seat


2


and the outer wall face of the hollow column


12


define therebetween a flow space


27


. An O-ring is fitted around the adjustment seat


2


. The O-ring has an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the base seat


1


. The bottom edge of the adjustment seat


2


is formed with multiple downward extending parallel cleaning pins


23


respectively corresponding to the sprinkling holes


13


. The outer diameter of the cleaning pin


23


is equal to the diameter of the sprinkling hole


13


.




The top section of the adjustment seat


2


is formed with an inner thread section


25


for screwing on a connector


5


. Via the connector


5


, the wave generator is mounted on a faucet. In addition, the top section of the adjustment seat


2


has an outward projecting flange


21


having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the top edge of the base seat


1


. The bottom face of the flange


21


is formed with a downward and inward inclined slope


211


corresponding to the slope


141


of the base seat


1


.




The inner wall face of the adjustment seat


2


is formed with an inward extending annular support section


26


under the inner thread section


25


. The inner wall face of the adjustment seat


2


is formed with multiple inward projecting locating blocks


22


below the support section


26


corresponding to the locating dents


122


. A switch member


3


is additionally disposed in the adjustment seat


2


. The top of the switch member


3


has a tray


31


with an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the support section


26


. The tray


31


is supported on the support section


26


. A resilient washer


4


is positioned on the tray


31


. When the adjustment seat


2


is screwed on the connector


5


, the tray


31


and the washer


4


are right compressed between the support section


26


and the bottom edge of the connector


5


. The resilient washer


4


serves to stably fix the tray


31


.




The tray


31


is formed with multiple water orifices


311


vertically passing through the tray


31


. The water orifices


311


communicate with the flow space


27


. The center of the tray


31


has a downward extending stem


32


with an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the annular rib


121


. The stem


32


is inserted in the hollow column


12


. The stem


32


and the annular rib


121


define therebetween a passage


15


. The circumference of the end of the stem


32


is formed with an outward projecting stop section


321


with an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the annular rib


121


, while smaller than the inner diameter of the hollow column


12


. Therefore, the water can pass through the interior of the hollow column


12


.




When fitting the adjustment seat


2


into the base seat


1


, the O-ring


24


abuts against inner wall face of the base seat


1


, whereby the adjustment seat


2


can be straightly fitted into the base seat


1


without deflecting. When the slope


141


of the top section of the base seat


1


contacts with the slope


211


of the adjustment seat


2


, the two slopes


141


,


211


guide each other to ensure that the adjustment seat


2


be straightly fitted into the base seat


1


. When the base seat


1


is fitted with the adjustment seat


2


, the locating blocks


22


are inserted into the locating dents


122


to prevent the base seat


1


from rotating. Also, the cleaning pins


23


are just passed through the sprinkling holes


13


.




In addition, the top section of the adjustment seat


2


has a flange


21


larger than the inner diameter of the top edge of the base seat


1


. Therefore, when the user pushes the base seat


1


upward, the flange


21


will stop the top edge of the base seat


1


to prevent the base seat


1


from upward detaching from the adjustment seat


2


. The stop section


321


of the stem


32


of the switch member


3


is larger than the inner diameter of the annular rib


121


of the hollow column


12


. Therefore, when the user downward pulls the base seat


1


, the stop section


321


will stop the annular rib


121


of the hollow column


12


to prevent the base seat


1


from downward detaching from the adjustment seat


2


.




Referring to

FIG. 2



a


, when the user downward pulls the base seat


1


and the stop section


321


stops the annular rib


121


of the hollow column


12


, the water orifices


311


of the tray


31


cannot flow between the annular rib


121


and the stop section


321


and will flow out of the circumferential sprinkling holes


13


through the flow space


27


.




Referring to

FIG. 2



b


, when the user pushes the base seat


1


upward, the annular rib


121


of the hollow column


12


is moved upward. At this time, the water passing through the water orifices is permitted to flow through the passage


15


into the hollow column


12


and then flow out from the bubbling holes


11


to form water flow with bubbles. This pertains to prior art and will not be further described.




In addition, as shown in

FIGS. 3



a


and


3




b


, when upward pushing the base seat


1


, the bottom face of the base seat


1


will move upward to get close to the bottom edge of the adjustment seat


2


. The locating blocks


22


of the adjustment seat


2


are inserted into the locating dents


122


of the hollow column


12


so that the base seat


1


is prevented from rotating. Therefore, the cleaning pins


23


can be just passed through the sprinkling holes


13


around the bubbling hole


11


to clear off the dirt attaching to the wall faces of the sprinkling holes


13


. The O-ring


24


serves to tightly abut against the inner wall face of the base seat


1


to help in preventing the base seat


1


from slipping down.




According to the above structure, the bottom edge of the adjustment seat


2


of the wave generator is directly formed with multiple downward extending cleaning pins


23


corresponding to the sprinkling holes


13


. When a user upward pushes the base seat


1


to switch the water flow to flow out from the bubbling hole


11


, the cleaning pins


23


are simultaneously passed through the sprinkling holes


13


to remove the dirt attaching to the wall faces of the sprinkling holes


13


. Therefore, it is unnecessary to additionally mount any other part in the quite limited internal space of the wave generator. Therefore, it is unnecessary to manufacture these parts and troublesomely assemble these parts.




In addition, when cleaning the sprinkling holes


13


, the base seat


1


is directly pushed upward to make the cleaning pins


23


relatively pass through the sprinkling holes


13


. Therefore, the base seat is linearly moved and not rotated. Accordingly, the base seat


1


can be easily moved.




Furthermore, the user often keeps the base seat


1


of the wave generator in an upward moved state, permitting the water to flow out from the bubbling hole


11


to form water flow with bubbles. Therefore, in normal state, the cleaning pins


23


are passed through the sprinkling holes


13


so that the dirt is harder to attach to the wall faces of the sprinkling holes


13


.




In addition, the top sections of the base seat


1


and the adjustment seat


2


are respectively formed with corresponding slopes


141


,


211


. Therefore, when the adjustment seat


2


is fitted into the base seat, the slopes


141


,


211


guide each other to ensure that the adjustment seat


2


be straightly fitted into the base seat


1


with the cleaning pins


23


accurately passed through the sprinkling holes


13


.




Moreover, when the adjustment seat


2


is fitted with the base seat


1


, the locating blocks


22


are inserted into the locating dents


122


so as to avoid rotation of the adjustment seat


2


relative to the base seat


1


. Therefore, the cleaning pins


23


can be truly passed through the sprinkling holes


13


.




An outer case can be fitted around the base seat and connected with the base seat by way of engagement or ultrasonic fusion.




The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A wave generator for mounting on a faucet, comprising a base seat and an annular adjustment seat, a center of bottom face of the base seat being formed with a bubbling hole, a hollow column upward extending from a circumference of the bubbling hole, a bottom face of the base seat being formed with multiple annularly arranged sprinkling holes between the hollow column and inner wall face of the base seat, the adjustment seat being inserted between the hollow column and the inner wall face of the base seat, a switch member being disposed in the adjustment seat, whereby by means of moving the base seat up and down, the relative positions of the hollow column and the switch member are changeable so as to selectively discharge water from the bubbling hole or the sprinkling holes, said wave generator being characterized in that bottom edge of the adjustment seat is formed with multiple downward extending parallel cleaning pins respectively corresponding to the sprinkling holes, whereby when the base seat is moved upward, permitting the water to flow out from the bubbling hole, the cleaning pins are respectively passed through the sprinkling holes.
  • 2. The wave generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein a hollow column upward extends from the circumference of the bubbling hole, an outer face of the hollow column being formed with multiple annular arranged locating dents, the locating dents axially extending up to the top of the base seat, the inner wall face of the adjustment seat being formed with multiple inward projecting locating blocks corresponding to the locating dents, whereby the locating blocks can be inserted into the locating dents to avoid rotation of the base seat.
  • 3. The wave generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one O-ring is fitted around the adjustment seat.
  • 4. The wave generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top edge of the base seat is formed with an inward and downward inclined slope and the top section of the adjustment seat has an outward projecting flange with an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the top edge of the base seat, the bottom face of the flange being formed with a downward and inward inclined slope corresponding to the slope of the base seat, whereby the slopes guide each other to ensure that the adjustment seat and the base seat be straightly fitted with each other.
  • 5. The wave generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base seat is integrally molded.
  • 6. The wave generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein an outer case is fitted around the base seat.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
90222543 U Dec 2001 TW
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
2989249 Richter Jun 1961 A
5957387 Porta et al. Sep 1999 A
20020113145 Wong Aug 2002 A1
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
4039329 Jul 1991 DE