U.S. patent application number 11/817602 was filed with the patent office on 2008-05-15 for functional plumbing unit.
This patent application is currently assigned to NEOPERL GMBH. Invention is credited to Hermann Grether.
Application Number | 20080111007 11/817602 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36344996 |
Filed Date | 2008-05-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080111007 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Grether; Hermann |
May 15, 2008 |
Functional Plumbing Unit
Abstract
A functional plumbing unit embodied as an insertion cartridge
(2) is provided that is to be inserted into a liquid conduit (3) of
a discharging plumbing fixture (4) which includes a housing (5), a
jet regulator, and an attachment screen (9) located at the inlet
end. The housing (5) is formed in one piece with a perforated plate
located at the discharge end as part of the jet regulator, and has
an external thread (10) on an outer surface thereof, with the
external thread being screwable into an internal thread (13) of the
dischargint fixture (4). A ring seal (12) is located adjacent to
the external thread (10) at the discharge end. The length of the
housing (5) is dimensioned essentially for accommodating the
external thread (10) and the adjacent ring seal (12). A jet
fractionating part (7) that can be joined to the housing (5) is
provided, and has an additional perforated plate formed in one
piece therewith and holding elements for fastening the attachment
screen (9) that is located at the inlet ens as a part of the jet
regulator.
Inventors: |
Grether; Hermann; (Mullheim,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
VOLPE AND KOENIG, P.C.
UNITED PLAZA, SUITE 1600, 30 SOUTH 17TH STREET
PHILADELPHIA
PA
19103
US
|
Assignee: |
NEOPERL GMBH
Mullheim
DE
|
Family ID: |
36344996 |
Appl. No.: |
11/817602 |
Filed: |
February 28, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
February 28, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP06/01837 |
371 Date: |
August 31, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
239/428.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E03C 1/084 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
239/428.5 |
International
Class: |
E03C 1/086 20060101
E03C001/086 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 4, 2005 |
DE |
102005010551.3 |
Claims
1. A functional plumbing unit that can be inserted as an insertion
cartridge (2) into a fluid conduit (3) of a discharging plumbing
fixture (4), comprising a housing (5) as well as a jet regulator,
wherein the housing (5) carries an external thread (10) on an
outside thereof, which can be screwed into an internal thread (13)
of the discharging plumbing fixture (4), a length of the housing
(5) is sized essentially for accommodating the external thread (10)
and a ring seal (12) located in a downstream position therefrom, so
that the external thread (10) is directly connected to the upstream
housing wall, and at least a jet fractionating part (7) is arranged
at an inlet end that can be connected to the housing (5).
2. A functional plumbing unit according claim 1, wherein the
housing (5) includes a perforated plate (6) formed in one piece
with the housing on an outlet end thereof.
3. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein in an
operational position the jet fractionating part (7) and the housing
(5) engage each other with a partial section of a longitudinal
extension thereof, and a circular stop (40) is provided at a
perimeter of the jet fractionating part (7) or the housing (5)
which in the operational position impinges a facing edge region
(41) of the other of the housing or the jet fractionating part (5,
7).
4. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein on the
housing (5) at the inlet end, a housing edge (17) is adjacent to
the ring seal (12) and the adjacent external thread (10).
5. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein an
overall height of the insertion cartridge (2) in a flow direction
is approximately 1.5 cm.
6. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein the
housing (5) as well as the jet fractionating part (7) connected
thereto are each provided with an encircling snapping element (32,
33) and engage one another in an assembled position.
7. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 2, wherein a space
for accepting one or more grill-shaped attachments (18, 19) is
provided in the housing (5) between the perforated plate (6) of the
housing, which is embodied as a honeycomb shaped plate, and a
perforated plate (8) of the jet fractionating part (7).
8. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein the jet
fractionating part (7) is provided at the inlet end with an insert
opening (21) for an attachment screen (9) having an external
circular wall (22) and a support stop (23), and holding elements to
fasten the attachment screen (9) are embodied as snap elements,
comprising the external circular wall (22) is provided at an
interior thereof with an undercut (24) and an external edge (25) of
the attachment screen (9) is provided with an encircling, snapping
protrusion (26) that engages the undercut (24).
9. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 8, wherein the
inlet end of the circular wall (22) of the jet fractionating part
(7) and at least a section of the external edge (25) of the
attachment screen (9) form a stop that contacts an insertion stop
(28) in the discharging fixture (4) in an assembled position.
10. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein the
insertion cartridge (2) is provided with a profiled circular edge
(29) at an outlet end thereof and another insert cartridge (2) is
used as an assembly tool for the insertion cartridge (2) to be
inserted or disassembled, that engages with a profiled circular
edge (29) the insertion cartridge (2) to be inserted or
disassembled.
11. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein the
jet fractionating part (7) is provided connected in one piece to
another perforated plate (8) as a part of the jet regulator.
12. A functional plumbing unit according to claim 1, wherein the
jet fractionating part (7) is provided with holding elements for
fastening an attachment screen (9).
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The invention relates to a functional plumbing unit, which
is embodied as an insertion cartridge which can be inserted into a
liquid conduit of a discharging plumbing fixture and a housing, a
jet regulator, as well as an attachment screen located at the inlet
end wherein the housing includes an external thread on an external
surface thereof that is screwable into an internal thread of the
plumbing fixture.
[0002] Such a functional plumbing unit is known, for example, from
WO 2004/038112 A1. Although such a plumbing fixture is proven there
is room for improvement.
SUMMARY
[0003] The object is to provide a functional plumbing unit embodied
as an insertion part of the type noted at the outset which can be
produced in a cost-effective and easy fashion and is functionally
safe.
[0004] This object is attained according to the invention in
particular in that the length of the housing is essentially
dimensioned to accommodate the external thread and the subsequent
ring seal, and that a jet fractionating part is arranged at the
inlet end that can be connected to the housing.
[0005] The functional unit according to the invention therefore
essentially comprises only two primary components, which can be
produced in a relatively simple manner, namely the housing and the
jet fractionating part, which are connected to each other and then
form the jet regulator.
[0006] Another suggested solution with an importance by itself
worth protecting provides that a perforated plate is formed in one
piece at the outlet end of the housing. The functional unit
embodied according to this solution is provided at its housing,
which can be screwed into the discharging plumbing fixture, with a
perforated plate formed in one piece at the outlet end, which
serves as a protection from vandalism to effectively prevent any
unauthorized pushing up of the parts located inside the housing
leading to leaks.
[0007] Here, a further development according to the invention, in
itself worth protecting, provides that the jet fractionating part
and the housing each engage with a partial section of their
longitudinal extension in the operational position and that at the
jet fractionating part or the housing at the external or internal
perimeter, a circular stop is provided, which in the operational
position impinges the facing edge region of the respective other
component. In this further developed embodiment, the jet
fractionating part and the housing each engage in the operational
position only with a partial section of their longitudinal
extension. By this sectional engagement of these components, a
horizontal separation level develops between the jet fractionating
part and the housing; due to the fact that these parts impinge each
other not in the direction of the flow but in a horizontal
separation plane any potential leaks are counteracted without any
additional O-ring or a similar ring seal being necessary. An
increased sealing effect even without any additional ring seal
between the jet fractionating part and the housing is promoted even
further by a circular stop being provided at the perimeter of the
jet fractionating part or the housing, which impinges in the
operational state the facing edge region of the respective other
part. Therefore no complex sealing of the jet fractionating part is
necessary. In case that water passes the jet fractionating part,
the leaking water flows into the normal water jet and is not
perceived as disturbing by the user by it worsening the jet.
Furthermore, such an embodiment has considerably fewer parts and a
highly compact design. Further, the lower structural height offers
considerably more design freedom for the design of the fixture.
[0008] Here, it is particularly advantageous when at the jet
fractionating part, a circular stop is provided preferably at the
external perimeter which in the operational position impinges the
inlet end of the facing edge area of the housing.
[0009] It is advantageous when the housing as well as the jet
fractionating part that can be connected thereto are each provided
with a preferably encircling snapping formation, which engage each
other in the assembled position. The two parts can therefore be
easily snapped together, and be separated again from each other, if
necessary. Due to the holding elements provided in one piece
directly at the parts to be connected, no additional parts are
necessary for the connection, which facilitates the design of the
functional unit and also promotes such a short structural
length.
[0010] The external thread provided at the housing part as well as
the ring seal allow the direct installation in the liquid conduit
of a discharging plumbing fixture without an adapter being
necessary provided with the parts external thread/ring seal holding
the parts together. This facilitates production and assembly.
[0011] The ability to separate the housing parts and the jet
fractionating parts is particularly advantageous when the
functional features of the jet regulator shall be changed. In the
housing, between the perforated plate of the housing, preferably
embodied as a honey-comb shaped plate, and the perforated plate of
the jet fractionating part a intermediate space is provided, in
spite of the low overall structural length, to accept one or more
screen-like attachments.
[0012] The sizing of the length of the housing such that there is
space for the external thread and the preferably directly adjacent
ring seal, with the housing edge practically immediately following
the external thread at the inlet end, a very compact design
develops, by which then the functional unit can also be inserted in
discharging plumbing fixtures, which for example for design reasons
offer little space for accepting the functional unit. This way,
compact functional units can be realized with an overall height of
the insertion cartridge including the attachment screen amounting
to approximately 1.5 cm.
[0013] Advantageously, the internal thread of the discharging
plumbing fixture has a distance from its mouth smaller than a
distance of the housing ring seal from the internal end of the
external tread of the housing.
[0014] This way, the threaded connection already engages during the
assembly of the functional unit, before the ring seal enters the
discharge plumbing fixture so that in particular a manual assembly
process is considerably facilitated. On the other hand, during the
assembly the ring seal can be moved out of the seat in the fixture
by rotating the functional unit in the axial direction until it is
no longer engaged and before the threaded connection is
disengaged.
[0015] This facilitated assembly and disassembly is particularly
important because the insertion cartridge is arranged as a "hidden
inserted cartridge" with at least the overwhelming portion of its
longitudinal extension, preferably its entire longitudinal
extension, inside the discharging plumbing fixture.
[0016] Beneficially the jet fractionating part is provided at the
inlet end with an insertion opening for the attachment screen with
an external circular wall and a support stop, with the holding
elements for fastening the attachment screen being embodied as
snapping elements and with, for this purpose, an external circular
wall being provided at the inside with an undercut and the external
edge of the attachment screen being preferably provided with an
encircling snapping protrusion engaging the undercut.
[0017] The attachment screen can therefore be snapped at the top of
the jet fractionating part and thus is held securely. This
contributes to low production and assembly expenses because on the
one hand the holding elements are formed at the parts to be
connected during their production and on the other hand the
assembly of the screen can occur quickly in a manual or automatic
fashion.
[0018] An additional security of the snapped-on attachment screen
can occur during the assembly in the discharging plumbing fixture.
For this purpose, the inlet side of the circular wall of the jet
fractionating part and at least a section of the external edge of
the attachment screen form a stop contacting an insertion stop in
the discharging plumbing fixture in the assembled position. Here,
the insertion stop of the discharging plumbing fixture cover
partially or entirely the edge of the screen so that the attachment
screen is securely held even under disadvantageous conditions.
[0019] In order to additionally facilitate the production of the
functional unit according to the invention and to reduce the number
of parts necessary it is advantageous for the housing to be
produced in one piece with a perforated plate at the outlet end as
a part of the jet regulator.
[0020] A preferred further embodiment of the invention provides for
the jet fractionating part being connected in one piece to an
additional perforated plate arranged as a part of the jet regulator
and/or that the jet fractionating part is provided with holding
elements to fasten the attachment screen.
[0021] Additional features of the invention are discernible from
the following description of exemplary embodiment according to the
invention in connection with the claims and the drawing. The
individual features can each by themselves or combined be
implemented in an embodiment according to the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0022] The single FIGURE shows:
[0023] a cross-section of a functional plumbing unit provided as an
insertion cartridge.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0024] A functional plumbing unit 1 is shown in the FIGURE as an
insertion cartridge 2, which can be inserted into a liquid conduit
3 of a discharging plumbing fixture 4 indicated only at one side in
a dot-dash line.
[0025] The functional unit 1 is essentially provided with a housing
5 having a perforated plate 6 embodied in one piece therewith at
the outlet end, a jet fractionating part 7 with a perforated plate
8 in one piece, as well as an attachment screen 9. The perforated
plate 6 formed in one piece at the housing 5 at the outlet end also
serves as protection from vandalism which effectively prevents an
unauthorized pushing up of the parts located inside the interior of
the housing 5, leading to leaks.
[0026] The housing 5 has at the outside an external thread 10 and
downstream adjacent thereto a ring seal 12 inserted into a circular
groove 11. The flow direction is indicated by the arrow Pf 1. With
the external thread 10, the housing 5 can be screwed into an
internal thread 13 of the discharging plumbing fixture 4 and is
sealed via the ring seal 12 against the internal wall 14 of the
discharging plumbing fixture 4. It is clearly discernible here,
that the internal thread of the discharging plumbing fixture 4 is
recessed inwardly so that the ring seal 12 contacts at a
thread-free section. In order to facilitate the assembly and also
the disassembly of the insertion cartridge 2 into the discharging
plumbing fixture 4 the internal tread 13 of the discharging
plumbing fixture 4, on the one hand, and the ring seal 12 of the
housing 5, on the other hand, are arranged such that the threads
already engage when the ring seal 12 is still outside the mouth of
the discharging plumbing fixture 15. This is achieved by the
internal threads 13 of the discharging plumbing fixture 4 having a
distance a from the mouth 15, which is shorter than the distance b
of the housing ring seal 12 from the internal end of the external
thread 10 of the housing. This causes the threads to remain engaged
when the insertion cartridge 2 is screwed out of the discharging
plumbing fixture 4 until the ring seal 12 exits or has left the
mouth 15.
[0027] In order to avoid leaks in the area between the jet
fractionating part 7 and the housing 5 the jet fractionating part 7
and the housing 5, each engage in the operational position with a
partial section of their longitudinal extension. Here, at the jet
fractionating part 7 or the housing 5, a circular stop 40 is
provided at the internal and/or external perimeter which in the
operational position impinges the facing edge region 41 of the
respectively other part 57. From the FIGURE it is discernible that
here the jet fractionating part 7 carries the circular stop 40 in
the operational position impinging the inlet end of the facing edge
region 41 of the housing 5. Here, the jet fractionating part 7 is
connected to the housing 5 via a snap connection 16.
[0028] The snap connection 16 is provided at the edge 17 of the
housing, which is immediately adjacent to the external thread 10 of
the housing 5. For this snap connection the housing edge 17 is
provided with a circular groove 32 at the inside, while the jet
fractionating part 7 has a circular bead 33 engaging the circular
groove. Both snapping forms are preferably embodied in an
encircling fashion.
[0029] The snap connection 16 provided is embodied such that the
jet fractionating part 7 can be separated from the housing 5 and
then the interior space of the housing is accessible.
[0030] The attachment screen 9 is also connected to the jet
fractionating part 7 via a snap connection 20. This jet
fractionating part 7 is provided at the top and/or at the inlet end
with an insert opening 21 having an external circular wall 22 and a
support stop 23. The circular wall 22 has at the interior side an
undercut 24 and the external edge 25 of the attachment screen 9 has
a particularly encircling snapping protrusion 26 engaging the
undercut 24. The attachment screen 9 can therefore be snapped into
the insert opening 21 of the jet fractionating part 7 from the
inlet side and is therefore securely connected to the jet
fractionating part 7.
[0031] Due to the fact that the parts of the insertion cartridge 2
to be connected with each other, thus the housing 5, the jet
fractionating part 7, and the attachment screen 9 themselves
provide the connection elements in one piece, they can be connected
to each other without requiring any additional holders.
[0032] The housing 5 of the insertion cartridge 2 can be provided
with a profiled external perimeter and/or a profiled end at the
outlet side to contact an assembly tool. In the exemplary
embodiment, at the outlet end, a profiled circular edge 29 is
provided at which an assembly tool can be contacted to screw in and
out the insertion cartridge 2. It is particularly advantageous when
this profiling of the circular edge is embodied such that another
insertion cartridge 2 can be used as the assembly tool in the
upside-down position and can engage with the profiling of its
circular edge the insertion cartridge 2 to be screwed in and out.
For this purpose the circular edge 29 is provided in the exemplary
embodiment with a circular wall section 30 having interruption 31
located therebetween. The interruptions 31 are sized in the
circumferential direction such that the circular wall sections 30
fit into an identically embodied other insertion cartridge 2.
Instead of this profiling differently embodied profiling can also
be provided.
* * * * *