U.S. patent application number 15/953480 was filed with the patent office on 2019-10-17 for faucet.
This patent application is currently assigned to GEANN INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is Hsiang-Shih Wang. Invention is credited to Hsiang-Shih Wang.
Application Number | 20190316705 15/953480 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 68160280 |
Filed Date | 2019-10-17 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190316705 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wang; Hsiang-Shih |
October 17, 2019 |
FAUCET
Abstract
A faucet may comprise a main body, a control valve, and two
press buttons. The main body is hollow to form a valve chamber
therein, and the control valve is configured to be positioned in
the valve chamber. A top end of the main body is connected to a
water outlet tube, and a lower end thereof is configured to axially
insert into the valve chamber. After the control valve is
positioned in the valve chamber, a locking ring is engaged with and
secured at a lower end of the valve chamber, and a water inlet tube
is configured to axially penetrate through the locking ring to
connect to the control valve. Each of two lateral sides of the main
body has an installing hole, and two installing holes located at
two corresponding positions are configured to receive and couple
with the two press buttons respectively.
Inventors: |
Wang; Hsiang-Shih;
(Changhua, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Wang; Hsiang-Shih |
Changhua |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
GEANN INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD.
CHANGHUA
TW
|
Family ID: |
68160280 |
Appl. No.: |
15/953480 |
Filed: |
April 15, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16K 3/02 20130101; F16K
19/006 20130101; F16K 31/44 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F16K 31/44 20060101
F16K031/44; F16K 11/00 20060101 F16K011/00 |
Claims
1. A faucet comprising a main body, a control valve, and two press
buttons; wherein the main body is hollow to form a valve chamber
therein, and the control valve is configured to be positioned in
the valve chamber; a neck portion having a smaller diameter than
the valve chamber is connected to and communicated with an upper
end of the valve chamber; a top end of the main body is connected
to a water outlet tube, and a lower end of the water outlet tube is
configured to axially insert through the neck portion into the
valve chamber; after the control valve is positioned in the valve
chamber, a locking ring is engaged with and secured at a lower end
of the valve chamber, and a water inlet tube is configured to
axially penetrate through the locking ring to connect to the
control valve; each of two lateral sides of the main body has an
installing hole which is communicated with the valve chamber, and
the two installing holes located at two corresponding positions are
configured to receive and couple with the two press buttons
respectively; wherein the control valve comprises a valve shell and
a valve base which are configured to couple together, and a housing
formed inside the valve shell is configured to accommodate an upper
fixed valve piece, a driving valve piece and a lower fixed valve
piece in sequence; a connecting tube upwardly extending from a top
end of the valve shell is communicated with the housing, and each
of two lateral sides of the valve shell has an opening, and the two
openings are located at two corresponding positions; when the
control valve is positioned in the valve chamber, the two openings
are respectively aligned with the two installing holes, and the
connecting tube is adapted to connect to the water outlet tube
which is downwardly inserted into the valve chamber through the
neck portion; the upper fixed valve piece is secured in the housing
while the lower fixed valve piece is secured at a top surface of
the valve base; a first through hole axially penetrates through a
central portion of the valve base, and a second through hole and a
third through hole respectively and axially penetrate through a
central portion of the lower fixed valve piece and a central
portion of the upper fixed valve piece, and the first through hole,
the second through hole and the third through hole are aligned with
each other; the upper fixed valve piece, the driving valve piece
and the lower fixed valve piece are stacked in sequence, and the
driving valve piece is configured to be located at a position
horizontally aligned with the openings; a water channel is
configured to axially penetrate through the driving valve piece;
and wherein each of the two press buttons has a first end and a
second end, and an outer periphery of the second end comprises a
plurality of positioning portions; the two press buttons are
configured to respectively connect to the two installing holes of
the main body through the positioning positions on the two second
ends thereof; the two press buttons are alternatively pressed
through the first ends thereof, and the second end of the pressed
press button is configured to pass through the opening at the same
lateral side and to push and shift the driving valve piece, which
enables the water channel of the driving valve piece to partially
align, completely align, or misalign with the second through hole
of the lower fixed valve piece and the third through hole of the
upper fixed valve piece simultaneously, thereby turning on/off and
controlling the water amount of the faucet.
2. The faucet of claim 1, wherein an 0-ring and a locating ring are
respectively disposed on an outer periphery of the lower end of the
water outlet tube, and the locating ring is made of
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
3. The faucet of claim 1, wherein each of the water inlet tube and
the locking ring comprises a threaded section, and the water inlet
tube and the locking ring are engaged together through the threaded
sections thereon.
4. The faucet of claim 1, wherein an outer edge of the upper fixed
valve piece has two first flat surfaces and two first recesses,
which enable the upper fixed valve piece to be secured in the
housing of the valve shell.
5. The faucet of claim 1, wherein an outer edge of the lower fixed
valve piece has two second flat surfaces and two second recesses
which enable the lower fixed valve piece to be secured at the top
surface of the valve base.
6. The faucet of claim 1, wherein the water channel axially
penetrating through the driving valve piece is located at a lateral
side of a center axis of the driving valve piece.
7. The faucet of claim 1, wherein an outer edge of the driving
valve piece has two third recesses at two corresponding positions,
and two recess bottoms of the two third recesses are provided to be
abutted against by the two second ends of the two press buttons
respectively.
8. The faucet of claim 1, wherein three sealing rings are
respectively disposed between the valve shell and the upper fixed
valve piece, between the lower fixed valve piece and the valve
base, and between the valve base and the water inlet tube.
9. The faucet of claim 1, wherein each of the third through hole,
the water channel, and the second through hole has an elongate
cross section.
10. The faucet of claim 1, wherein each of the two press buttons
has a concave axially extending from the second end toward the
first end thereof to form the press button in a cap shape, and the
positioning portions on the second end are elastic claws.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a faucet and more
particularly to a faucet that is turned on/off by pressing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Generally, a conventional faucet has a main body (40), and a
bottom portion and a top portion thereof respectively have a water
inlet chamber and a water outlet chamber for connecting a water
inlet tube (41) and a water outlet tube (42) (as shown in FIGS. 7
and 8). Moreover, a valve room (401) is communicated with and
formed at a lateral side of the main body (40) for accommodating a
control valve (43), and the control valve (43) is connected to and
turned on/off by a handle (44). The filtered water can flow from
the water inlet tube (41) through the main body (40) and out of the
faucet from the water outlet tube (42).
[0003] However, the conventional faucet is disadvantageous because:
(i) the handle (44) is connected to the lateral side of the main
body (40), which leads that more space is required for
installation; and (ii) after the main body (40) is manufactured, an
additional process for manufacturing the valve room (401) is
required, which increases the costs of time and effort. Therefore,
there remains a need for a new and improved design for a faucet to
overcome the problems presented above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention provides a faucet which comprises a
main body, a control valve, a first press button and a second press
button. The main body is hollow to form a valve chamber therein,
and the control valve is configured to be positioned in the valve
chamber. A neck portion having a smaller diameter than the valve
chamber is connected to and communicated with an upper end of the
valve chamber. A top end of the main body is connected to a water
outlet tube, and a lower end of the water outlet tube is configured
to axially insert through the neck portion into the valve chamber.
After the control valve is positioned in the valve chamber, a
locking ring is engaged with and secured at a lower end of the
valve chamber. Moreover, a water inlet tube is configured to
axially penetrate through the locking ring to connect to the
control valve. Each of two lateral sides of the main body has an
installing hole which is communicated with the valve chamber, and
the two installing holes located at two corresponding positions are
configured to receive and couple with the first press button and
the second press button respectively. The control valve comprises a
valve shell and a valve base which are configured to couple
together, and a housing formed inside the valve shell is configured
to accommodate an upper fixed valve piece, a driving valve piece
and a lower fixed valve piece in sequence. A connecting tube
upwardly extending from a top end of the valve shell is
communicated with the housing, and each of two lateral sides of the
valve shell has an opening, wherein the two openings are located at
two corresponding positions. When the control valve is positioned
in the valve chamber, the two openings are respectively aligned
with the two installing holes, and the connecting tube is adapted
to connect to the water outlet tube which is downwardly inserted
into the valve chamber through the neck portion. Furthermore, the
upper fixed valve piece is secured in the housing while the lower
fixed valve piece is secured at a top surface of the valve base. A
first through hole axially penetrates through a central portion of
the valve base, and a second through hole and a third through hole
respectively and axially penetrate through a central portion of the
lower fixed valve piece and a central portion of the upper fixed
valve piece, wherein the first through hole, the second through
hole and the third through hole are aligned with each other. The
upper fixed valve piece, the driving valve piece and the lower
fixed valve piece are stacked in sequence, and the driving valve
piece is configured to be located at a position horizontally
aligned with the openings. A water channel is configured to axially
penetrate through the driving valve piece at a lateral side of a
center axis of the driving valve piece. Each of the first press
button and the second press button has a first end and a second
end, and an outer periphery of the second end comprises a plurality
of positioning portions. Moreover, the first press button and the
second press button are configured to respectively connect to the
two installing holes of the main body through the positioning
positions on the two second ends thereof. The first press button or
the second press button is selectively pressed through the first
end thereof to enable the second end to pass through the opening at
the same lateral side, and the second end is adapted to push and
shift the driving valve piece to enable the water channel of the
driving valve piece to partially align, completely align, or
misalign with the second through hole of the lower fixed valve
piece and the third through hole of the upper fixed valve piece
simultaneously, thereby turning on/off and controlling the water
amount of the faucet in the present invention.
[0005] Comparing with conventional faucet, the present invention is
advantageous because: the faucet is operated through the first
press button and the second press button, which reduces space
required for installation; (ii) after manufacturing of the main
body, there is no need to have an additional process for the valve
room, which reduces the cost and labor; and (iii) the alignment
between the water channel and the second through hole and the third
through hole can be achieved through horizontally shifting the
driving valve piece such that the manufacturer has no need to
accurately calculate the rotation angles between the valve pieces,
which makes the control valve easier to manufacture.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional assembly view of a faucet of
the present invention.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional exploded view of the faucet of
the present invention.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a detailed exploded view of a control valve of the
faucet of the present invention.
[0009] FIG. 4 is a sectional assembly view illustrating the faucet
of the present invention is turned off.
[0010] FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the faucet of the
present invention is turned on while a water channel of a driving
valve piece is partially aligned with a second through hole of a
lower fixed valve piece and a third through hole of an upper fixed
valve piece.
[0011] FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the faucet of the
present invention is fully turned on while the water channel is
completely aligned with the second through hole and the third
through hole.
[0012] FIG. 7 is a prior art.
[0013] FIG. 8 is a prior art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0014] The detailed description set forth below is intended as a
description of the presently exemplary device provided in
accordance with aspects of the present invention and is not
intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention
may be prepared or utilized. It is to be understood, rather, that
the same or equivalent functions and components may be accomplished
by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed
within the spirit and scope of the invention.
[0015] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms
used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of
ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although
any methods, devices and materials similar or equivalent to those
described can be used in the practice or testing of the invention,
the exemplary methods, devices and materials are now described.
[0016] All publications mentioned are incorporated by reference for
the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the designs
and methodologies that are described in the publications that might
be used in connection with the presently described invention. The
publications listed or discussed above, below and throughout the
text are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing
date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed
as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate
such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.
[0017] In order to further understand the goal, characteristics and
effect of the present invention, a number of embodiments along with
the drawings are illustrated as following:
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the present invention provides a
faucet which comprises a main body (10), a control valve (20), a
first press button (30) and a second press button (300). The main
body (10) is hollow to form a valve chamber (101) therein, and the
control valve (20) is configured to be positioned in the valve
chamber (101). A neck portion (102) having a smaller diameter than
the valve chamber (101) is connected to and communicated with an
upper end of the valve chamber (101). A top end of the main body
(10) is connected to a water outlet tube (11), and a lower end of
the water outlet tube (11) is configured to axially insert through
the neck portion (102) into the valve chamber (101). After the
control valve (20) is positioned in the valve chamber (101), a
locking ring (12) is engaged with and secured at a lower end of the
valve chamber (101). Moreover, a water inlet tube (13) is
configured to axially penetrate through the locking ring (12) to
connect to the control valve (20). Each of two lateral sides of the
main body (10) has an installing hole (103) which is communicated
with the valve chamber (101), and the two installing holes (103)
located at two corresponding positions are configured to receive
and couple with the first press button (30) and the second press
button (300) respectively. The control valve (20) comprises a valve
shell (21) and a valve base (25) which are configured to couple
together, and a housing (211) formed inside the valve shell (21) is
configured to accommodate an upper fixed valve piece (22), a
driving valve piece (23) and a lower fixed valve piece (24) in
sequence. A connecting tube (212) upwardly extending from a top end
of the valve shell (21) is communicated with the housing (211), and
each of two lateral sides of the valve shell (21) has an opening
(213), wherein the two openings (213) are located at two
corresponding positions. When the control valve (20) is positioned
in the valve chamber (101), the two openings (213) are respectively
aligned with the two installing holes (103), and the connecting
tube (212) is adapted to connect to the water outlet tube (11)
which is downwardly inserted into the valve chamber (101) through
the neck portion (102). Furthermore, the upper fixed valve piece
(22) is secured in the housing (211) while the lower fixed valve
piece (24) is secured at a top surface of the valve base (25). A
first through hole (251) axially penetrates through a central
portion of the valve base (25), and a second through hole (241) and
a third through hole (221) respectively and axially penetrate
through a central portion of the lower fixed valve piece (24) and a
central portion of the upper fixed valve piece (22), wherein the
first through hole (251), the second through hole (241) and the
third through hole (221) are aligned with each other. The upper
fixed valve piece (22), the driving valve piece (23) and the lower
fixed valve piece (24) are stacked in sequence, and the driving
valve piece (23) is configured to be located at a position
horizontally aligned with the openings (213). A water channel (231)
is configured to axially penetrate through the driving valve piece
(23) at a lateral side of a center axis of the driving valve piece
(23). Each of the first press button (30) and the second press
button (300) has a first end (31) and a second end (32), and an
outer periphery of the second end (32) comprises a plurality of
positioning portions (33). Moreover, the first press button (30)
and the second press button (300) are configured to respectively
connect to the two installing holes (103) of the main body (10)
through the positioning positions (33) on the two second ends (32)
thereof. The first press button (30) or the second press button
(300) is selectively pressed through the first end (31) thereof to
enable the second end (32) to pass through the opening (213) at the
same lateral side, and the second end (32) is adapted to push and
shift the driving valve piece (23) to enable the water channel
(231) of the driving valve piece (23) to partially align,
completely align, or misalign with the second through hole (241) of
the lower fixed valve piece (24) and the third through hole (221)
of the upper fixed valve piece (22) simultaneously, thereby turning
on/off and controlling the water amount of the faucet in the
present invention.
[0019] In one embodiment, the water outlet tube (11) is formed in a
gooseneck shape.
[0020] In another embodiment, an O-ring is disposed on an outer
periphery of the lower end of the water outlet tube (11).
[0021] In still another embodiment, a locating ring made of
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is disposed on an outer periphery of
the lower end of the water outlet tube (11) to achieve the effects
of wear-resisting and lubricating.
[0022] In a further embodiment, each of the water inlet tube (13)
and the locking ring (12) comprises a threaded section, and the
water inlet tube (13) and the locking ring (12) are engaged
together through the threaded sections thereon.
[0023] In still a further embodiment, an outer edge of the upper
fixed valve piece (22) has two first flat surfaces (222) and two
first recesses (223) which enable the upper fixed valve piece (22)
to be secured in the housing (211) of the valve shell (21).
[0024] In a preferred embodiment, an outer edge of the lower fixed
valve piece (24) has two second flat surfaces (242) and two second
recesses (243) which enable the lower fixed valve piece (24) to be
secured at the top surface of the valve base (25).
[0025] In still a preferred embodiment, an outer edge of the
driving valve piece (23) has two third recesses (232) at two
corresponding positions, and two bottom surfaces of the two third
recesses (232) are respectively provided to be abutted against by
the second end (32) of the first press button (30) and the second
end (32) of the second press button (300).
[0026] In an advantageous embodiment, three sealing rings are
respectively disposed between the valve shell (21) and the upper
fixed valve piece (22), between the lower fixed valve piece (24)
and the valve base (25), and between the valve base (25) and the
water inlet tube (13).
[0027] In still an advantageous embodiment, each of the third
through hole (221), the water channel (231), and the second through
hole (241) has an elongate cross section.
[0028] In a particular embodiment, each of the first press button
(30) and the second press button (300) has a concave axially
extending from the second end (32) toward the first end (31)
thereof to form each of the first press button (30) and the second
press button (300) in a cap shape, and the positioning portions
(33) on the second end (32) are elastic claws.
[0029] In actual application, filtered water is configured to flow
from the water inlet tube (13) through the first through hole (251)
of the valve base (25), the second through hole (241) of the lower
fixed valve piece (24) into the control valve (20). Through
pressing the first end (31) of the first press button (30) to push
the driving valve piece (23), the water channel (231) of the
driving valve piece (23) is gradually aligned with the second
through hole (241) of the lower fixed valve piece (24) and the
third through hole (221) of the upper fixed valve piece (22). Then,
the filtered water can flow through the second through hole (241),
the water channel (231), the third through hole (221) and the
connecting tube (212) of the valve shell (21), and out of the
faucet through the water outlet tube (11) of the main body (10).
Through pushing the driving valve piece (23) toward different
distances, the water channel (231) can be partially aligned (as
shown in FIG. 5) or completely aligned (as shown in FIG. 6) with
the second through hole (241) and the third through hole (221),
thereby controlling the amount of water flow. Moreover, the faucet
of the present invention can be turned off through pressing the
second press button (330), and the second press button (33) is
configured to push the driving valve piece (23) back to its initial
position, and the water channel (231) is misaligned with the second
through hole (241) and the third through hole (221) (as shown in
FIG. 4) so as to block water flow from the water inlet tube (13) by
the driving valve piece (23).
[0030] Comparing with conventional faucet, the present invention is
advantageous because: the faucet is operated through the first
press button (30) and the second press button (300), which reduces
space required for installation; (ii) after manufacturing of the
main body (10), there is no need to have an additional process for
the valve room, which reduces the cost and labor; and (iii) the
alignment between the water channel (231) and the second through
hole (241) and the third through hole (221) can be achieved through
horizontally shifting the driving valve piece (23) such that the
manufacturer has no need to accurately calculate the rotation
angles between the valve pieces (22)(23)(24), which makes the
control valve (20) easier to manufacture.
[0031] Having described the invention by the description and
illustrations above, it should be understood that these are
exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as
limiting. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as
limited by the foregoing description, but includes any
equivalents.
* * * * *