Aerator Construction

Abstract

An inexpensive faucet aerator is provided by an imperforate annular metal housing with a sub-assembly of molded parts, that may be pre-assembled without separate fasteners, and which are arranged to be slid through the open upstream end of the housing, and to cooperate with each other and with the housing to provide a mixing chamber and air inlets to the mixing chamber. Two of the molded parts are snap-connected together prior to insertion in the housing to insure proper assemblage, and the cooperation of the parts with the housing wall prevents inadvertent separation of the parts.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Faucet aerators of many different forms are known in the prior art. In substantially all such aerators, water-jet forming means, of one or more nozzles located at one or more upstream locations, discharge water at high speed into a mixing chamber into which air in ingested by the local drop in static pressure. Means for mixing the water and air are provided, and screen-like flow straightening and mixing means may be provided at the discharge end of the mixing chamber. In some forms of aerator constructions an abutment is provided against which the jets are impinged to effect minute break up of the water jets prior to mixing with air. In other forms air is drawn into the mixing chamber through air passageways that extend from adjacent the outlet of the aerator in a direction opposite to the direction of water flow before entering the mixing chamber and then moving downstream with the mixture of water and air.

Although originally constructed entirely of brass parts, or molded of rubber and arranged to receive a plurality of jet-forming metal discs and screens, the trend of construction has constantly been to seek less expensive constructions. It has heretofore been suggested to mold at least some aerator parts of plastic. However, practical experience has shown until now that the most satisfactory aerator constructions require at least some internal parts being formed of metal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a water aerator with desirable performance characteristics wherein all the internal parts except the discharge screen are molded of plastic.

It is another object of this invention to provide a water aerator that is primarily constructed of three molded plastic parts that are so designed and arranged as to provide for convenience in assembly and results in an aerator characterized by inexpensiveness of fabrication and effectiveness of performance.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a water aerator wherein molded plastic internal parts are secured together without separate fasteners in a manner to insure proper relationship between the parts, and wherein the arrangement of parts within the aerator's barrel prevents inadvertent separation of the internal parts.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is an enlarged, vertical cross-sectional view through the longitudinal axis of an aerator embodying the invention and having a male-threaded connector;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same with portions broken away;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a reduced exploded view of the aerator of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but of reduced size and showing the aerator with a female-threaded connector.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings there is shown the discharge end of a spout 10 to which is screw-connected an aerator, generally 12, that embodies the invention. The aerator 12 includes a barrel or casing 14, that preferably is a screw machine part formed of metal, but also could be molded of plastic. Within the barrel 14 are a molded plastic lower part 16, a molded plastic annulus 18 that is snap-coupled to the lower part 16, and a molded plastic, cup-shaped part 20 which provides water-jet defining means and which enters the upstream end of annulus 18. The molded plastic parts are formed of a plastic, such as Delrin, that does not swell in the presence of water. The aerator 14 also includes at least one, and preferably a pair of, wire mesh screens 22 that are carried by lower part 16, and an upstream washer 24 of resilient material to provide both for a water-tight connection between the aerator 12 and the spout 10 and to retain part 20 in position.

More specifically, the water-supplying spout 10 is female-threaded at 10a and is shaped to provide an upstream shoulder 10b against which the sealing washer 24 abuts. The barrel 14 is male threaded at its upstream end at 14a, and has an inturned abutment flange, or lip, 14b that serves to retain within the aerator the internal parts thereof. The barrel 14 has imperforate side walls and provides a cylindrical wall 14c for receiving sliding entry of the internal parts of the aerator through the open upstream end of the barrel.

The lower part 16 is a combination support-and-air-intake and is shaped to provide a plurality (at least three) of spaced, elongated support struts 26, preferably four in number as shown, joined by a continuous cylindrical sleeve, or ring, 28. The lower ends of struts 26 engage barrel lip 14b, while their upper ends each project above the upper edge of sleeve 28 to engage annulus 18 and provide inturned lips 26a for snap-connection to said annulus. The struts 26 being located outwardly of sleeve 28 cooperate with wall 14c of barrel 14 to provide substantially annularly arranged air intake means or passageways 29. The lower edge of sleeve 28 has a continuous inturned flange, or lip, 28a for supporting screens 22.

The annulus 18 provides: an outermost cylindrical wall 18a, of a dimension to just slidably enter the bore defined by 55 wall 14c; an upstream annular shoulder 30, against which sealing washer 24 abuts; a downstream annular shoulder 32, adapted to engage the upper edges of struts 26 to be supported thereby; a cylindrical centering wall, or sleeve, 34 for slidably receiving cup-shaped part 20; and a convexly curved impingement surface 36, the outermost portion of which supports part 20, extending inwardly of sleeve 34 and projecting downstream to terminate at a downstream, inner, annular edge 38. The underside of annulus 18 is also provided with a continuous groove 40 adapted to receive thereinto, by a snap-connection, the lips 26a at the upper ends of the struts 26.

The cup-shaped, jet-defining member 20 has an outwardly extending flange 41, that is supported by annulus 18, and whose upstream surface is arranged to lie co-planar with shoulder 30 of the annulus 18 so as to be engaged by sealing washer 24 which prevents flow of water past sleeve 34. The upright side wall of member 20 is provided with a series of radially-extending, jet-forming grooves 42 that are vertically elongated as shown and are of a height to extend below the level of flange 41, but which terminate at a height spaced upstream, or above, the downstream edge 38 of annulus 18. The lower central portion and bottom of cup-shaped member 20 that is downstream of grooves 42 projects axially downstream and centrally through annulus 18 to be in spaced relation to edge 38 so as to define an annular, constricted, flow aperture 44 located between the said spaced portions of the annulus 18 and the cup-shaped member 20 and which separates an upstream annular flow chamber 46 from a downstream mixing chamber 48.

The annularly arranged air intake means 29 extend vertically upwardly from the discharge end of aerator 12 to communicate around the upper edge of ring 28 and into the mixing chamber 48 which is bounded at its downstream end by screens 22. To prevent discharge of water through air intake passageways 29, the upper edge of ring 28 is located at a plane upstream of the furthermost downstream portion of the cup-shaped member 20.

The principal difference between the two forms of construction shown respectively in FIGS. 1-4 and FIG. 5 is that in FIGS. 1-4 the barrel 14 is male-threaded, while in FIG. 5 the barrel 14' is provided at its upstream end with female threads 50 for securement of aerator 12' to the discharge end of a male-threaded spout 10'.

In the forms of aerator construction disclosed, the screens 22 are first assembled onto lip 26a of the lower part 16 by a light press fit, and the parts 16 and 18 are then snapped together by axially applied pressure which operates to cause lips 26a to first cam outwardly and to then enter the continuous circumferential groove 40 on annulus 18. While the arrangement of lips 26a in groove 40 permits of relative rotation between the parts, the arrangement provides a sub-assembly which may be slid into barrel 14 through the open upstream end. The cup-shaped member 20 is alternatively dropped into position in annulus 18 before the sub-assembly is slid into the casing 14 or dropped in after the sub-assembly is in position. The inturned lips 26a cooperating with annulus 18 provides a construction wherein any tendency of the support struts 26 to spread apart, or lips 26a to move outwardly of groove 40, is foreclosed by the abutment of support struts 26 against the inner wall 14c of the barrel. Thus, with use of only plastic parts 16 and 18, there is provided a construction that when inserted in barrel 14 is rigidly maintained in assembled condition without fear of structural failure or inadvertent dis-assembly.

The slots 42 in jet-forming member 20 provide a series of jets of water that are outwardly directed to impinge against the convex impingement surface 36 of annulus 18 to effect a minute break-up of the water streams, and the incoherent water then passes through constricted, annular, aperture 44 into the mixing chamber 48 where air that is drawn in through air intake means 29 is mixed intimately with the water before passing through screens 22 to issue as a coherent aerated stream.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the size of lip 14b on the barrel and the radial thickness of support struts 26 is so selected that the outer diameter of sleeve 28 is spaced inwardly of the inner edge of lip 14b, to provide an air gap to the air-intake passageways 29.

The arrangement of the convexly curved impingement surface 36, surrounding and spaced from the upright wall having grooves 42 therein which terminate upstream of the downstream edge of said impingement surface 36, desirably produces aeration of the water by directing the water in jet form outwardly against the convex impingement surface 36 where there is breaking up of the jets and the jets then are reflected back against the annular upright wall of member 20 before passing downstream through the annular constricted flow passageway 44.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention and, therefore, it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a faucet aerator of the type that provides a mixing chamber having upstream and downstream ends, water-jet defining means at the upstream end of said chamber, air intake means to said chamber, and at least one screen adjacent the downstream end of said chamber, the improvement comprising, in combination: an elongated, sleeve-like, imperforate barrel with screw threads thereon at the upstream end and an inturned lip at the downstream end, and a sub-assembly of molded parts arranged for sliding fit into the barrel to be supported by the barrel's lip, said sub-assembly being constructed to cooperate with the barrel to provide air intake means, and to provide a mixing chamber, the water-jet defining means, and a support for the screen, said sub-assembly including a downstream support-and-air-intake member, an upstream annulus snap-connected to said downstream support, and a cup-shaped jet-former carried centrally in said annulus and held in position by gravity, said upstream annulus providing an outer portion slidably engaging the inner wall of the barrel and an inner periphery which provides an upstream centering sleeve and a downstream convexly curved impingement surface against which streams of water are directed, and the cup-shaped jet-former providing an out-turned flange which slidably cooperates with the centering sleeve to position the jet-formers to direct their streams radially outwardly against said impingement surface.

2. An aerator as in claim 1 wherein the cup-shaped jet-former extends through and downstream of the upstream annulus to provide an annular passageway through which flow of water is directed into the mixing chamber.

3. In a faucet aerator of the type that provides a mixing chamber having upstream and downstream ends, water-jet defining means at the upstream end of said chamber, air intake means to said chamber, and at least one screen adjacent the downstream end of said chamber, the improvement comprising, in combination; an elongated, sleeve-like, imperforate barrel with screw threads thereon at the upstream end and an inturned lip at the downstream end, and a sub-assembly of molded parts arranged for sliding fit into the barrel to be supported by the barrel's lip, said sub-assembly being constructed to cooperate with the barrel to provide air intake means, and to provide a mixing chamber, the water-jet defining means, and a support for the screen, said sub-assembly including a downstream support-and-air-intake member, an upstream annulus snap-connected to said downstream support, and a cup-shaped jet-former carried centrally in said annulus and held in position by gravity, the downstream support-and-air-intake member being shaped to provide at least three elongated, upright supports spaced circumferentially to lie against the barrel's wall and to engage the barrel's lip, a ring secured to said upright supports to hold same in spaced relation and to be spaced inwardly of the barrel's wall to provide substantially annular air intake means, the supports extending upwardly of and above the ring to engage and support the annulus, the upper ends of said supports having adjacent inturned lips, and the upstream annulus having a continuous circumferential groove that faces outwardly to receive the inturned lips on said supports to snap-connect the parts together prior to insertion of the sub-assembly in the barrel, and said construction positioning the supports adjacent the wall of the barrel to prevent accidental separation of the snap-connected parts when in position in the barrel.

4. An aerator as in claim 3 wherein said ring of the downstream member has an inturned flange for supporting thereon a screen at the downstream end of the mixing chamber.