Adjustable shower head

Abstract

An adjustable spray shower head for a shower which permits adjustment of the character of the spray without affecting the clamping force applied to the ball-shaped connector element which permits the angular adjustment of the direction of the spray. The shower head consists of a body having a through passage therein for conveying a liquid to be sprayed, a ball-shaped connector element at one end of the body and an adjustable valve means mounted on the body for adjusting the character of the spray discharged from the head. A clamping collar having a first seat adapted to seat on a hemisphere of the ball-shaped end is disposed opposite a second seat on the body adapted to seat on a diametrically opposite hemisphere of said ball-shaped end, and a clamping member is provided for clamping the collar with respect to the body with the first and second seats disposed diametrically opposite one another. The clamping collar is interlocked with respect to the body to prevent rotation of the collar with respect to the body about a common axis of rotation so as not to affect the clamping force applied to the ball-shaped connector means resulting from adjustment of the adjustable valve means.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to shower heads. In particular, this invention relates to shower heads having rotatably adjustable valve means for adjusting the character of the spray which is discharged therefrom and a ball-shaped coupler which permits adjustment of the direction of the spray.

PRIOR ART

The shower heads currently in use include a body which is usually in the form of a metal casting, a ball-shaped coupler which engages in a seat in the body, and a threaded collar which threadably engages the body to clamp the ball-shaped coupler therebetween. The collar is made of metal and a small grub screw extends through the collar and bears against the threaded portion of the body in use. The collar is tightened by means of its threaded connection with respect to the body to attain the required degree of clamping with respect to the ball-shaped connector and thereafter the grub screw is driven into engagement with the body to lock the collar against rotation with respect to the body. It is important to ensure that the collar is locked with respect to the body so that the clamping force applied to the ball-shaped connector will remain constant and will not be affected by the rotation of the adjustable valve which is incorporated into the head. If the collar was not locked, the action of rotating the adjustable valve could loosen clamping force applied to the ball so that the direction of the discharging spray could not be adjusted. The use of a grub screw for connecting two threaded metal components is common but somewhat unsatisfactory as it results in damage to the threaded portion to which the screw is applied. It is not possible to use a grub screw to effectively clamp plastic components because the flexibility of plastic components made in accordance with the conventional metal pattern is such that it would not be possible to obtain an effective and reliable clamping action on the ball member. For this reason, most shower heads have continued to be made from cast metal components despite the fact that the cost of manufacturing these components is considerably greater than the cost of manufacturing comparable plastic components.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior art described above and provides a structure wherein the collar member which serves to apply a clamping force to the ball-shaped portion of the connector means is interlocked with respect to the body so as to prevent rotation of the collar with respect to the body when the valve is adjusted.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a shower head comprises a body having a through passage therein for conveying the liquid to be sprayed, a connector means having a ball-shaped end and a passage opening therethrough which communicates with the through passage of said body, a clamping collar and a clamping member for clamping the collar with respect to the body with the ball-shaped end clamped between a seat formed in the body and a seat formed in the collar. The clamping collar and the body are interlocked with respect to one another to prevent rotation of the collar with respect to the body when the adjustable valve which controls the character of the spray is rotatably adjusted.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention will be more clearly understood after reference to the following detailed specification read in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded pictorial view of a section of a shower head according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the assembled shower head of FIG. 1.

With reference to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 generally refers to a shower head according to an embodiment of the present invention. The head includes a body member 12, a connector member 14, a clamping collar 16, a clamping sleeve 18, a valve member 20, and a valve adjusting handle 24.

The valve body member 12 has a through passage 26 for conveying the liquid therethrough. An annular recess 30 is formed at one end of the passage 26 and an O-ring 28 is located within the recess 30 to cooperate therewith to form a seat 31 for the ball-shaped end 32 of the connector member 14. Lugs 34 project axially with respect to the principal axis 36 of the body 12. Threads 38 are formed on the exterior surface of the body to receive the clamping sleeve 18 as will be described hereinafter. The valve adjusting handle 24 is adapted to fit in a close fitting sliding relationship over the lower portion 40 of the body and is retained therein by means of a retaining ring 42 which is located within an annular recess 45 on the body and which bears against the shoulder 44 of the adjusting handle. An O-ring 43 is located in a groove 49 in the body and serves to seal the body with respect to the handle 24. The valve member 20 has a stem portion 46 which extends through passage 48 in the body 12 and is secured therein by means of a washer 50 and a locking screw 52 and is rotatable within said passage. The locking screw 52 secures the washer on the inner end of the stem 46 and the washer 50 bears against the shoulder surrounding the upper end of the passage 48. The stem 46 has a threaded portion 54 which engages the threads 56 formed in the passage 48 of the body 12 to provide adjustment of the position of the valve member with respect to the valve body and thereby provide adjustment of the position of the valve member with respect to the valve adjusting handle. Lugs 58 which project from the valve member engage lugs 60 which project inwardly of the valve adjusting handle 24. When the valve adjusting handle 24 is rotated with respect to the body 12, the lugs 60 of the handle 24 engage the lugs 58 carried by the valve member 20 and cause the valve member 20 to rotate with respect to the body 12. Rotation of the valve member 20 causes movement towards or away from the handle portion 24 to increase or decrease the gap formed therebetween to adjust the character of the spray as required. The valve member 20 is formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending slots 66 which provide passages for the discharging spray which are adjusted to vary the character of the spray as a result of movement of the valve member 20 with respect to the wall of handle 24.

The connector member 14 has a ball-shaped end 32 and a cylindrical shaped end 70. The passage 72 formed in the cylindrical shaped end is threaded to receive a threaded conduit which may serve to rigidly mount the connector member. A passage 74 extends from the passage 72 at one end through the ball-shaped member and it discharges at the other end of the ball-shaped member.

The clamping collar 16 is preferably made from a plastic material and has a ball connector seat 76 formed on the inner surface thereof. A plurality of lugs 78 project downwardly from the collar 16. The lugs 78 are adapted to fit in a close fitting relationship within the gaps formed between the lugs 34 of the seat 30 formed at the end of the body 12. The seat 76 and the seat 30 with its O-ring 28 are proportioned to fit in a close fitting embracing relationship on opposite hemispheres of the ball-shaped end 32 of the connector member 14.

The clamping sleeve 18 has a passage 80 extending therethrough. A shoulder 82 projects inwardly of the passage 80 and is adapted to engage the upper end of the collar 16. A portion 84 of the interior passage 80 of the clamping sleeve 18 is threaded to threadably receive the threaded end 38 of the body 12.

As shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the connector member 14 is positioned with one hemisphere resting in the seat 31 and the other hemisphere engaged by the clamping collar 16. The clamping collar 16 is driven towards the seat 31 by the clamping sleeve 18 and rotation of the clamping sleeve may serve to tighten or release the clamping effect upon the ball-shaped end so as to increase or decrease the clamping force therebetween as required.

In use, the character of the spray may be adjusted from a very fine spray to a coarse spray by rotating the valve adjusting handle 24. The torque applied to the handle 24 is transmitted to the body 12. The torque applied to the body 12 does not result in relative rotation between the body 12 and the clamping collar 16 because of the interlocking lugs 78 and 34. By reason of the fact that the clamping sleeve 18 engages the clamping collar 16 and the body 12 which are not free to rotate relative to one another, the torque applied to the body 12 resulting from the rotation of the valve adjusting handle 24 does not tend to release or tighten the threaded connection between the clamping sleeve 18 and the body 12.

The use of this type of connector mounting makes it possible to make any or all of the elements of the shower head from a plastic material such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, acetal or nylon. The use of a plastic material in the structure of a plumbing fitting such as a shower head results in a considerable saving in production costs.

The present invention is also applicable to shower heads made from the conventional metal castings and ensures that the threads on the body are not damaged by the conventional grub screw mounting.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A shower head comprising,

a. a body having a through passage therein for conveying a liquid to be sprayed,

b. connector means for connecting said body to a source of fluid, said connector means having a through passage formed therein and terminating in a ball-shaped end, said through passage of said connector means opening into said through passage of said body,

c. a clamping collar,

d. a first seat on said clamping collar adapted to seat on a hemisphere of said ball-shaped end of said connector,

e. a second seat on said body adapted to seat on a hemisphere of said ball-shaped end,

f. a clamping member clamping said collar with respect to said body with said first seat and said second seat disposed on diametrically opposed sides of said ball-shaped end,

g. said clamping collar interlocking with said body to prevent rotation of said collar with respect to said body about a common axis of rotation, and

h. adjustable valve means mounted on said body for adjusting the character of the spray discharged from said head.

2. A shower head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body and said clamping collar are made from a plastic material.

3. A shower head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said collar member has an outer edge at said first seat formed with detent ends projecting therefrom and said body member has an inner edge at said second seat formed with detent means projecting outwardly therefrom, said detent means of said collar member engaging said detent means of said body member and interlocking said collar member with respect to said body member to prevent relative rotation as aforesaid.

4. A shower head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said clamping member comprises a sleeve having an inwardly directed shoulder at one end thereof engaging said clamping collar, the other end of said sleeve threadably engaging said body whereby said shoulder of said sleeve applies a clamping force urging said collar towards said body as said sleeve is threaded onto said body.

5. A shower head comprising,

a. a body having a through passage therein for conveying a liquid to be sprayed,

b. adjustable valve means mounted on said body for rotation about a principal axis to adjust the flow of liquid through said passage means,

c. connection means for connecting said body to a source of fluid, said connector means having a through passage formed therein opening into said passage of said body, said connector means terminating at one end in a ball-shaped member,

d. a clamping collar,

e. first seat means on said clamping collar adapted to seat on a hemisphere of said ball-shaped end of said connector,

f. a second seat on said body adapted to seat on a hemisphere of said ball-shaped end,

g. a clamping member clamping said collar with respect to said body with said first and second seats disposed on diametrically opposed sides of said ball-shaped end,

h. said clamping collar and said body having interlocking lug means projecting coaxially with respect to said primary axis of said valve means to prevent the rotation of said collar with respect to said body when said valve means is rotatably adjusted.

6. A shower head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body, said clamping collar, said clamping member and said valve means are made from plastic material.