Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
i lZ93~74
A MIXING CARTRIDGE FAUCET WITH PARTS
THAT CAN APPLY PRESSURE TO THE VALVE
PLATES OF HARD MATERIAL
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mixing faucet,
especially for hot and cold water, of the type including
a cartridge that houses at least one fixed valve plate
and at least one movable valve plate movable against said
fixed valve plate for controlling the proportion of
mixing and the flow of water from the faucet.
Background of the Invention
The construction of the faucets of the type
considered requires that the cartridge has to function as
a hydraulic piston so that the correct amount of contact
pressure can be applied between the fixed valve plate and
the movable valve plate of the faucet. The cartridge
section on which the water pressure is applied must be
limited so that excessive contact pressure does not
develop. Consequently, the body of the faucet has
required expensive work operations of deep undercutting
at the section that receives the cartridge to limit the
area that is exposed to the inlet water pressure.
Secondly, there are difficulties in accurately
placing the fixed valve plate in an operatively fixed
part of the cartridge. The valve plates are often made
through processes of sinterization of ceramic materials
where it is not possible to assure the effective
dimensions of the product unless there are great relative
tolerances that are proportional to the same dimensions.
The smallest tolerance that is practically achieved in
the diameter of a valve plate of normal dimensions can
typically amount to 0.6 mm. This tolerance must be taken
into consideration when producing the seat which is
constructed to receive a valve plate of this type. Due
to the manufacturing tolerances, the seats are often
oversized so that the valve plates are placed with enough
clearance to create a certain amount of gap space.
During the operation of the faucet, the fixed valve plate
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2 68432-72
can undergo lateral motion allowed by the gap thereby wearing on
the seal gaskets on which it sits, and on the other hand,
rendering the designed geometry of the system to be imperfect. In
other words, the flow and mix curves deslgned into the faucet are
not followed exactly due to the mispositioning and motion of the
fixed plate.
Further, in order to fix the fixed valve plate in its
correct angular position, some deep slits must be made on its
periphery. These slits must extend radially and engage with
corresponding projections from the valve seat. Further, the
presence of these deep slits weakens the valve plates that are, by
their nature, fragile.
Furthermore, it is often desired to clamp the fixed
valve plate and not simply place it on the seal gasket of the
seat. The operation of clamping by means of a central screw makes
the process of mounting relatively onerous, and further, it
requires that there be a hole in the fixed valve plate. The
presence of a hole weakens the fixed valve plate and intrudes into
the area best reserved for the opening of the passage to have the
most desired form.
What is needed is a mixing faucet construction of the
type considered in such a way as to provide more accurate lateral
and angular positioning of the fixed valve plate and a clamping
mechanism for the fixed plate while controlling the compression
pressure due to the hydraulic pressure acting on the cartridge.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a mixing faucet including a
cartridge that supports at least one fixed valve plate and at
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2a 68432-72
least one movable valve plate for controlling the proportions of
mixing and the flow of water from the faucet, characterized by:
an operatively fixed part of the cartridge that seats the fixed
valve plate constitutes a separate member slidably and sealably
connected to the cover of the cartridge; the separate member being
constructed such that its lower extremity extends in a part of the
cavity of the body of the faucet that has a reduced area in cross-
section and in which one of the supply pipes is connected.
This invention also relates to a mixing faucet of the
type including a cartridge that supports at least one fixed valve
plate and at least one movable valve plate constructed to control
the proportions of mixing and flow of water from the faucet,
characterized by: a separate member for the cartridge that seats
the fixed valve plate and having projections that abut the
periphery of passage apertures through the fixed valve plate to
laterally affix the position of the fixed valve plate.
According to one aspect of the invention, the faucet has
a body and a cartridge therein that has a separate member that
supports the fixed valve plate. the separate member is movably
connected to the covering of the cartridge for axial movement
relative thereto. The fixed part is also slidably connected to
the body and maintains a seal therewith as it axially slides in a
part of the cavity of the body of the faucet that has a reduced
section that receives one of the water inlets.
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The above mentioned operatively fixed part of the
cartridge functions as a hydraulic piston to apply the
pressure of contact between the fixed valve plate and the
movable valve plate. The hydraulic pressure is generated
only by pressure in a reduced section of the cavity in
the body of the faucet. The pressure exerted by the
water on the remaining part of the covering of the
cartridge is not translated onto the fixed valve plate
against the movable valve plate. The covering, however,
can be sealingly inserted in a larger section of the
cavity permitting simplification of the conformation and
work which has to be done on the body of the faucet; in
particular, reducing or avoiding the operation of
undercutting for the supply ports leading into the
cavity.
In another aspect of the invention, the seat in the
operatively fixed part of the cartridge that receives the
fixed valve plate has projections that axially intrude
into the supply apertures of the fixed valve plate to
abut the perimeters of the apertures to laterally and
angularly fix the valve plate in the seat. In
particular, the outer profile of these projections has a
section which corresponds to the respective portions of
the outline perimeter of the apertures in the fixed valve
plates for the passage of hot and cold water.
The position of the fixed valve plate in its seat is
defined by the arrangement between the outer profile of
the projections and the perimeter of the apertures of the
fixed valve plate. The distance between the portions of
the perimeter of the apertures are notably less than the
diameter of the valve plate so that at egual conditions
of processing, their relative positions present
proportionally less manufacturing tolerance and are more
particularly set. Consequently, the resulting gap space
that must be foreseen for the insertion of the fixed
plate is lessened and the associated disadvantages of the
manufacturing tolerances are lessened. Further, there is
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no need to weaken the valve plate with speclal and deep
positioning slits.
According to another aspect of the invention, the
cartridge has an expandable annular ring which has upper
and lower sections of engagement. The upper sections are
preferably extending shoulders that engage with
corresponding recesses on the periphery of the work face
of the fixed valve plate. The lower sections are
preferably snap teeth disposed to elastically release
into recesses present on the operatively fixed member of
the cartridge that seats the fixed valve plate.
The annular ring can fixedly secure the fixed valve
plate in place, while maintaining compression on the
sealing gaskets between the cartridge member and fixed
valve plate by means of an action exercised at the
peripheries and without disadvantageous limitations to
conformation of the apertures thereof in the fixed valve
plate. Further, the application by means of an elastic
release of snap teeth provides for easy mounting of the
fixed valve plate. The recesses required on the work
surface of the valve plate are not deep and do not
significantly weaken the valve plate.
Brief Description of the Drawin~s
Reference now will be made to the accompanying
drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a segmented side elevational view of a
mixing faucet according to one embodiment of the
invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary and segmented
side elevational view of the cartridge element and
cartridge cover shown in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a top plan view of the components shown
in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational and
cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a top plan view of a cartridge section
that seats the fixed valve plate;
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Figure 6 is a top plan view of the retaining ring
shown in Figures 1 and 2;
Figure 7 is an exploded and segmented view of the
cartridge sections that seats the fixed valve plate, the
fixed valve plate and the retaining ring, taken along
lines VII-VII of Figures 5 and 6; and
Figure 8 is a sectional view of the retain~ng ring
taken along line VIII-VIII of Figure 6.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
The mixing faucet according to Fig. 1 has a body 1
with a cavity 5 that receives two supply pipes 2 and 3
for the supply of hot and cold water or vice versa. The
cavity also has an outlet 4 for the delivery of mixed
water. The cavity 5 of the body 1 is constructed to
receive the cartridge 40. The cavity 5 has a narrow
diameter section 6 which receives the pipe 2 while the
pipe 3 runs directly into the cavity 5 above section 6.
Cavity 5 can have, as represented, an expansive part 7
formed by a light undercut aligned with the outlet. If
desired, the undercut 7 can be eliminated with a slight
increase in the diameter of the cavity extending to its
threaded upper opening that is closed by a cap 8 which is
screwed in and provided with a seal gasket 9. Upper half
bearing 10 and gasket 11 are mounted in the cap 8. The
bearing 10 and gasket 11 engage the control ball 12 to
which, by means of a screw 13, is mounted to an operating
lever 14. Moreover, a key 15 also depends from the
control ball 12 to transmit the movement imparted by
lever 14 to the operative parts of the cartridge, namely,
guide ring 20, guide slide 22 and movable valve plate 23.
The cartridge 40 is inserted in cavity 5 of body 1.
A circumferentially mounted gasket 17 seals the cartridge
40 with the body 1. The cartridge has a cover section
16, commonly referred to as a cage, provided with
discharge opening 18 that communicate with outlet 4 in
body 1. A lower half bearing 19 is mounted in cover
section 16 preferably with axial gap space therebetween
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for reasons explained below. The lower half bearing 19
abuts the cap 8 and bears against the control ball 12.
A revolving guide ring 20 is mounted against the
lower face of the half bearing 19. The ring 20 has a
lateral slit 21 in which a slide 22 is guided. The key
15 is coupled to the slide 22. In turn, the slide 22 is
coupled with a movable valve plate 23 of hard material.
The parts that have been described up to this point do
not differ from those parts of similar cartridges which
are known in the art. The function of this above
cartridge structure is also well known and will not be
described further. On the other hand, the invention is
not in any way limited to the cartridge whose structure
correspond to this specific example.
At the bottom of the cover section 16 of the
cartridge 40, a member 25 of the cartridge (Figs. 5 and
7) is mounted to allow axial sliding with respect to
section 16 and is sealed by means of a gasket 24 (Figs. 1
and 2). The cartridge member 25 seats the fixed valve
plate of hard material. The member 25 is dimensioned to
slidably extend into the cavity section 6 of body 1 of
the faucet and is sealed by means of circumferentially
mounted gasket 26. The top end of cartridge section 25
has an enlarged diameter support head 27 constructed to
receive a fixed valve plate 32 preferably made from a
hard material such as ceramic.
The valve plate 32 in the form represented has an
annular form with a cross bar 31 that defines two
apertures 32a. The support head 27 has a hollowed out
grooved section 27a for seating a sealing gasket 28 and
has some projections 30 which extend into the apertures
32a of the fixed valve plate 32 and which are positioned
to abut against the opposite edges 31a of the cross bar
31. Furthermore, the projections are located at the
extremities of apertures 32a in order to abut the outer
edges 32b of the apertures to define the position of the
fixed valve plate 32 in relation to the support head 27.
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The member 25 of the cartridge 40 has two passages 25a
and 25b. The first passage 25a runs to the lower
¢xtremity 6 below the interior of the gasket 26, while
the second passage 25b runs laterally to the cavity 5
above the gasket 26, so that when the cartridge is
mounted in the body of the faucet (Fig. 1), these
passages allow communication between the supply pipes 2
and 3 and the apertures 32a of fixed valve plate 32. The
member 25 of cartridge 40 can advantageously be
constructed in plastic material.
In order to secure the valve plate 32 fixedly onto
the support head 27, a ring 34 (Figs. 6 and 8) is clamped
onto the support head 27. The ring 34 has
circumferentially spaced inwardly extending teeth 35 that
engage an upper peripheral recessed shoulder 33. The
ring 34 also has circumferentially spaced teeth 36 at its
lower extremity that engage seat 29 which is a peripheral
recessed shoulder in the support head 27. Further, the
ring 34 has some vertical slits 37 which allow the teeth
36 to resiliently snap fit in place as they are flexed
about head 27 during installation. For reasons of
construction, the upper teeth 35 and lower teeth 36 are
mutually alternating. Finally, the ring 34 has a lateral
projection 38 adapted to cooperate with a corresponding
groove 16a in the cover 16 of the cartridge (Fig. 2) in
order that the position of the whole lower assembly, in
particular member 25, plate 32 and ring 34 is angularly
fixed in cover 16. The ring 34 can advantageously be
made of a resilient plastic material.
Installation of cartridge assembly 4 is accurately
and easily done. The valve plate 32 is mounted onto the
support head 27 with the projections 30 received in the
apertures 32a of the plate 32. The position of the fixed
valve plate 32 can be defined with notable accuracy.
This accuracy occurs because the distance between the
projections 30 is much less than the diameter of the
valve plate 32; and consequently, the relative tolerances
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of production of the outer diameter valve plate are not
critical. The lateral movement of the plate 32 can thus
be reduced or practically eliminated and also, in this
way, one can benefit from the limited elastic
deformations of the projections 30 where the projections
are press fit into the apertures 32a. The ring 34 i8
then mounted upon the fixed valve plate 32 engaging the
teeth 35 with the slits 33, and pushed against the head
27. In this operation, the gasket 28 of head 27 is
compressed after which the teeth 36 spring elastically
into the seat 29 of head 27 to fix the valve plate 32 and
ring 34 to seat 29. The parts 25, 26, 27, 28, 32 and 34
can then be assembled onto the cartridge cover 16 as an
assembled 32 and 34 single component. Because of this,
the operations of mounting the cartridge are notably
improved and are made more economical.
In mounting the cartridge cover 16 and member 25 in
place the parts must be dimensioned to create an axial
gap space 41 in cavity 5 of body 1 between the bottom
shoulder 42 of the cover 16 of the cartridge and the
support head 27 in order that the hydraulic pressure that
acts on the cover 16 of the cartridge is not transmitted
to the fixed valve plate 32. Plate 32 receives only a
lesser amount of pressure provided by the member 25 of
the cartridge from supply pipe 2. The pressure from
supply pipe 3 acting on the surface 25c of member 25
slightly lessens the net upward hydraulic pressure acting
on member 25.
Often the hot and cold water supplies are reversed.
However, operation of the faucet needs to be in the same
fashion whether supply pipe 2 or pipe 3 supplies the cold
water and vice versa for the hot water. To accommodate
the reversed supply pipes, a second recessed groove 16b
in the cover 16 of the cartridge is made. This recessed
groove 16b is diametrically opposite the groove 16a such
that the assembly of member 25 can be mounted in two
different positions, one rotated 180 degrees with respect
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to the other. A choice of the position of mounting the
member 25 between the two possible positions, allows
compensation for any inversion of the connection of
supply pipes 2 and 3 to the conduits of hot and cold
water.
The half bearing 19 is mounted with an axial gap
space l9a in the cover 16 of the cartridge. The gap l9a
is dimensioned long enough to make it possible when the
cartridge 40 is outside the body to push the member 25
toward the interior of the covering 16 as much as is
necessary to disengage the projection 38 from the groove
16a or 16b in which it is found. The member 25 can then
be turned 180 degrees and re-engaged with the other
groove 16b or 16a without disassembling the cartridge 40.
When the cartridge is in body 1 and is functioning, the
pressure of the water pushes the cover 16 in contact with
the cover 8 against which the half bearing 19 lays so
that there is not enough axial clearance for the
projection 38 to free itself from either groove 16a or
16b in which it is seated, and thus an unintentional
rotation of member 25 within cartridge cover 16 cannot
take place.
The above described construction allows the
repositioning of member 25 of cartridge assembly 40
without the need to take anything apart. The member 25
also functions as a piston and seats the fixed valve
plate with respect to the cover 16 of the cartridge.
Thus the inversion of hot and cold water is easily
accommodated while maintaining correct operation of the
faucet regardless of the way the connection of the body
of the faucet to the supply pipes is made.
Although in general it is best that there are two
positions that member 25 can assume, i.e. two positions
180 degrees apart, it must be understood that in
particular cases, there can be more than two positions
possible and/or the distances between the positions can
have angles which are different from 180 degrees.
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The projections 30 of the seat can have various
structural shapes for different purposes. For example,
if desired, the projections can be rounded or made in
layers so that the flow of water is not impeded, or they
can have special construction for the purpose of
achieving preclosing in order to reduce the noisiness of
particular functioning conditions of the faucot.
Further, the projections can abut only limited sections
of the periphery of one or more of the passage apertures
or they can be so extensive that they cooperate with
significant sections of each periphery or, maximally,
they can cooperate with the entire periphery of one or
more openings.
The described projections are particularly effective
in the positioning of a fixed valve plate of the type
illustrated having an annular, circular form, and
including a crossbar that defines the two passage
openings. However, one must understand that it has been
found that these means of positioning can also be applied
advantageously in relation to fixed valve plates that are
annular but not circular or to valve plates of any other
form that have apertures or recesses for the passage of
water.
Furthermore, the described fixed valve plate and the
annular ring are circular. However, it must be
understood that the ring can also secure a valve plate
which is not circular. In this case, the ring must have
an inner periphery which corresponds to that of the fixed
valve plate. The ring can have the groove and the
cartridge cover can have the lateral projections that
engage the groove to angularly fix the separate member of
the cartridge. Alternatively, the outer periphery of the
ring can be non-circular in shape and received in the
cage having a corresponding inner shape. Other keyed
arrangements can be between the ring and cage to prevent
the ring from rotation with respect to the cage.
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Variations and modifications of the present
invention are possible without departing from the scope
and spirit as defined in the appended claims.
